2016
Summer Wonders
The Center for Gifted ~ Midwest Torrance Center for Creativity
Innovative opportunities to challenge curious minds!
Meridian Middle School
2195 Brandywyn Lane
Buffalo Grove
AM, PM,
and Full Day
Options !
Before &
After Care
Available
FREE
Bus Service
To
PROJECT 2016
in Elmhurst
Session
Session
Session
Session
Science
Math
STEM
Mindstorms
The Center for Gifted is a not-for-profit organization under IRC Section 501(c)(3)
Joan Franklin Smutny, Founder and Director
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info@centerforgifted.org
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847.901.0173
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www.centerforgifted.org
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Arts
I: June 8-17
II: June 20-24
III: June 27-July 1
IV: July 5-15
30 summer 2016 programs at 14 locations in 10 cities!
Barrington | Buffalo Grove | Chicago | Crete | Darien | Elmhurst | Glenview | Naperville | Skokie | Wheaton
a Northern Illinois University partner
Mornings 9:00-11:40 a.m.; Afternoons 12:30-3:00 p.m. - Extended Care 7:00-9:00 a.m. and 3:00-6:00 p.m.
Session I: June 8-17
A.M. $330; P.M. $315; Full Day $580
Session II: June 20-24
A.M. $195; P.M. $190; Full Day $350
Science Wonders (PreK-K)
Stories and Art: The Caldecott Winners (PreK-K)
Advanced Scratch, Electronics, and Game Design (4-8)
Animals in Art (K-5)
Art Quilts (5-8)
Chemical Cacophony (3-8)
Chess Club (K-8)
Circuits and Microcontrollers (6-8)
Creating Games from Scratch (3-6)
Creative Writing (1-8)
Detective Science (K-2)
Harry Potter-Ology (3-8)
Mad Scientists Loose in the Kitchen (K-2)
Math Games and Puzzles (K-5)
Minecraft (3-8)
Musical Theater (K-8)
Mysteries, Clues, and Codes (3-8)
Princesses, Knights, and Dragons (K-2)
STEM: Motors, Mechanics, and Engineering (4-8)
Trial by Jury (3-8)
African Safari (PreK-K)
Ice Age Explorers (PreK-K)
Chess Club (K-8)
Circuits and Microcontrollers (6-8)
DNA, Genetics, and Natural Selection (3-8)
Intro to Architecture (3-8)
Journalism (3-8)
Lego Mindstorms Robotics I (3-6)
Lego Mindstorms Robotics II (4-8)
Lego WeDo Robotics I (K-3)
Lego WeDo Robotics II (2-5)
Minecraft (3-8)
Mythology Madness (K-5)
Powerful Forces of Nature (3-8)
Pulleys, Levers, and Gears: Create Simple Machines (K-3)
Slopes and Slides (3-8)
Stories and Art (K-2)
The Wonder of Bees and Other Pollinators (K-3)
Think Art! (1-8)
Writing, Art, and Calligraphy (3-8)
Session III: June 27-July 1
A.M. $195; P.M. $190; Full Day $350
Session IV: July 5-15
A.M. $365; P.M. $345; Full Day $640
Hawaiian Adventure (PreK-K)
Soaking Up Science (PreK-K)
Advanced Scratch, Electronics, and Game Design (4-8)
Art Unlimited (K-2)
Chemistry: It’s a Gas! (3-8)
Create Lego Movies! (1-3)
Create Stop-Motion Movies! (3-8)
Creating Games from Scratch (3-6)
Inventions, Inventors, and You! (K-5)
Lego Mindstorms Robotics I (3-6)
Lego Mindstorms Robotics II (4-8)
Lego WeDo Robotics I (K-3)
Lego WeDo Robotics II (2-5)
Mathematical Patterns (K-5)
One Point Perspective Drawing and Figure Drawing (3-8)
Poetry Slam (3-8)
Sleuthhounds of Science (K-2)
Tales Around the World (K-2)
The Sea and Me! (K-2)
Think Quick Improv (1-8)
What Really Happened to King Tut? (3-8)
Writing Short Stories (3-8)
Amazing Dinosaurs (PreK-K)
Ocean Explorers (PreK-K)
Aquatic Biology (3-8)
Artbotics with Lego Mindstorms (3-8)
Brain Benders (3-8)
Creative Writing (1-8)
Digital Photography (3-8)
Dinosaurs, Fossils, and Digs (K-5)
Fantastic Beasts (3-8)
Finches: Robots Programmed in Snap (K-2)
Finches: Robots Programmed in Scratch (3-8)
Journalism (3-8)
Let’s Build a City! (K-4)
Math to Boggle the Brain (K-2)
Minecraft (3-8)
Mixed Media Masterpieces (K-8)
Musical Theater (K-8)
Mysteries in History (3-8)
Ooey, Gooey Chemistry (K-5)
Roller Coaster Physics (3-8)
This Is Your Country! (3-8)
Please note: All courses are offered both mornings and afternoons,
and some courses require additional lab or technology fees.
