STEM & DESIGN SUNDAY | Grades 2+ | FREE

Here is the lineup of topics for our FREE STEM & Design workshops on January 30. Please note the grade level and location for each topic. Space is limited for each topic and Registration is required!

Introduction to Coding , grades 2-6, limit 6. NOTE: time for this topic is 2:00-3:30 pm. The Maxx – 94 Railroad Street

A-I & Machine Learning , grades 7-12 or by permission, limit 4, Our office – 46 Bridge Street

Unity Game Engine: Beginners and intermediate , grades 7-12, limit 4, The Maxx – 94 Railroad Street

Minecraft Rube Goldberg Contraptions, grades 4-12, limit 6, The Maxx – 94 Railroad Street

The North American Scholastic E-sports Federation created an event and resources to allow young creators to design and build virtual mechanical contraptions in Minecraft. This workshop will introduce students to the event and tools, and start creating their own machines with Minecraft Education Edition. Students can learn how to make and use simple machines in Minecraft, like screws, levers, inclined planes and other devices. Students can continue their projects at home or at additional workshops. We hope this will become a long-term topic for our year round and summer camp programs. While the NASEF program is actually a competition, entry of projects is optional. The official 2022 NASEF RGMC Big Build Challenge is “Open and Illuminate A Book”.

REGISTER NOW

Date

Jan 30 2022
Expired!

Time

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm

Location

The Maxx
94 Railroad St, New Milford, CT 06776

Location 2

Robotics And Beyond Office
46 Bridge Street, New Milford, CT 06776

We are here to help your kids discover their talents and start applying STEM principles and problem solving in everyday life. This is your chance to help us raise another generation of independent thinkers. DONATE TODAY to help us maintain our classes, provide necessary training to our young mentors, and ensure access to all. Together we help keep this community educated and help our children build a better future for everyone.

 

Introduction to Coding

 

Grades 2-6. 1-day workshops, or 1 to 2 hour sessions in multi-day classes and week long summer camp. In-person or Online.

Anyone can get started in learning to code! Students in our programs will discover the fun of coding and learn to use great tools on their own. This is your child’s opportunity to discover what coding is all about. Students can create their own online Code.org accounts or use one that their school may have provided. No downloads involved, just internet. We use laptops for this topic but the tools and activities used can be accessed anywhere from any computer or device. Students will leave the workshop or classes able to continue working in Code.org, saving their progress and proceed at their own pace as far as they want to go. These programs will prepare students to continue on their own to higher level coding classes with Code.org or other platforms, and pursue coding in any language.

 

Student accounts: We highly encourage students to have their own account with code.org so they can enjoy seeing their progress and use the many other benefits of an account. Many students already have an account created through their school. See below for how to create an account. Please bring login information for your child's code.org account. If you cannot bring access to an account, we will provide one but it can't be used at home.

 

Here is the sign-in/create account page: https://studio.code.org/users/sign_in

 

Here are ways to have an account, starting from the link above.

- any Google gmail account or public or private school email account will already give you access to a code.org account.
- use Facebook or a Microsoft account
- create an account using any private email account from any email provider.
- Bring an email account that we can use to create the account for you.

Computers for the class: Any computer or Chromebook with internet access will work for Code.org and any other online coding resources. We encourage students to bring their own computer just so they get comfortable and can continue coding at home. We will provide a computer for any student needing one.

 

Learn more about Code.org

Artificial Intelligence (A-I) and Machine Learning

 

For students in grades 7 - 12 or by permission. Offered as 1-day workshops. In-person only.

Each AI / Machine Learning workshop will involve an activity or two that introduces some aspect of AI and ML in a fun way. We hope to create an interest group that can meet in-person and online, collaborate on competitions such as Kaggle and on personal projects, and explore these fields in general. We will often use resources from EDX, SKLearn, and TensorFlow, so students can begin to learn what they offer and how to use them.

Game Development with Unity

 

Grades 7-12 or by permission. Summer camps, 1 to 2 hour, multi-day classes, and 1-day workshops. Inquire about online options.

