Academic Classes

Astronomy

   Astronomy has been one of the most popular offerings at MST for the past several years, and THIS year we are adding several new things which will make this course the most exciting and interesting it has ever been. In a span of just two weeks, students will be taken on a tour of the Universe and investigate:

• The scale of the Universe: How BIG is BIG? (Hint: Bigger than you think!)
• How Astronomers discover worlds outside our solar system.
• How stars are born and die.
• Black holes (and just how hard it is to fall into one!)
• The history and future of our Universe.
• And more!

   Students will take advantage of the wide array of resources available through the MSU Department of Physics and Astronomy.  At the world-famous Abrams Planetarium, they will identify constellations, examine the movement of the night’s sky, and watch an award-winning planetarium show.  Resident astronomers will inform the students about the exciting and ground-breaking research performed at MSU.

   Students will get a taste of the research life as they visit the SOAR remote observing room and campus observatory.  Students will view the 4.2-m SOAR telescope in Chile at work as an MSU astronomer controls it from the observing room in East Lansing.  At the campus observatory, the students will be the ones controlling the 24-in telescope and several smaller ones as they observe nebulae, galaxies and other astronomical wonders.

   Students will also get a chance to participate in a NASA-sponsored program to design their own Mars mission.  They will have to choose science goals that fit within NASA’s overall goal of landing people on Mars and design their own spacecraft to carry out these science goals.  These designs will be submitted to NASA and may be used in future missions.

   This summer promises to be the best and most exciting summer yet in MST Astronomy.  We hope to see you there!

-Charles Kuehn, Ph.D. Candidate, and Omar Biarki

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Digital Photography and Filmmaking

   Ever marveled at beautiful, colorful photographs and wondered how the artist captured such beauty?
Ever wanted to be involved in the exciting world of movie making? From the world in front of your eyes
to the computer and beyond, Digital Photography and Filmmaking will involve hands-on exploration of
everything from still images to video. At the end of two weeks, students will have produced both a photo
album and a video documenting the two weeks at MST. Concepts shared between stills and video will be
discussed and practiced at length, including:

• Composition – Rule of Thirds, using lines and planes, depthr
• Depth-of-field – how to use focus to highlight an aspect of your composition
• Motion – choosing to blur or to freeze a subject to bring attention to motion
• Tripods – an essential tool for both videography and still photography

Students will learn all the features of their personal digital cameras and the techniques to capture
professional-quality images, get a behind-the-scenes look at a real TV studio, and see and handle
professional video equipment. Students will also be introduced to professional computer software,
including:

• Adobe Photoshop/ Adobe Bridge
• Final Cut Pro for video editing
• DVD Studio Pro
• Motion
• Garage Band

In just two weeks, you’ll have the knowledge and skills to bring your photos and video to a professional
level!

-Peter Johnston and Kate Salvadore

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Mathematical Explorations

This isn’t your grandma’s arithmetic! Students will engage in multiple challenging and mind-bending mathematical tasks. As a class, we will discover mathematical puzzles from ancient times, like the Tower of Hanoi, in addition to exploring more modern logic problems that have perplexed even the brightest of minds. Students will explore groundbreaking math throughout the ages, such as the mathematics of the ancient Greeks and Egyptians and why it matters today. We will also explore topics related to the higher-level mathematics done by modern mathematicians such as knot theory, cryptography and fractals. An over-riding theme of the course will be the implications of logical thinking in our day-to-day lives. We will grapple with a variety of logic problems and justify our mathematical discoveries in a myriad of ways.

Students will re-discover how fun math can be when we are not confined to our desks and think outside of the box. Students should come to class with their own particular interests in mind, as we will integrate their passions into our curriculum.

Participants should be ready to work in groups, think hard and have fun!

-Alexandria Theakston, MSU Mathematics Instructor and Mathematics Education Ph.D. Candidate, and Heather Bosman, Mathematics Education Ph.D. Candidate

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Genetics & Biotechnology

 Can you really determine a killer’s identity from a blood sample? Can plants engineered with a firefly gene glow in the dark? Can plants be used for the production of biodegradable plastic and biofuel? How can physicians diagnose genetic disorders in a fetus? Can humans be cloned and how? What are concerns in modern genetics? Genetics is the scientific study of heredity and hereditary variation.