https://thriva.activenetwork.com/Reg4/Form.aspx?IDTD=2807716&RF=11609949
https://thriva.activenetwork.com/Reg4/Form.aspx?IDTD=2807716&RF=11609949
Advanced Scratch, Electronics & Game Design:
Expand programming possibilities for Scratch
with MaKey, MaKey boards. Turn everyday
objects into computer keys and create 3-D
interactive games with Scratch. ($15 lab fee)
African Safari: Embark upon a simulated
safari through savannas, jungles, and deserts!
Discover the rich diversity of African wildlife,
from herds of wildebeests to shy mountain
gorillas, from tall giraffes to small meerkats,
through creative, hands-on activities.
Amazing Dinosaurs! How did dinosaurs live?
What was their world like? Through creative,
interdisciplinary activities, step back in time to
explore the lives of dinosaurs, from the large
brachiosaurus to the small compsognathus,
from the swift ornithomimus to the slow
stegosaurus.
Animals in Art: Derive artistic inspiration from
your favorite furry, feathered, and scaly friends!
Draw, paint, and use unique items to create
wonderful pieces of art. Design creative animals
for your room, family, and yourself!
Aquatic Biology: Create aquatic ecosystems.
Explore tide pools, ponds, and coral reefs.
Investigate ocean life, from weird and wonderful
creatures that lurk in its depths to playful sea
otters that frolic on its surface.
Circuits and Microcontrollers: How do we use
programming to make useful devices? Learn
to use a microcontroller to control LED light
displays, make simple musical instruments,
respond to remote controls, measure and
display temperature, and communicate by
radio. Uses Arduino UNO. ($15 lab fee)
Create Lego Movies! Using a digital camera,
movie software, and Lego robots, create a stopaction movie. Experiment with special effects,
sound, and titles. Share your movie with family
and friends! ($15 lab fee)
Create Stop-Motion Movies! Discover all that
goes into making a stop-motion movie! Begin
with storyboarding, creating characters, and
designing backgrounds and props. Using a
digital camera and movie software, turn photographs into your own unique movie, complete
with sound and special effects!
($15 lab fee)
Creating Games from Scratch: Learn how to
program a variety of different computer games
in Scratch, a free programming language developed at MIT that can be used to create a wide
range of simple to complex games.
Creative Writing: Do you like to write? Hone
your skills and heighten your imagination
through free verse and a variety of stories in
response to posters, magazines, books, CD’s
Art Quilts: It’s fun! It’s easy! Explore the textile art and films. See your stories and poems pubof fused quilts using batiks and fusible webbing. lished in our creative writing magazine.
Come and share your inspiration!
Make a picture of an animal, object,or just a
design with colorful fabric and an iron. Learn
Detective Science: Can you solve the case of
some basic stitches to embellish and put it all
the missing teddy bear? Whet your sleuthing
together with batting and backing to hang on
skills, dauntless detectives, and begin the
your wall. ($15 lab fee)
investigation!
Art Unlimited: Does art ignite creativity in you?
Digital Photography: Discover the art of photoPursue your own unique avenues of artistic
graphy. Take pictures with a digital camera then
expression. Create your own masterpieces that
express your muse and the fun of being an artist! use photo-editing software to manipulate your
images with an artistic slant. ($10 lab fee)
Artbotics with Lego Mindstorms: Kinetic art
Dinosaurs, Fossils, and Digs: What can
was all the rage in the 1970s. Make your own
kinetic art using Lego Mindstorms robots, some fossils teach us? Through imaginative, handson activities, discover how paleontologists dig
poster board, markers, and stickers. The first
for fossils and analyze their findings. Investigate
week we use our robots to draw on butcher
fascinating dinosaurs from ankylosaurus to
paper, then we see what we can do with the
zuniceratops.
robots themselves! ($15 lab fee)
Brain Benders: Bend your brain as you investigate puzzling problems. Develop strategies
and persevere to solve a variety of brainteasers
and challenges.
Chemical Cacophony: Explore chemical properties through hands-on experiments. Investigate
molecular structure. Experiment with solutions,
and reactants, but don’t blow up the lab!
Chemistry: It’s a Gas! What is chemistry?
Explore this question and investigate things
that go pop, fizz, and swoosh!
Chess Club: Intrigued by the game of chess?
Explore exciting strategies, sneaky openings,
and skillful end games. All chess enthusiasts
welcome!