This topic provides a good introduction to Unity and its use for game development and the application of the programming language C# to a specific project. New students will learn fundamentals of the software platform tools and libraries and each build their own level of one group game. Experienced students will work on their own complete game. Students will download the Unity development software to take part in this class.

 

This class will not teach coding fundamentals (see “Requirements” below).

 

The benefit of Unity: Unity is a development platform for creating graphics and animation in 2D, 3D, Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). It has very wide use in industry for creating video games, films and animation for many applications. Because working in Unity involves the use of code libraries written in the language C#, it also provides a great learning path to higher levels of coding in general. Unity has a very large user base and is well supported with tutorials and forums that provide great sources of information and help.

 

Requirements:

 

- A personal interest in game design and learning about an industrial-strength game development platform.

- The class is focused on learning to use the software platform Unity and applying C# to the subject of game development. The class does not have time to teach coding fundamentals. Therefore a high comfort level with at least one programming language is necessary to be allowed to join the class. C# is ideal, Java and any other C-based language are the next most relevant languages.  Strong ability in Python or Java Script is also acceptable.

 

Optional but highly recommended:

 

- Installation of the free Unity development software on a laptop or desktop computer from your home. Our staff can help with installation during the classes.

- Creation of a personal Unity account to allow projects and learning to continue at home. The accounts are free and we will provide guidance on the account setup.

- Creation of a GitHub account to allow collaboration with other students and our instructors, and access to code from many other designers. The accounts are free and we will provide guidance on the account setup.

 

Learn more about Unity

Introduction to Robotics using LEGO NXT or LEGO EV3

 

Grades 3-6 & 7-12. 1-day workshops, or multi-day classes and week long summer camp, 2 hours/class. In-person only.

Build a robot and learn fundamentals of programming and robotics engineering with LEGO’s programmable NXT or EV3 robotics system of controller, motors, sensors and Mindstorms software. The use of NXT or EV3 system will depend on the student’s age and experience. Students will work in pairs but exceptions may be allowed to work alone. Once students accomplish required tasks and simpler challenges, they can choose from higher level challenges or build a more complex robot of their own design or one provided by the instructors. Depending on availability, students may also be able to use robots to solve FIRST LEGO League competition missions. The final class will include optional robot battles within a 4 foot arena ring where students test mechanical design and programming strategies against each other.

 

Learn about LEGO Mindstorms

Learn more about EV3 and NXT

Tinkercad - Introduction to 3D modeling and 3D printing

 

Grades 3-12 or by permission. 1-day workshops, or 1 to 2 hour sessions in multi-day classes and week long summer camps. In-person or Online.

Tinkercad is a great way for students interested in 3D modeling and design to get a feel for what working in a 3D environment is like! Tinkercad is a free, introductory educational software created by engineering software company Autodesk. Tinkercad runs in your browser so it requires no software download and allows you to create an account and save your projects. Students will learn how to create, dimension, combine, and customize pre-generated and custom drawn geometric shapes to create basic models, parts, and inventions. Tinkercad has many other fun uses like electronics and “brick building.” Tinkercad is also the perfect start for moving up to Autodesk Fusion 360, which is our choice for teaching higher levels of 3D modeling, product design, mechanical design and making prototypes. Each student can choose one suitable model to be printed by Robotics And Beyond and picked up in New Milford or mailed to the home.

 

Requirements:

 

- Computer access (Windows, Mac, or Chromebook all work!)
- Access to Google Chrome (other browsers may work but Chrome is what we base our classes on, so certain aspects may differ on Safari, Firefox, Edge, etc.)
- An Autodesk Tinkercad account (a tutorial for making the account will be sent to parents before classes begin)

 

Learn more about Tinkercad

Tinkercad Wikipedia

Engineering and Design Challenges

 

Grades 3-6. Offered as 1 to 1.5 hour sessions in week long summer camps or after school and weekend workshops. In-person only.

Using basic materials or LEGOs, students will be given a variety of challenges and then design and build solutions for them. The challenges may be structural, functional or simply artistic, but the focus will be on coming up with original ideas, discovery and aesthetics, as well as solving the problem given by the challenge. Working alone, in pairs or as a group, students will be encouraged to let their curiosity and imagination lead them to create innovative designs for each challenge.