Elementary Workshops

In this workshop, students will be exploring the insulating properties of different substances and materials, and how engineers use these properties to design ways to keep us, our structures, and our machines the correct temperature.

 Curriculum Links: Conservation of Energy, Heat in the Environment, Energy in Our Lives, Properties of Liquids and Solids, Interactions in the Environment, Needs and Characteristics of Living Things

What floats your boat? In this workshop, students explore the principles of buoyancy and the design of ships. Students will have the opportunity to design, build and test their ships in class. Interested in taking this further? The advanced workshop asks students in grade 7 and 8 to design and 3D print elements of their ships.

Curriculum Links: Objects and Structures, Movement, Buoyancy, Stable Structures, Properties of Matter, Form, Function, and Design, Fluids, Systems in Action

Students will explore fundamental concepts, from light's dual nature to the electromagnetic spectrum, and instructors will guide students in constructing their own spectroscope - a hands-on tool revealing the mysteries of light's interaction with matter.

Curriculum Link: Light (waves/particles, electromagnetic spectrum)

In this workshop, students will learn about the world of traffic lights and how electricity plays an important role within society. Through the engineering design process, students will design and test traffic lights; thinking as an electrical engineer. An advanced version of the workshop is available for higher grades to practice their coding skills and optimize how the light functions.

 Curriculum Links: Light and Sound, Electrical Devices

Students will delve into the interconnectedness of bodily systems while designing a prosthetic leg. Through hands-on activity, participants will unravel the intricacies of anatomy, physiology, and biomechanics, guided by instructors.

Curriculum Link: Biology (human body and body systems)

How do robots work? In this workshop, students will experiment by controlling a robot's direction and speed using drawn commands on paper.

Curriculum Links: Coding. This workshop covers how to use simple commands to move a robot on a course at different speeds

Want to sort data or play games but don't know how to code? Now you won’t need to! In this workshop students will explore block programming to learn the basics of controlling inputs and outputs on a computer.

Curriculum Links: Coding and probability

Python is a common programming language that is widely used in the sciences. It is also one of the most popular programming languages in the world. This workshop introduces students to the basics of coding in python such as assigning variables, if/then statements, and performing simple tasks (e.g., making a calculator) in preparation for high school.

Curriculum Links: Coding. Teachers can request certain topics (e.g., loops, conditional statements) be covered depending on what they’re teaching in class

Student will learn about engineering's importance, programming's real-world applications, and input/output logic. The focus varies based on grade levels:

• Grades 1 - 2: Learners grasp ecosystem concepts, types, and basic food chain systems. They practically apply this by creating ecosystems in Bloxels, including environments and pixel art animals. Understanding input's impact on character movement in the app is a key takeaway.

• Grades 3 - 4: Students gain familiarity with Bloxels' environment, explore engineering and programming's significance, and delve into diverse ecosystems and food chains. They employ pixel art to craft animals and ecosystems, extending learning to predator-prey dynamics. Adding predator characters and utilizing game elements like power-ups deepen understanding.

• Grades 6 - 7: Similarly introduced to Bloxels, these students tackle engineering, programming, ecosystems, and food chains, while also mastering scientific terminology for their game development. They construct prey and predator characters, using power-ups, multiple characters, and checkpoints for added complexity, showcasing an advanced comprehension of ecosystem dynamics and game design.

Curriculum Links: Coding, Biology (biodiversity and ecosystems)

Students will have the opportunity to explore the Bloxels application and create a gaming environment of the story, The Three Little Pigs. While students learn about engineering and its applications, programming significance in the real world, programming input and output controls logic as a software/game developer, they will also be able to learn basic literary structure of a story. Grasping terms like beginning, middle (climax), end, protagonist, antagonist, setting, and story repetition, students will master these concepts by recreating the story in Bloxels by using pixel art to create characters, settings and power-ups to make their plot more interesting.

Curriculum Links: Coding, Literacy