SUMMER CAMP CLASS DESCRIPTIONS

Lego NXT Robotics Discovery

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: none

Teachers guide the students through the initial discovery stages of robotics, which includes step-by-step instructions and guided activities. After building their LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT robot from scratch, students will program their robots to react to various sensory inputs, such as touch, ultrasonic and light. The learning process will be highlighted with our popular Sumo Robot Challenge. Logic, technology, and creativity are combined to provide your children with hours of learning fun!

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®.

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Lego NXT Robotics Exploration

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: none

Students will explore variations of LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT input sensors such as dual-switch programming, color and sound sensor. Teachers will encourage team-oriented challenges and creative robot construction. The ultimate Battle Bot challenge will stimulate students’ imagination, while continuing to open their minds to the world of robotics engineering.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®.

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First Lego League Robot Game

Ages 9 to 14 Prerequisite: none

This course concentrates on the “technical” portion of the competition, FIRST LEGO® League (FLL) , known as the Robot Game. Learn to build and program the LEGO® Mindstorms NXT robots to accomplish different types of FLL missions such as trigger, delivery and retrieval missions. New or veteran FLL competitors, and students who would like learn about NXT robots, will have fun in this class.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®.

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First Lego League Missions

Ages 9 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with LEGO® NXT robots

Students will be challenged to accomplish First LEGO® League (FLL) missions from previous years. Teacher will guide the students through the iterative process to solve the missions. This class maybe repeated because sample FLL missions from different previous years will be used for different sessions.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®.

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Advanced Robot Construction Challenges

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with LEGO® NXT robots

Students will construct LEGO® Mindstorms® NXT robots that are mechanically more elaborate and complex. More challenging use of sensors with various mechanisms such as shaped, level-based, motorized manipulators will be explored, through building machines, humanoids and animal models.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®.

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Advanced Robot Programming Challenges

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with LEGO® NXT robots

Students focus on more thought provoking and complicated LEGO® Mindstorms NXT software programming challenges. New concepts, such as Bluetooth-based programming, and advanced programming with data hubs, such as logic, math, compare, range, random, variable and constant will be introduced.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®.

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Introduction to Scratch®

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Game Creation – Arcade

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with computers

Students create their own computer video game from the ground up. Using Game Maker® software, our teachers will guide the students through every step of developing a customized functional arcade-style video game. This includes creating various objects such as the player, enemies, bonuses, levels; health, lives; and programming object movements, . In addition to having fun and gaining a sense of accomplishment, students learn drag-and-drop programming, and incorporated logic such as repeat loops, and conditional statements.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, GameMaker® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Game Creation – Car Race

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with computers

In this class, students will create a car racing game with GameMaker®, where the player will control a car (with stereo) to race against a computer controlled race car on a track designed by the student. Image and sprite editing will be part of this class. They will incorporate math concepts such as division, multiplication, relative and absolute values; physics concepts such as acceleration, deceleration, speed, direction and friction; and programming concepts such as variables and if/then statements.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, GameMaker® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Game Creation – Mazes

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with computers

Maze games facilitates the ability to anticipate, to change the mind, and to reverse direction, which stimulates memory, problem solving skills, and faster brain processing. Students will create maze games that will focus on the strategies for good quality games, which encourage the mental flexibilities; and have appropriate age and difficulty level. In additional to implementing strategies, and learning the basic software skills of GameMaker®, students will learn about designing a splash page, changing sprite during the game, reversing directions, moving to new room/level based on scores.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, GameMaker® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Advanced Game Maker – Platform

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Familiar with GameMaker®

Learn the foundation of platform games such as the classic Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog. This class is for those already familiar with GameMaker®, who want to take their game creation skills to the next level. Students will examine gravity, squishing enemies, drawbridges, platforms, bosses, levels, effects, and learn how to keep expanding their skills on game design as well as programming logic.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, GameMaker® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Advanced Game Maker – Fantasy

