Pythagoras: The Man and the Math

Who was Pythagoras, and how did his ideas change math forever? In this class, you'll hear fascinating stories about his life and explore the famous Pythagorean Theorem. Through fun activities and hands-on challenges, students will see how this ancient idea connects to the world around them—like measuring triangles, solving puzzles, and even building things!

Writing with People in Nature 

This class is for students who want to put their love of creativity and their love of nature together. Each day students will spend time outside, engaging with MSU’s campus and their peers. As they do this, they’ll learn about different genres for creative storytelling, write collaboratively with peers and friends, and unearth the messiness of the writing process.

Monday: Map our Writing Process. Students will start by mapping their own writing process to reflect on where they write, when they write, and why. Students will be able to reflect on where they find other people in their writing process, and how and when nature may be involved.

Tuesday: Haikus! Students will learn about the genre of poetry – specifically focusing on Haikus, before heading outside to take inspiration from Michigan State University’s Campus, and write their own poems.

Wednesday: Odes! Students will learn about the genre of poetry – specifically focusing on Odes, and head outside to write their own letters.

Thursday: Short stories. Students will learn about short stories, and head outside to talk to their peers, and write their own short stories in teams.

Friday: Finalizing our writing collections! In the final day of class, students will reflect on the writing they’ve done and create portfolios to remember the work they’ve done in the course and reflect on the role nature and collaboration played.

Map Making and Buried Treasure

Introduce students to the idea of cartography, the art of making maps. Students will have the chance to review the artistic flair used in older style maps, the floorplans of both modern and ancient buildings, and will apply the knowledge learned to create a map to a treasure of their choosing.

Minecraft 

One of the most popular computer games, Minecraft at its core is a sandbox game that provides an environment for its players to explore and create. This will focus on the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft as the students construct an Adventure Mode map using Command Blocks and Redstone.