College for Kids Program Listing




 

Lego Robotics

Learn to design, build, and program Lego NXT Robots with Nick Swayne. You'll learn how the physics of torque, torsion and stress affect robot performance. Learn how to program all the sensors and motors, software loops and switches, and parallel program execution.  The class will end with a mini-competition based on this year's FIRST Lego League Power Puzzle Challenge.

Digital Storytelling
Do you have a personal story to share?  Put your ideas on paper, bring relevant photos and other digital files, and get ready for fun!  In this course we will learn scriptwriting, digital photography, audio recording, and the software to pull it all together.  The final product will be one or more, 3 to 5 minute digital story appropriate for sharing on the internet or DVD.  Remember, stories should be meaningful to you, personally.

Art and the Ancient World

Curious about the ancient world? Come learn how people lived from 30,000 BC to 400 AD.  We'll study prehistoric caves, Egyptian tombs, Greek sports, and Roman cities... then you'll make your projects the way the ancients would have.  You'll also get to visit the Madison Art Collection for a lab with real objects.  We'll end by creating an exhibit of your work!

Famous Artists

Come exercise your creative talents in a class where we will talk about famous artists, their work and create your own! Action painting with Jackson Pollack, collage art with Romare Bearden, and repetition with Andy Warhol will be just a few of our inspirations as we learn about the fundamentals of art: line, space, shape, form, color, value and texture!

 

Steel Drums

Through direct experience playing steel drums and hand percussion, Michael Overman will teach students foundational music skills such as: melody and scales, harmony and chords, rhythm, counting, timing, fitting into the various roles in an ensemble, and performance practice. They will also learn: the history of the steel drum, how it grew out of the culture of the West Indies, Trinidad in particular; the construction, building and tuning processes used in creating the instruments. Some of the music learned will include traditional melodies of the Islands, well-known folk and children's songs of North America, and other surprises.

 

Video Game Design and Production

Justin Creasy from Immerge Technology will introduce students to core concepts of software design. The focus of the class will be video game programming.  Each student will learn about software programming and finish the class by creating their own video game. The software we'll be using is a free program developed by Carnegie Melon University specifically for this purpose, so students will be able to continue their work after the class is completed. Up to 40 students can enroll in this class, which will then be split into two courses, working on separate projects.

 

Visualize/VisualEyes

We are surrounded by information and data every day; how do we make sense of it? Faculty from several scientific disciplines will come together to introduce students to the ways that they consider, understand, and evaluate the patterns and ideas that they see.  Come learn what a six-foot diameter sphere, a wall of video screens, a planetarium, GPS tools, and chemistry all have in common, and how they all help you understand the world around you.

A Taste of World Languages

Have you ever wondered what it's like to read or write from right to left? Do you want to learn how to write your name in Arabic? Do you want to read about Sinbad and Aladdin and other Arab heroes? Then join us for a trip through the Arab world, language and culture. Then become acquainted with the Russian language -- you'll get an introduction to the alphabet, learn basic words, numbers, and simple dialogs. Finally, spend some time learning about the foods of both cultures, and learn to cook one recipe from a Russian culture and one from an Arabic culture.  Taste the world around you!

The Play's the Thing

Explore the fun of Shakespeare while creating a performance of your own! Learn about characters, costuming, clowning and combat from an Education-Artist from the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA.

Future Filmmakers of America (FFA)

Learn how cutting-edge technology and the age-old desire to tell a story come together in the form of Digital Cinema with Rich Clemens. Be informative and hip, as an independent filmmaker while also offering a perspective from the producers, directors and actors in the business side of the art. Throughout, filmmakers' experiences will demonstrate how digital video will evolve into the cinematic medium of the future.

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