Track B-3 Descriptions

The “E” in STEM: Engineering 

Calling all future engineers! Are you a dreamer, inventor, problem solver or love to tinker? Engineers develop, design, test, build, rebuild and improve complex machines and systems.  In this unique class, young students will be learning and discovering about the wonderful and  extraordinary world of engineering. A small team of expert and professional engineers will engage students with hands-on activities to learn about different types of engineering, how engineering helps us work as a society and has throughout history. Participants will not only get to think like an engineer but will practice fun exercises that help understand ways to use engineering to problem solve or create new inventions.  

Friday: What does an engineer do and what types of engineers are there 

Saturday: How do engineers solve problems and teamwork, problem solving and critical thinking activities 

Sunday: Hands-on activities to learn about design and building, testing, disassembling, and redesigning for better solutions 

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 class will focus on the Education Edition of the game to introduce students to programming to control the in-game abilities of their character, allowing them to make games that involve granting players superpowers.

Friday: Introducing and sampling the different powers that can be granted in Minecraft custom games. These include things like Speed, Invulnerability, and Flight

Saturday: Having the students work in small teams to build maps and set up the interactions using coding blocks to complete a checklist of effects. 

Sunday: Play the games, identify fun and unfun parts, and begin tweaking the gameplay.

Real Work Algebra: Algebra + Problems = Real World Connections 

This class will cover traditional problem-solving strategies and some new ones that the instructor has come up with. The class will include logic, ratios, function machines, understanding bases, drawing pictures, permutations, etc.

Friday: Language of algebra: students will learn how to translate basic word problems into the math language of algebra.   

Satruday: Students will learn one of the most important rules of algebra: you can do what every you want to one side of an equation if you are fair and do the same thing to the other side of the equation.

Sunday: Students will use their abilities to turn words into the language of algebra and then solve the equations that they make.