Course Descriptions

Topic: Challenges of Engineering
Developed by: MIT Edgerton Center

3D printing is revolutionizing our ability to bring ideas to life, and now it's your turn. In this hands-on course, you will be challenged to rethink how you think - you live in a 3D world, but do you think and problem-solve in 3D? Work among a creative team of flourishing inventors to brainstorm, sketch, model, print, and build 3D parts. By the end of the week, you will have the knowledge and skills to utilize 3D thinking, 3D modeling with Tinkercad, and 3D printing as tools to solve problems in your everyday world!

Topic: Challenges of Engineering
Developed by: MIT Edgerton Center

Smartphones and tablets have changed computing and the world. This is your opportunity to build an app that will improve your community. In this course you will design and develop Android apps using MIT App Inventor. After an introduction to App Inventor and app design, you will work in small groups to brainstorm an app concept, prototype your concept, and build a working app.

If humans continue to deplete resources on Planet Earth, will there come a time when we need to create a settlement somewhere else in our solar system? In this course, students will explore what it might take to set up a Moon colony – what materials they will need to bring, how the very different lunar environment might impact the way they live, and what challenges they would face to survive on the Moon. Students will investigate impacts of the lunar environment and construct models of possible colonies to meet specific criteria and constraints.

Topic: Life Sciences
Developed by: Jessica Cohen, PhD

Have you ever wondered how law enforcement uses science to catch criminals? Have you ever watched a crime show on television and questioned if the techniques they were using are real? If so, this is the course for you! Through this course you will become a member of a crime scene unit and learn how to act a crime scene, gather evidence and analyze data. You will learn about fingerprints, fibers, hair, dental impressions, tool marks, blood spatter and much more!

In this course, students will be introduced to key concepts and skills of kinetic sculpture, including balance, gearing, energy sources and design-oriented thinking. They will use the work of Alexander Calder, George Rhodes, Anne Lilly and Arthur Ganson as examples of various forms of moving sculpture. Each day they use the principles they learn as the basis for their own creations, and at the end of the week they’ll bring together their complete array of new skills to create a large-scale, chain-reaction-type work of art.

Topic: Challenges of Engineering
Developed by: Bose and Nate Piper

Our devices are full of speakers and microphones-- but how do they work? Explore the physics and mathematics of sound, the physiology of the human ear, and learn how we can harness electromagnetism to create sounds from electrical signals. Learn how engineers manipulate electrical signals to emulate different instruments and how sounds are synthesized to create music. Using BoseBUILD technology from the Bose Corporation, we will design and build electronic sensor-controlled instruments and play them together in a BoseBUILD Band!

Medical robotics has been and will continue to be a fast-growing and critical field of study. Students will investigate the current uses of robotics in medicine, and learn how robots are helping people, simplifying procedures, and saving lives all over the world. They will design, build and program robots that emulate surgical robots and personal-care robots to provide assistance to patients in need.

Topic: Genetics, DNA & The Human Body
Developed by: New York Hall of Science

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a physician or surgeon? In this course, you will investigate how the body works by participating in a range of hands-on activities, such as dissections and construction of life-sized physiological system maps (skeletal, nervous, circulatory, immune). You will conduct simulated surgeries, perform biopsies, and learn how to suture. You will also learn about important medical/surgical breakthroughs and famous medical marvels throughout history.