Summer Courses 2014 Descriptions Morning and Afternoon Courses GRADES 1 2 Dino Detectives Have you ever wondered how paleontologists re- create the world from millions of years ago when dinosaurs roamed the planet? Observe a real Triceratops skeleton and a life- size model of Tyrannosaurus rex in our Dinosaurs exhibit. Investigate evidence left behind with real tracks and fossils, and then make your own. Study the behavior of live animals, including reptiles and birds, and see what can be learned about dinosaurs from these animals behavior. Launch It! Explore force, motion, acceleration, and gravity as you experiment with rockets, catapults, paper airplanes, and more. Design a satellite to float in a vertical wind tube during one of our Design Challenges. Investigate how physics and math can help engineer machines that will blast higher, propel further, and fly longer! (*This course includes an off site field trip across the street to launch rockets) MoS Construction Zone Put on your hard hat and find out what it s like to be an architect or a civil engineer. Learn which shapes make the strongest structures and experiment with balance, tension, and compression. Test out different building materials like foam, wood, and clay as you build bridges, towers, and disaster- proof homes. Mini-Mini Med School Get ready to put on your lab coat, don a stethoscope, and become a doctor! Start by learning medical lingo (stat), building a skeleton, and looking at x- rays for broken bones. Move on to studying a sheep s heart and lungs. Next up, learn why you cough and sneeze when you have a cold, and then explore the brain and nervous system. End the week by going on rounds in a mini ER where your family members become the patients. Learn to use basic first aid materials to help the wounded. Magical Science Learn the physics and chemistry behind magic tricks and optical illusions. Experiment with fun, unusual types of matter such as bubbles and slime. Make things glow in the dark and change colors. Learn card and coin tricks, and then show off your new magic skills during Friday s family magic show! Animal Adventures From tails to wings to scales, learn what makes animals different yet alike at the same time. Investigate what animals eat and where they live through creative play, crafts, and stories. Explore museum exhibits such as A Bird s World, Natural Mysteries and the Butterfly Garden. End the week by presenting what you have learned about a favorite animal to your family. Students will not be handling or touching living animals, but will have the opportunity to observe and learn about some of the exciting live animals at the museum.
GRADES 3 5 Blast Off with Rockets! Build your own water rocket and see how your model relates to single- and multi- stage rockets, as well as the latest rocket designs from NASA. Discover the concepts of lift, pitch, and yaw, and attempt to make flight path predictions for the rockets. End the week with a bang by shooting off a rocket you build yourself! (*This course includes an off site field trip) Jr. Museum Guide Go behind the scenes and become a real Museum guide. Learn how museums create exhibits and how we care for our animals. Practice your skills teaching science in our Exhibit Halls and perform a demonstration for Museum visitors and your family! Cooking Is Chemistry Who needs a lab when you have a kitchen? Putting together a recipe often means preparing a chemical reaction. Learn how chemistry changes the properties of matter by watching bread dough rise or by frying an egg, and explore how acids and bases influence our food. Space Explorers Visit outer space without leaving the planet! Blast off to discover a world beyond Earth. Learn about stars, planets, and moons with a Star Lab projection, telescope demonstration, and solar observations of the Sun. Invent It! Explore the many inventions housed in the Museum s Exhibit Halls including the world s largest air- insulated Van de Graaff generator and our giant audiokinetic sculpture. Find out who made them and how they work. Then create your own contraption. Choose to design a model roller coaster, make your own lava lamp, or build a mini robot! (*This course includes an off site field trip) Paleontology: Dinosaurs and Beyond Explore the exciting field of paleontology as you discover that dinosaurs aren t the only things these scientists dig up. Uncover what fossils can tell us about extinct species and make a tar pit to sink specimens. Meet the Museum s live animals and learn about their characteristics to help you understand what extinct species were like. Then put your skills to the test to solve a mystery millions of years in the making! Grossology Get ready to get dirty and experience the gross side of science! Touch dinosaur poop, make snot, and perform a dissection. Have fun with these disgusting discoveries. Science Magic Become a master science magician as you concoct mixtures, read minds, and learn card and coin tricks. Discover the physics and chemistry behind magic tricks and optical illusions. Make things appear, disappear, levitate, and change color using mirrors, magnets, and more. On Friday, show off your new skills during our family magic show! Spy Camp Join the Museum of Science Special Agent team. Uncover secret information as you create and solve mysterious codes with your friends. Build spy gadgets and design your own disguise. Train your mind to remember details and use your observational skills to crack the case.
