Camp Descriptions

This camp is perfect for middle school students who have not done any programming so far. It uses drag and drop programming, which means no syntax errors! You can convert your idea to code quickly and see it in action! You can code 3D animations or games with ease. Alice comes with a powerful graphics library that minimizes coding effort. Visit utdallas.edu/~jeyv/alice to preview the content.

Alice camp requires Windows PC/laptop or MacBook. Chromebook will NOT work. Alice tool can be downloaded from alice.org/get-alice/alice-2 (English Gallery Complete is preferred). See the detailed instructions here.

Day 1: Scene Setup, Our first program with Coach & Penguin
Day 2: Dog & Cat, Loop-the-loop by Sea Plane
Day 3: Person walking back & forth (IF statements), coordinated hand movements
Day 4: Array of objects, sophisticated group dance
Day 5: Frog jumping game

This is an introductory camp to the fundamentals of web development using HTML and CSS to structure and design a webpage. HTML and CSS are core languages in the content creation of web pages and web applications. Through this camp, the students will be introduced to the syntax, organization, and abilities of both HTML and CSS. Students will learn the technical skills of structuring an HTML document with the compatible styling capabilities of CSS. Through hands-on demos and instruction, students will be building and designing a webpage, and learn skills that will be the foundation to a self-sufficient and knowledgeable coder.

Any text editor will work for this camp, but we prefer Sublime text or notepad++ for syntax highlighting to catch silly mistakes.

Day 1: HTML, HTML5 tags
Day 2: HTML forms, HTML tables
Day 3: HTML examples, CSS
Day 4: JavaScript
Day 5: A project using all the concepts

This camp uses the Khan Academy JavaScript environment, which features a web-page with coding area and virtual canvas area for output. As you type the code, output appears/changes. This friendly environment comes with a powerful graphics library that minimizes the coding effort. utdallas.edu/~jeyv/kajs has a few examples if you would like to review.

There is no software to install and all the work is done in a website. Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browser is required since IE does not work well.

khanacademy.org is a popular site for school students - most of them should have an account there already. If not, we encourage you to create one so that the programs can be stored for future reference. We will start the coding journey at khanacademy.org/computer-programming/new/pjs.

Day 1: Drawing Basics, Coloring, Variables, Animations
Day 2: Mouse Interactions, Functions
Day 3: Local and Global Variables, If Statements
Day 4: While Loops, For Loops
Day 5: Intro to Arrays

Google Sheets (similar to Microsoft Excel, but it is FREE!) is a powerful tool essential for managing and presenting data in today’s classrooms & workplaces. In this camp, students will learn to create and edit worksheets, use formulas and functions, sort and filter detail data visually, and present summary information in a consumable and professional format. Then we will cover advanced features like PivotTables & What-if Analysis.

Day 1: Working with Formulas and Functions- Introduction, Creating Formulas that manipulate Text. Working with Dates and Times. Creating Formulas that Count and Sums Values.
Day 2: Creating Formulas that look up Values, Miscellaneous Calculation.
Day 3: Introduction Formulas and Functions, Working with Formulas and Functions, Creating Formulas that manipulate, Sum, and Count Values.
Day 4: Introducing Array Formulas, Performing Magic with Array Formulas.
Day 5: Analyzing Data with Pivot Tables, Performing Spreadsheet What-If Analysis.

Day 1: cells (cellular respiration)
Day 2: body systems (case studies)
Day 3: genetics (murder mystery)
Day 4: evolution and ecology (creating and ecosystem)
Day 5- piecing together information presented to solve a scenario.

This camp uses p5js environment (improved version of Khan Academy JavaScript environment), which features a web-page with coding area and virtual canvas area for output. As you type the code, output appears/changes. This friendly environment comes with a powerful graphics library that minimizes the coding effort. editor.p5js.org/jeyv/sketches has a few examples if you would like to review.

There is no software to install and all the work is done in a website. Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome browser is required since IE does not work well. Go to editor.p5js.org and click on the top-right corner to create an account so that your programs can be stored in the web. Here is a sample agenda for 4 days:

Day 1: Drawing Basics, Coloring, Variables, Introduction to Animations
Day 2: Mouse Interactions, Functions
Day 3: If Statements, While & for loops
Day 4: Intro to Arrays
Day 5: Cyber-flowers, Recursive trees

Java is a popular language that is used to program tiny devices to complex software applications!

While there are several IDEs available to develop Java code, we will use web-based IDE to get going quickly. Please visit repl.it and create a free account. Then, you can start at repl.it/new/java10 and create programs and store in the web as well. This camp will cover the following concepts using hands-on activities.

Day 1: First program, user input & output, variables
Day 2: If-else statements,
Day 3: for and while loops
Day 4: static methods
Day 5: Problem solving using IF statements and loops

Java basics camp covers the basic building blocks of the language. This next level camp will cover the advanced level topics using hands-on examples.

Day 1: Arrays
Day 2: Strings
Day 3: ArrayLists
Day 4: Recursion
Day 5: More problem solving

This is a perfect camp for high school students who have not done any coding so far.

Day 1: Basic Scratch projects
Day 2: Advanced Scratch projects
Day 3: Microbits projects / Basic Alice projects
Day 4: Microbits projects / Advanced Alice projects
Day 5: Machine Learning with Scratch / Khan Academy JavaScript

Python is a friendly & powerful language to develop the software applications quickly!

While there are several IDEs available to develop Python code, we will use web-based IDE to get going quickly. Please visit repl.it and create a free account. Then, you can start at repl.it/new/python3 and create programs and store in the web as well.

Day 1: First program, user input & output, variables
Day 2: If-else statements
Day 3: Loops
Day 4: Strings
Day 5: Functions

Python basics camp covers the basic building blocks of the language. This next level camp will cover the advanced level topics using hands-on examples.

Day 1: Review of basic Python structures
Day 2: Lists
Day 3: Dictionaries
Day 4: Combination of Lists & Dictionaries
Day 5: Introduction to NumPy