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Familiar with GameMaker®

Students will learn to create a game of a larger scale and more depth using skills not targeted in our other game classes. Students will use GameMaker® software to work through the creation of a fantasy game with elements such as magic, dragons, fairies, kings, and dungeons. This game will have more challenging plots, non-linear progression through levels, enemies with artificial intelligence. Simple script writing will also be introduced.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, GameMaker® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Game Maker Masters

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with GameMaker®

Become a GameMaker® Master. You will learn advanced techniques, including how to write code, while working on a new Space Tek game. Student must have taken at one GameMaker® class (such as Advanced Game Maker) and be comfortable making games on their own.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, GameMaker® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Photo Comics Creation

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: none

Does your child have a great idea for a comic book or a graphic novel? In this class, students make their photo comics using a digital camera, photo-editing software, clip art and comic templates. The important skills of thinking through a storyline; planning and creating the characters; and writing a plot with dialogue; are all taught in an exciting and stimulating environment.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with all the students’ projects, a trial version of PhotoShop® Elements and ComicLife® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Electronic Music Composition

Ages 9 to 14 Prerequisite: none

Students will create their own music. They will use Apple’s Magic Garageband® software to arrange music tracks and discover genres such as Rock, Jazz, Latin and Funk. They will learn to understand each instrument’s part in the arrangement of a composition. Using Apple Loops and software instruments, they will assemble their own songs and learn basic editing techniques.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, a trial version of Garageband® software and some resource files that were used in class.

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Advanced Music Composition

Ages 9 to 14 Prerequisite: Experience with Garageband®

In this class, students will build on their previous Apple’s Garageband® skills. Students will learn to record, edit and publish their very own songs with the help of MIDI keyboards. They will learn about elements of music like tempo and key signatures while using advanced editing techniques to fine-tune their compositions.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, a trial version of Garageband® software and some resource files that were used in class.

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Make A Movie

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: none

Lights…Camera…Action! Students’ dream of having their favorite LEGO® characters come to life become a reality in our movie making class. Using stop-motion animation and digital post-production editing, students produce LEGO® Brickfilms much like the ones viewed on YouTube. Students learn about developing creative storytelling techniques, incorporating visual and audio special effects. This is a great class to take with friends. Students can take the class as many times as they like.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, a trial version of SAM Animation® software and some resource files that were used in class.

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KidPix

Ages 8 to 14 Prerequisite: none

Teacher will guide the students in creating innovative and fun technology projects. These projects will combine text, colors, shapes, images and audio narration. In addition to learning the basic technical skills of digital graphics, this class will cultivate student’s natural creativity and builds self-confidence.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the all the students’ projects, a trial version of Kid Pix® software, and some resource files that were used in class.

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Bits, Bytes & Beyond

The students will be introduced to stop-motion animated movies with LEGO® bricks and mini-figs; and build and program with LEGO® Mindstorms NXT robots. This class is designed to take into account the needs of younger children, with more breaks and a slower pace.

*Each student takes home a cdrom with the students’ movie projects, a trial version of SAM Animation® software and resource files that were used in class. Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®

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WeDo Robots – Animals

Ages 6 to 7 Prerequisite: none

Using the LEGO® WeDo™ Robotics Set, the students are introduced to simple robotics through building models, attaching sensors and motors, and using a computer to program the model’s behavior. The robots models include dancing birds, drumming monkey, hungry alligator, roaring lion, flapping bird, kicker, goalie and cheering fans. Students will also learn about simple engineering concepts such as pulleys, belts, gears and levels, while having a blast with their creations.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®

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WeDo Robots – Machines

Ages 6 to 7 Prerequisite: none

Our activities provide the opportunity for students to work together to build more complex models with working motors and sensors. These models include an airplane, sailboat, car, tower crane, house and ferris wheel. This class takes the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering Mathematics) concept to the next level, extending the possibilities for creative problem-solving challenges and literacy connections.

*Students will not take home the robots. The robots and the software can be purchased from LEGO®