Bugging Out! Discover the many amazing adaptations bugs have, and how much they influence our lives. Explore how insects, arthropods and arachnids are helpful, harmful and how some have even inspired human inventions and technologies. Throughout the week get up close and personal with some of the Museum s live specimens and hunt for your own cool critters outside. GRADES 6 8 Mini Med School Be a medical student for a week! Learn about physiology, anatomy, and staying healthy. Explore research and topics that are in today s headlines: cardiac health, exercise and wellness, cancer, and other diseases. (*This course includes an off site field trip) Chemistry with a Bang Explore the basics of chemistry in the Museum s Suit/Cabot Lab. Put your newfound knowledge to the test by creating chemical compounds that react with exciting results. Discover what makes something acidic or basic and light up your week by making things glow. Fact or Fiction? Is that really true? Discover the myths and misconceptions behind amazing phenomena. Design and build prototypes to determine if well- known beliefs stand up to the test of science. (*This course includes an off site field trip) Space Beyond Our Sphere Discover the mysteries of space and time through deep space exploration in our renovated Planetarium. Build a working telescope and participate in a NASA research project to further our understanding of astronomy. Photography Develop your picture- taking eye and create your own camera. Experiment with high- speed imaging, digital pictures, and stop- action photography. Learn the science behind what goes on in a darkroom while you develop your own photographs! Crime Lab Boston Many have seen the television show CSI, but how much of it is reality? Learn about forensic science and the tools that scientists use to collect and analyze trace evidence. Explore how we use forensic evidence to test our hypotheses on everything from fossil records to today s crimes. Live Animal Center Internship Work in the Live Animal Center to learn about our scaly, furry, and feathered friends - - where they come from, how they live, and how to care for them. Assist the staff by helping to clean, feed, and handle a variety of animals. On your last day, give your family a tour of the Live Animal Center, demonstrating your new knowledge and skills. Please note: many animal diets include tree nuts. This course is not recommended for students with nut, other food allergies, fur, animal dander, and any other allergies.
Full Day Courses Mario-Style Game Creator (grades 3 4) Enjoy playing Mario Style Games? Learn how to create and program your very own 2D Platformer Video Game! Add sprites, boss, backgrounds, projectiles and use basic code to make their Player do various tasks and functions. Explore basic programming constructs for making games and showcase your game to friends and family on Friday! No programming experience required! Gizmos, Robots and Coding (grades 3 4) Explore robots that fly, can move on rugged terrains, and learn concepts of programmable ipad gadgets- ranging from digital door locks to multicolor ceiling lights to toasters and flying quadcopters. Next learn to program directly on the ipad (no PC required). Programs created on the ipad will control lights, EV3 Lego Robots, RC Cars, sensing temperature/humidity information. Show off the next gen gizmos to friends and family. No programming experience required! iphone Video Game Design (grades 3 4 & 5 8) Enjoy playing Candy Crush or Angry Birds style iphone games? Learn to explore design and development process to create video games for the iphone and share with friends and family. No iphone device or programming experience required! Build/Program Smart RC Cars (grades 3 4 & 5 7) Inspired by the self- driving Google Car, make a driverless Super- RC car that is controlled using a powerful thumb sized Arduino computer chip. This car can work as an RC car, a computer controlled car or a smartphone controlled car. Learn about computer chips, electronics and have fun racing your driver- less cars with friends. Take home your Smart Car and continue Arduino Programming. No programming experience required! Lego Engineering (grades 3 4) Build NXT/EV3 LEGO robots to solve terrestrial or space missions. Show off your creations to friends and family during a robot parade, with music, on Friday! Make, Design, Engineer! (grades 3 4 & 5 7) Learn to build boats, hovercrafts and amphibious cars that really work! If you enjoy tinkering with electronic and mechanical objects, and want to create our own, this is your opportunity. Learn the basic of digital electronics, force, torque, acceleration, sensors, solar cells and microcontrollers and join this growing group as Junior Maker! Share your creativity with friends and family!
2D XBOX Game Creator (grades 5 7) Program a video game that can be played on the PC or XBOX. Create your own Sprites, Backgrounds, Score and Projectiles. Explore XBOX Program techniques to load your game on the XBOX. Share your XBOX game with friends and family. No XBOX or programming experience required! 3D XBOX Game Creator (grades 5 7) Create 3D games on the PC and XBOX using a simple visual programming language. Be creative and learn problem solving, storytelling, as well as programming skills. Learn new design or programming skills to build games using a visual programming language. No Programming experience required! DIY Toy Design (grades 3 4 & 5 7) Explore 3D printing! 3D printing takes a three dimensional digital design and prints it into a solid object using a 3D printer. In this class you ll learn to model and print your own three- dimensional objects - it could be your favorite cartoon characters or a cover for your smartphone or a toy - using a 3D printer. Show off your creations to friends and family!