Genetics began in the 1800s as a science designed to study the transmission of heritable traits that control an individual’s appearance. Since that time genetic methods and discoveries are catalyzing progress in other biological fields including medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacology, agriculture, ecology, law, and even behavioral sciences. Modern genetics is also revolutionizing the military, computer science, biomining, and certain other areas of engineering. In our summer program we will begin with a study of DNA. DNA stores the information that directs the development and maintenance of every organism. Such biological blueprints are fundamental to life itself. Today scientists routinely manipulate DNA in the laboratory and use it to change the heritable characteristics of living organisms. In this course you will have an opportunity to work with the latest biotechnology equipment available and even manipulate DNA yourself.

In addition we will:

• Assemble a model of DNA
• Extract your own DNA and make a DNA necklace
• Discuss DNA fingerprinting by solving a simulated crime scene investigation
• Prepare a karyotype
• Genetically transform bacteria with a fluorescent gene from a bioluminescent jellyfish
• Discuss and observe Polymerase Chain Reaction technology and the genome sequencing project
• Discuss the use of biotechnology in medical, pharmaceutical and veterinary sciences
• Separate fragments of DNA using a technique called gel electrophoresis
• Tour genetic engineering laboratories and view the operation of a Biolistic gun
• Debate concerns in the area of biotechnology

-Dr. Mariam Sticklen and Colleen Palmer

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Engineering (New for 2012)

Have you ever thought about engineering? Do you know what engineering is? Simply put, engineering uses the knowledge from all the other classes MST@MSU offers and makes it work for people in a useful way. Imagine your life without the things engineers created…electricity, clean drinking water, cars, video games, medical equipment, plastic, mechanized farm equipment, telephones, air conditioners, lasers, etc.
The engineering course is designed to give you in-depth experiences in various engineering fields. In this course, you learn about different engineering majors and what engineers do and spend time in short lectures, interactive demonstrations, hands-on ex¬periments, team-based problem solving sessions, and tours. You are challenged to use your creativity to design and build different devices and processes, and you learn cutting-edge topics from the fields of Chemical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Material Science.
This course harnesses and develops your communication, math, and science skills in a fun, hands-on way while exposing you to the wonders of engineering.

Activities include:
• Thermodynamic ice cream making.
• Getting medieval—design, build, and operate a trebuchet.
• Entrepreneurship—design, create, market, and sell your product.
• Design and build a Rube Goldberg device.
• 3D printing and rapid prototyping.
• Laser holography—see an actual hologram and create your own hologram.
• Mechatronics—design, build, test, and compete with mechanical-electrical devices, also known as robots.
• Vibrations—explore instruments, plate vibrations, sound, etc., and use knowledge to design vibration resistant structures.
• Material Science—learn about and explore different engineering materials, their properties and applications, and use an electron-force microscope.
• Several design competitions and field trips.

-Rickey Caldwell, Graduate Student

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Physics

 What do rockets, radios, and radiation have in common? They can all be better understood with physics! Our everyday experience includes a bewildering number of gadgets and natural phenomena. Physics provides us with a clear and delightful understanding of many of these phenomena, while in some cases raising intriguing questions about still-mysterious facets of nature. In this course, students will study four areas of physics:

• Mechanics (energy and forces)
• Waves (sound and light)
• Electricity and magnetism
• Nuclear physics

While learning about these topics, students will have the opportunity to observe and participate in numerous interesting and mind-boggling demonstrations from the extensive stock of lecture demos used in MSU Physics classes. In the lab, students will use high-tech equipment to complete experiments such as measuring the acceleration due to gravity and determining the diameter of a hair using a laser.

-Dr. Jon Pumplin and Mark Lathrop, M.S.

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Physiology

   The Physiology course for 2012 has been cancelled while the lab is being updated and improved - look for an even better learning experience in 2013!

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Public Health

How do public health professionals determine the source of a disease outbreak? Does hand washing really prevent the spread of germs? What do health professionals do to prepare for a public health emergency? Can prime time television be used to teach public health?

Public health is an exciting and dynamic field that considers health and disease from the perspective of populations rather than individuals. Unlike medicine and the clinical sciences, which focus on the curative aspects of individual health, public health focuses on health promotion, disease prevention and the overall health of the community. Now more than ever before, we are faced with public health problems of international proportions, from global warming, pandemic swine flu and other infectious diseases, to bioterrorism. Today public health is not just for public health professionals –we all need to be educated citizens – to understand public health and the role it plays in our everyday lives.

