GATE: Gifted and Talented EducationTrack A Descriptions
Digial Art and Animation
Pixel art is a minimalist form of art born in the 1970s due to the limiting nature of computer screens at the time. While today’s technology allows much more detail, this class will walk students through designing low-pixel characters in a retro style and discuss how we trick the brain into thinking these still images are moving.
Monday: Introduce the user interface and help the students get used to playing around with the technology. Discuss basic silhouetting techniques to make their character look unique from just the general shape. Have them color and design the character. Introduce general animation principles to them for an “idling” stance (simply standing and breathing). Detail how to save the work.
Tuesday: Detail how to open old files. Introduce students to the ability to import new color palettes. Discuss color theory and challenge students to create new versions of their character; one with a 4-shade single-color palette, the Endesga 32 color palette, and the Resurrect 64 palette.
Wednesday: Introduce students to the ability to import images as other layers. Discuss placement of their character in the scene. Discuss how to take aspects of the scene and cut/paste them to their own layers.
Thursday/Friday: Continue to workshop the image and scene. Encourage the students to add in more motion, new roles or events, additional characters, and further details.
Game Probability
Do you like board games or playing cards? Do you want to improve your strategy and make the best decisions when playing games? Learn how likely an event is to occur. Students will play games like Punto, Rat-a-Tat roll, SKUNK, Yahtzee, Cribbage, or Blackjack and discuss decision making and probability. Students will be introduced to basic probability, dependent and independent events, sample spaces, and decision making through games.
Monday: Probability Scrabble- Can you guess how many other words you can make by using any of the eleven letters in the word PROBABILITY?
Tuesday: Playing Dice-Can you figure out what the probabilities are of getting a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 if you roll two dice? Will your chances increase or decrease?
Wednesday: Let ‘er Roll!-a dice game that offers equal chances to all the players.
Thursday: Even and Odd-A game that always lets one player win. The challenge will be to see if you can figure out why!
Friday: An Average Day- What do you know about estimating averages?
3D Math
The students will learn how to create their own three-dimensional shapes with origami (Japanese paper folding). Students will be learning basic origami techniques. Understanding and creating basic three-dimensional shapes and how to fold more advanced three-dimensional shapes.
Monday: Great for beginners! You’ll learn how to make an easy origami box, using the easiest method. This method gives you the perfect origami box.
Tuesday: How to make a rectangular origami box. The Origami rectangular box tutorial will be done step by step. Beginners can make this easy rectangle box with any size of square paper.
Wednesday: How to make a paper tetrahedron and other easy origami paper crafts.
Thursday: How to make a 3D pyramid. This is also a very easy origami project for beginners.
Friday: How to make a modular origami star. Modular origami is a 3D shape that gets assembled by using several sheets of origami paper that are first folded into individual “modules.” Although a step up from the previous designs, this tutorial will also be made easier with an easy-to-follow step by step tutorial.
A Day in the Life of Ice Cream
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!! Did you know it takes three gallons of milk to make one gallon of ice cream? One cow can produce about 9,000 gallons of ice cream during its life. We produce well over 1.5 billions of gallons of frozen treats a year. What is your favorite flavor? Vanilla, the most popular one or something more fancy like birthday cake? Do you just love ice cream of any kind? Come explore where ice cream comes from including the cows that produce it, to the science of ice cream, to viewing how it is actually made! You can’t miss this unique experience about all about America’s favorite summertime treat and of course taste test to see which kind is best!
Monday: Students will visit a real dairy farm to see where ice cream begins
Tuesday: Students will begin the process from the farm to processing of milk to become ice cream
Wednesday: The science of ice cream begins
Thursday: What other types of science can create ice cream
Friday: Students will understand the complete process of ice cream and enjoy taste testing
Private Access: Backstage 2024
Do you love to be a VIP? Do you want to see what happens behind the scenes? Students will not only learn about what happens behind the front door, the stands, the microphone or even beyond the locker room door. This experience is a true backstage pass tour where everyone will witness what most cannot see as a regular attendee. All tours are new for 2024! Participants will learn about the production of live venues, sporting events, how seemingly simple everyday tasks get done (that stuff we don’t see), and students will have access to understanding the secrets that make our lives happen!
Creative Collage
A collage is a form of visual arts in which visual elements are combined to create a new image that conveys a message or idea. Collage comes from the French word “collér,” which means “to glue,” often the primary means of combining images in collage art. Collagers can draw these images from newspaper clippings or print advertisements, or cull them from different materials, like photographs, fabric, wood, and even ephemera. Collagers can apply the images to the surface of another work of art, such as a canvas, to create a new single image.
Collage is a beneficial activity for young students as it helps develop their fine motor skills, speech and language skills, improve sensory skills and of course their increases their creativity! Additionally, creating collages has shown that ii can enhance scholarly thinking.
Students will learn about the history, types and famous collages. They will participate in a fun hands-on learning activity and they will produce a one of a kind piece of art that they can be proud to showcase and adorn their walls for a lifetime!
Monday: History of Collage, Types of famous collages, samples, techniques, prompt and theme for creating collages.
Tuesday: Create a small collage to take home.
Wednesday: Brainstorm and writing/drawing ideas, inventory materials, collect materials to plan for collage,
Thursday: begin developing collage, cutting and prepping for final art piece
Friday: Each student will create their own collage composition to take share with group and take home
Please note:
This track will include various activities and parents are advised to dress their student appropriately or send optional clothing/boots.
Monday-students will be outside the majority of the day. Please prepare them for all types of weather. Boots for mud are suggested
Wednesday-Please bring a sweater for the ice and hockey arena as it will be cold inside the building.