Past Courses

Although Inquiring Minds is paused for 2021, you can see
a sampling of our previous courses below.

Kids looking at laptop

Session Dates:

Session I: June 22nd - June 26th
Session II: July 6th - July 13th

Class Size:

Limit to 15 students per class

What You'll Need:

A computer with camera, speakers or headphones, microphone, and the Zoom client installed (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.-- whatever works for you).
Supply boxes will be provided as needed for each class by the teacher prior to the start of the class. These will be available for pickup, and we'll email you to let you know if and when your supply boxes are ready.

9 AM: Technology Marvels that Changed Our Lives

Grades 2nd-6th
Nothing has changed the world more than new technologies that become widely used. Fire, the horse collar, agriculture, the wheel, and plumbing were all once revolutionary new technologies that transformed the way people live. Look around you - every bridge, building, car, boat, aircraft, and spacecraft you see today was once just a dream in somebody’s head. What dreams are in your head? Join us as you design your own future! Why do some ideas become reality while others do not? Try your hand at forecasting, planning your own city, or plotting a technology revolution. Discover some new technologies that didn’t work out as planned, and some that turned out better than expected. We’ll investigate the latest research and engineer an incredible new future.

10 AM: Around the World in 5 Days: An Exploration of Food and Culture

Grades 2nd-6th
Explore the food, culture, and history of countries around the world. Travel to Egypt and learn the ingredients of falafel and mahshi while visiting the capital city of Cairo. Discover Piccadilly Circus and Big Ben on a search for the best fish and chips in London. Wonder at the beauty of the Taj Mahal. Awaken your senses with the smells and tastes of jasmine and spices in India. A final stop to the island of Japan will bring you to the populous city of Tokyo. Here you’ll learn to make tempura and pickled vegetables while learning about the art of Manga. Make a journal to keep track of your travels, record facts, and recipes from each country. You’ll be ready to travel with the knowledge of culture, customs, and food from around the world.

11 AM: Fantasy Island

Grades 2nd-6th
Come plan, develop, and build your very own island! Whether it be based on real world or fantasy fiction - it will be yours to create. Where will it be located? What does it look like? What language do you speak? What kind of creatures inhabit your island? Is there anything magical about your island? Do you have money or even need it? Just imagine creating every aspect of your island - based on what you know and where you have been perhaps. You’ll learn about real islands, send a message in a bottle, and an SOS for help! Share your island with others by giving them a tour. There is so much planning to do….we must get going!

1 PM: Clay Techniques from Around the World

Grades 2nd-6th
For over 25,000 years, humans across the globe have shaped, decorated, and fired clay. Despite great differences in location and time, universal themes appear in the world’s ceramic traditions, including religious influences, human and animal representations. Join us on an adventure around the world as we learn about pottery from different time periods and places. We’ll become potters and sculptors and learn how to play with ideas such as scale, multiples, detailing, texture, and craftsmanship while learning the basics of hand-building techniques in clay. Did you know that pottery is one of the most useful finds in archeology? Together we’ll recreate an archeology site and gain an understanding of the vast amount of information a simple piece of pottery holds.

2 PM: Household Chemistry at Your Kitchen Table

Grades 2nd-6th
Chemistry is the branch of science that studies matter and its properties, and how different elements interact, combine, and change to form new substances. Are you ready to study these properties and interactions? Starting with lab safety, we’ll learn best practices for conducting science demonstrations and investigations. As we conduct experiments with liquids, we’ll become familiar with terms such as cohesion, capillary action, and chromatography. Using ingredients found around the kitchen, we will bubble up some mild explosions, discover optical inversion, and craft our own lava lamp. While testing solubility with common candy, we’ll discover floating m’s. We’ll use liquid layers as a colorful representation for different densities. Getting hungry? Make your own solar oven and capture a few rays to warm up a snack. Chemistry will help you better understand the world around you and how it works.

9 AM: The Search for Academics in Art

Grades 2nd-6th
Albert Einstein said, "Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere." Journey into the connections art has with history, math, science, and writing. From ancient cave drawings to symmetrical patterns in nature, this class will give you knowledge to inspire your creativity and imagination. Use math to plan your composition, science to make your own art materials or tell a story in a painting or sculpture. Each day we’ll focus on an artist and an art technique or materials used. As facts are presented, we’ll look for connections. Here is a hint: Every artist has a past. Every artist uses materials and themes from their own lifetime. Artists have been around since the time of cave people. There is always history to learn. Each day you’ll use the daily artist and techniques to create your own masterpiece. The possibilities are endless!

10 AM: Let's Go to India

Grades 2nd-6th
India is tagged as the mother of many inventions like algebra, the number zero, shampoo, chess, value of pi, and diamond mining. This amazing country has nearly 90,000 types of animals including over 350 mammals, 1,200 bird species, and 50,000 types of plants. Did you know India is the only country with a bill of rights for cows? Culturally, geographically, and historically India is a lively and fascinating country. We’ll explore some of the many wonders that make India’s culture one of the most unique in the world through hands-on activities such as the art of mehndi, ceramics, Indian cooking, dancing, meditation, and India’s most beloved pastime, cricket. Get your passport and let’s go!

11 AM: Backpack Across Europe

Grades 2nd-6th
Bonjour! Ciao! Willkommen! Join us as we travel across Europe and explore what makes this continent so exciting. Create your own masterpiece while discovering treasures at the Louvre in Paris. Explore Germany as we make a gingerbread house worthy of Hansel and Gretel. Design your own family tartan in Scotland (Perhaps we’ll spot the Loch Ness Monster!) You’ll explore the underground passages at the Roman Colosseum and then head over to Pisa to investigate just why that tower is leaning. Sing along with The Beatles while making your own Yellow Submarine. And while in England, prepare and enjoy a proper British teatime. Bon voyage!

1 PM: Art in Architecture

Grades 2nd-6th
Express art through the many aspects of architecture! You’ll create your art using simple materials - turning them into architectural wonders. Learn how parts of architectural fabric is carried over in many different forms of art. We’ll look at the use of space - color - design - sharp lines - soft lines - paintings - pottery - jewelry - sculpture - buildings - structures and light, light, light! Explore different architectural periods and discover your favorite by mimicking it in the form of art. Construct a real building from your imagination - design a skyscraper, home, school, monument, or pet home.

We hope that you’ll find our schedule full of so many interesting courses that it’s hard to choose!

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