In this course we will learn from a hands-on perspective, what public health is, and why it’s important. State and local public health professionals and other public health experts will use current public health events, case-studies, simulations and field trips to bring public health to life.

Topics include:

• Communicating public health messages
• Preparing for public health emergencies
• How culture affects health
• Smallpox and the threat of bioterrorism
• Investigating a restaurant food-borne outbreak
• Mobilizing public health resources to combat pandemic diseases
• How to become a public health professional
• And much more!

-Connie Currier, DrPH, MPH www.publichealth.msu.edu

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Nuclear Astrophysics

What do the history of the universe, the life and death of stars, and the elements that make up your body
have in common? Nuclear astrophysics! Nuclear reactions such as fusion, fragmentation, and radioactive
decay have guided the chemical evolution of the universe and the energy cycle in stars.
This course, sponsored by the Joint Institute for Nuclear Astrophysics (JINA) and MSU’s world-class
National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL), will introduce you to the world of nuclei in deep
space. Topics include:

• A tour of NSCL’s rare isotope research areas
• Spectral analysis and classification of stars
• Fusion in the stellar furnace
• When stars blow up: Supernovae
• Nucleosynthesis (the construction of newelements)
• The mysterious origin of Ultra-High-Energy
• Cosmic Rays
• Cosmic Ray experiments with portable detectors
• Cutting-edge research at JINA institutions (MSU,Notre Dame, and U of Chicago)

-Zach Constan, Ph.D., NSCL Outreach Coordinator,
and Melissa Jacobs

 

Special Interest Clinics

Basketball Clinic

Instructor: Matthew Murray

Basketball is a team game that is fun and great for fitness. In the basketball special clinic we will play a lot of 3-on-3, 4-on-4, and 5-on-5 games. You will also learn the importance of flexibility and which muscles are used when shooting jump shots and slam-dunks. We will have plenty of fun scrimmaging in preparation for our annual game with the MST faculty and staff.

Creative Writing

Clinic Instructor: Kristi Vartanian

This will be a fun, upbeat clinic focusing on the creative and expressive elements of writing. Students will write each day and share their work with their peers with an emphasis on positive expression and encouragement. Daily exercises will vary and may include: a descriptive piece, a humorous narrative or critique, writing for mystery, etc. Each student will complete a short story as the final project of the clinic. Students are encouraged to bring pencils, paper, a folder of their work, a creative spirit and a sense of humor to class.

Flash I: Motion Graphics and Animation

Instructor: Jiatyan Chen

Do you like cartoons, music videos, or anime? Using the same computer techniques and tools as famous animators, you will learn just how easy it is to bring your dreams to life. If you can think it, you can do it. Start your engines and prepare for flight, for in a few short moments you will be animating like the pros. All aboard, it’s time to blast off to a world where your imagination never ends.

Flash II: Interaction and Games

Instructor:  TBA

In this class we take animation to the next level by giving control to the user. Adobe Flash is a tool that we can use to build animations, games and applications that can be viewed on the web. We will start with motion design and quickly move on to building controls to interact with our creations. We will be learning how we can use ActionScript, Flash’s programming language, to accomplish this. Whether you are into art & animation or math & programming, this class will challenge and engage you.

Visual Arts Clinic

Instructor: Heidi Irvine

The Visual Arts Clinic will involve a medley of art projects and mediums. The group will begin with a ceramic project to be fired and taken home by the end of camp. Other projects will include 3-D materials (jewelry making, sculpture) as well as 2-D projects (pencil, ink, printmaking, painting). This class can be enjoyed by any level of art student and will help build basic skills and improve on the talents already possessed. This class is a study of self-exploration and simply tons of fun.

Soccer Clinic

Instructor: Andrew Floyd

Come take part in the world’s most popular sport! This clinic will cover soccer basics such as passing, dribbling, and shooting. We will focus both on improving individual technical ability and learning team tactics. Friendly competition and games will make for a great time for everyone. Whether a beginner or an expert, this clinic has something to offer players of all ability levels. 

Faculty

Leading professors from the various colleges and departments of MSU have developed challenging courses. Working with noted secondary teachers, professors will teach courses using interdisciplinary strategies.