STEAM

STARBASE KITS  STARBASE Minnesota STEM Unit & Kits for Schools: Destination Mars meets MN standards and fuels the future. Developed and tested by teachers, this hands-on STEM curriculum is an engaging, high-quality lesson that is out of this world! Ready-to-use kits and supplies for each student encourage problem solving, critical thinking skills, and creativity in an environment where teachers shine and students soar.

OUTDOOR EDUCATION  Each elementary school takes part in a nature-based education model of instruction that partners and aligns rigorous academic standards with the social emotional needs of each child in the natural environment. These learning models provide innovative outdoor play experiences for children that benefit the mind, body, and senses. In addition, this form of STEAM programming educates families, teachers, and the community about the critical links among play, nature, and healthy childhood developments.

MEDIA ARTS/CODING 7  This course will introduce students to coding. They will be exposed to several coding languages for web page design, app and game development. Students will learn how these concepts and programs can be used with the engineering design process to solve problems. The course will utilize web-based coding opportunities.

FLIGHT, SPACE, AND ELECTRONS The purpose of this unit is to introduce the students to aeronautics, space, and electronics. They learn about Newton’s Laws of Motion, forces, rockets, propulsion, and what makes things fly. Students acquire and apply knowledge and skills in engineering, problem solving, and explore the many aspects of aerospace engineering. Through hands-on projects, students explore the science of electricity, the movement of atoms, circuit design, and sensing devices. Students acquire knowledge and skills in basic circuitry design and explore the impact of electricity on our lives. 

AEROSPACE ENGINEERING  This course propels students’ learning in the fundamentals of atmospheric and space flight. As they explore the physics of flight, they learn basic orbital mechanics using industry-standard software. Aerospace Engineering explores the evolution of flight, navigation and control, flight fundamentals, aerospace materials, propulsion, space travel and orbital mechanics. This course will further augment the learning from the 8th grade Flight, Space, and Electrons course currently offered.

INTRO TO GAME DEVELOPMENT This course focuses on the development of 2D and 3D interactive games. Students explore the design of such childhood games as Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, and Portal in a quest to understand how video games themselves are implemented. Via lectures and hands-on projects, the course explores principles of 2D and 3D graphics, animation, sound, and collision detection using the Unity Engine. By class's end, students will have programmed several of their own games and gained a thorough understanding of the basics of game design and development.

CODE DRONES + CODE A VIDEO GAME  Discover this groundbreaking technology as students in grades 2-5 have a blast learning to code drones AND to program an exhilarating drone-inspired Video game! Also know as UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles), kids in small teams code a drone to obey their every command. Have a blast as you develop a flight plan so the drone goes through loops and turns to reach the objective. THEN learn to code an action packed drone inspired video game to take home.

3D PRINTING AND COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN  Intended for students in grades 1-3, this 3D printing camp takes students through the 3D printing process of industrial design, manufacturing, and software engineering. Students will design 3D objects using TinkerCAD and use the 3D slicing program Cura to bring their creations to life. This course serves as an excellent introduction to 3D printing and is ideal for students who like to draw, design, imagine and see their creations come to life.