Beyond the Frameworks: art and Technology 

Creativity Stations: These are 5-session 'exploratories' intended to ACQUAINT students with various artS and technologies, as a stimulus for further in-depth study.

Examples:

Creative Computing

 Challenge yourself with your choice of digital tools featuring just-right (for you) programming! Remix existing projects or start new ones. Work individually or collaboratively on animations, games, storytelling, art, 3-D models … let your imagination shine! Share your work with classmates, and occasionally show-tell in class.

Creative Digital Media

Go deeper into image and video editing and creation in this course exploring professional-grade Adobe Creative Cloud software. Students will learn to create and edit their own images, audio, and video in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere, allowing them to transform and present their original ideas while implementing their skills in drawing, animation, and writing.

Ooey Gooey Science

Create, make and design your own Slime, Puttys and Sands. Students will explore the physics behind non-Newtonian fluids while getting a little messy!

Green Hearts

We will be preparing the garden for fall, planning and planting fall and winter veggies, designing, building, and painting new containers and planters and helping to construct our new playground garden!

Paper Circuits & Art

Let’s learn about simple electrical circuits while we make art and add lights to our projects! 

Stop Motion Animation
Bring your cinematic vision to life with stop motion animation, using Legos, clay, stuffed animals, and just about anything else you can get your hands on.

Woodworking Studio
Do you enjoy designing and creating projects in wood? This class is intended for students who want to explore their creative vision in the medium of wood. Space is very limited! Students are expected to be self-directed, show follow through, and adhere to safety guidelines.

Robotics with Mr. Jonathan
We will build and program robots and battlebots using a variety of hardware and software platforms, including mBots+mBlock Scratch, Lego EV3+Lego Classroom Edition, and Microbit +MakeCode.

Engineering Design and Graphics with Mr. Jonathan
We will learn the basics of technical sketching(unplugged) including the alphabet of lines, multiview drawing, dimensioning, and more. We will then use these sketches as the basis for computer-aided design using SketchUp and OnShape

Exploring Electronics with Micro:bit
Students will design, build, program and test microcontroller-based electronics using the Microbit microcontroller system( https://microbit.org/ ) and MakeCode(https://makecode.microbit.org/ ), a drag-and-drop programming environment. 

Devices that can be created include step-counters, dazzling visual displays using Neopixel LEDs, plant watering systems, robotics and control systems, science experiments, games, and much, much more!

Drawing Beautiful Shapes with Sacred Geometry
In this Creativity Station we will explore the interface of geometry and spirituality, drawing sacred geometry derived from Islamic architecture, Indian mandalas, Jewish Kabbalah, and Christian Gothic traditions using both traditional tools such as straightedge and compass, and digital tools such as Adobe Illustrator and PhotoShop

Quilting Basics
Learn principles of quilt design, fabric cutting, machine sewing, and quilting as you put together your own little nine-patch style quilt! 

Textile Magic
Explore textile art with a different technique each week. We will complete small projects in felting, quilting, embroidery, electronic sewable circuits and more. You turn a collection of your techniques into a fabric book, a quilt or a wall hanging! 

Music and Audio Production
Create your own songs  and sound effects - however funky, mellow, loud, or silly you want them to be - using music software. Learn the basics of multitrack recording, editing, and mixing in a digital environment, and let loose your inner producer!

Hydrodynamics
How do boats and fish move through water? How does water move through machines like dams and turbines? Hone your engineering skills designing, operating and troubleshooting structures and machines that interact with water.  You’ll also build and use a “wave table” to model the ocean’s movements!

Mask Making
For thousands of years, people have created and used masks for diverse purposes such as festivals, rituals, ceremonies, theater, dance, and more. In this class, you’ll make masks using many different materials and techniques, and discover your own style while designing one-of-a-kind creations that express your personal vision. 

Photoshop
Learn the basics of Adobe Photoshop for both photo-editing “professional style” and just for FUN with your photography! Learn different selection techniques, color and tonal corrections and some great fun filters for turning your images into MASTERPIECES! We’ll have some fun exercises for using your Photo program to get exactly the results you want! Seeya soon!!

      Code together with LEGO SPIKE 

Collaborate with others to create and code using LEGO SPIKE kits, both inspired by existing projects and from scratch from the ground up! Explore new ways of solving problems and collaborating in a team in order to complete the computing tasks presented and expand upon prompts provided. And at the end, use the teamwork and creative skills learned to come up with your own idea to share at the final museum walk!

        Paper Arts: Upcycle Craft Fair

Make products out of recycled paper! Projects include notebooks with sewn bindings and pop-up cards. Successful items will be sold at the the Craft Fair during our last Museum Walk. All money earned is donated to ACERA Scholarships.

      Hyperbolic Blanket

Use geometry and sewing skills to create your own fleece Hyperbolic Blanket with Ms. Alison and Ms. Claudia. In this class, you’ll learn how flat shapes can create a three-dimensional surface as you cut and sew the pieces of your blanket.