[Week 01] Afternoon ProgramsSummer Programs 2023

NOTE: We are still processing all the photos taken this week. We will continue to update this post with more photos as they are uploaded.

CREATOR SPACE
This week we set up our sketchbooks for our daily doodle exercises, learned how to do basic friendship bracelets from yarn, and started working on our tessellation “tile” drawing that will be part of our display for open house. We finished the week by getting into groups to begin planning our board game design.

DRAMA: STARS ON STAGE

MINECRAFT
This week in Minecraft class we went over the basics of how to play Minecraft! After playing through a few tutorials, we began our learning adventure through Minecraft with some Art-based worlds. Students explored cool worlds and completed art-related projects that will inspire their future builds. At the end of the week, students worked together to showcase what they learned through build challenges.

ROBOTICS WITH LEGO EV3
This first week of class, students began their first day by exploring their Lego EV3 kits, and on the second day, started programming their robots. This week, and over the course of this class, students will be given new design challenges to attempt every one or two days, such as building and programming their robots to drive to one end of the room and back, or picking up plastic balls and collecting them.

ROBOTICS WITH LEGO WEDO
This week, our class familiarized themselves with the Lego kits and got to know each other better by working in different groups every day. On Tuesday, the students worked together in groups to build their rovers and help each other program the rovers. When the rovers were ready, the groups had a race to see whose rover went the fastest. When some of the groups had problems connecting the rover engines to the iPad or questions about programming, students from other groups helped them so everyone could participate in the race. On Thursday, two groups worked together to coordinate both of their rovers working together to pull a little plant. There was a race at the end with 4 rovers. We’re so proud of their teamwork!

ROBOTICS WITH VEX
During the first week of the VEX Robotics class, students were introduced to the components of the VEX Robotics kit and engaged in hands-on activities. They explored the different VEX parts to understand their functions. To start, students worked in groups to build a simple wheeled robot, added motors to it, and learned to control them using the programming software. They also learned about gears and gearboxes and experimented with how to integrate them into the robot’s design. The week concluded with a design challenge where students used their knowledge and creativity to design robots for specific tasks, fostering problem-solving skills and teamwork. The emphasis is on practical learning, collaboration, and laying the foundation for robot construction.

JOURNEY TO THE STARS
Space is infinite and can be a tough concept to wrap your head around, especially for our youngest students. During week one, our junior astronomers focused on our own Solar System and what makes it so special. We talked about

• Our sun
• Terrestrial (Rocky) Planets
• Gaseous Planets (The gas giants)
• Gravity
• The difference between a meteor and comet

We also explored our artistic side by creating models, drawings, and paintings of each planet within our solar system.

STORY ART, SMART ART, LET’S GET ARTED
We started the week by doing some ice breakers to get to know one another. Then we worked together as a class to create agreements and followed up with establishing our daily routines for the class. Our first project was creating our “small” moment story, a picture book with illustrations created by the students. They also created an all-about-me, where they drew a self-portrait with adjectives that describe themselves.

UNDERSEA EXPLORERS
This week students learned about the ocean’s different zones as well as created a visual representation using liquids of different density. Students also ventured outside the classroom to experience a seabird hunt around campus using binoculars, identification cards, and teamwork! Lastly, students played a friendly game to compete and understand which style of beak (using tweezers or chopsticks) is most beneficial for different foraging activities.