DNA, Genetics, and Natural Selection: Ever
wonder why your hair is curly, your sister is
tall, and everyone says you look like grandma?
Explore genetics and mutations. Build a
DNA model, and extract real DNA from a
strawberry!
Fantastic Beasts: Study the fantastic beasts
found in fiction, including the Harry Potter
books. Explore their connections with mythological creatures as well as the weird and
amazing animals found on our planet. Create
your own fantastic beasts!
Finches: Robots Programmed with Snap:
Discover the Finch, a new robot designed and
developed at Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab.
Be among the first in the Chicago area to
experience this innovative technology!
($15 lab fee)
Finches: Robots Programmed with Scratch:
Discover the Finch, a new robot designed and
developed at Carnegie Mellon’s CREATE Lab.
Be among the first in the Chicago area to
experience this innovative technology!
($15 lab fee)
Harry Potter-Ology: Enter a wizarding world.
Be sorted into a house, create your own wand,
formulate spells, and play Quidditch. Try butter
beer, wizard candy, and enjoy an End of Term
Feast!
Hawaiian Adventure: Explore Hawaii from the
top of it volcanoes to its coral reefs in the ocean
below. Discover its people, animals, birds, and
marine life through creative, hands-on activities.
Ice Age Explorers: Have you ever wondered
how people lived during the Ice Age? Investigate
the lives of woolly mammoths, bison, and mastodons. Make your own arrowheads and create
beautiful cave paintings. A perfect way to cool
off in the summer!
Intro to Architecture: Have you ever wondered
about the types of houses you drive past? What
is that weird roof style called? Why did they
build it like that? Chicago and its suburbs are
home to famous buildings, world-renowned
architects, and ground-breaking architecture
styles. Learn why Chicago’s streets were raised,
how to recognize architectural styles and
components, and design your own building!
Inventions, Inventors, and You! Do you like to
imagine, tinker, and create? How do inventors
invent? Explore the lives and inventions of great
inventors. Follow in their footsteps as you create
your own invention and bring it from design to
patent, model to market.
Journalism: Do you like to investigate local
happenings? Express your opinions on timely
topics? Collaborate with your peers to write,
edit, and produce a newspaper.
Lego Mindstorms Robotics I: Tackle engineering challenges! Construct an autonomous robot
from motors, wheels, gears, and a variety of
different sensors. Program your robot to
complete tasks of increasing complexity.
($15 lab fee)
Lego Mindstorms Robotics II: Work with other
advanced students to strategize and experiment
as you design, construct, and program your
robots. ($15 lab fee)
Lego WeDo Robotics I: Explore principles of
engineering and programming. Select from a
dozen plans to build a robot such as an alligator,
bird, or soccer player with Legos, motors, gears,
and sensors. Connect your robot to a computer
and program actions and sounds. ($15 lab fee)
Lego WeDo Robotics II: Have you built most
of the robots in the four WeDo books? Are you
ready for an additional challenge? Apply the
experience gained in Lego WeDo classes to
designing as well as building robots. Experiment
with different configurations—the creative engineering possibilities are endless! ($15 lab fee)
Let’s Build a City! What would your ideal city
look like? Map out your city and create a model.
Design parks, shopping districts, skyscrapers,
and more. You’re in charge!
Ooey, Gooey Chemistry: Get your hands sticky!
Investigate and experiment with chemical mistakes that have brought us great fun, such as
silly putty, goop, gak, and floam.
Mad Scientists Loose in the Kitchen: Discover
amazing chemical phenomena happening in
your pantries and refrigerators. Explore sundry
science through hands-on experiments.
Poetry Slam: Spoken word poetry is meant to
be heard. In this class you'll write poems meant
to be read out loud and then recite them for
your fellow students. We'll explore what makes
a poem sound good and how to read your poem
with drama and emphasis. At the end we'll
invite parents for a performance!
Math Games and Puzzles: Explore tricky
puzzles, sequencing secrets, and hidden math
strategies. Play the games mathematicians play
and challenge your math problem solving skills!
Math to Boggle the Brain: Tackle logic puzzles,
solve sequencing secrets, ponder math riddles,
and create your own mind bogglers.
Mathematical Patterns: Discover patterns and
use mathematical concepts to describe them.
See what designs and products you can create
using patterns.
Minecraft: Explore the possibilities of designing
and creating with Minecraft.
Mixed Media Masterpieces: Create new and
exciting artwork using both traditional and
nontraditional materials. Deconstruct, manipulate and reimagine your artwork with a variety
of media and non-art materials. Collage,
drawing, painting, and assemblage are just a
few of the ways you can create your masterpieces!
Musical Theater: Do you like to sing and dance?
Perform a children’s musical such as Jungle
Party Tonight, When I Grow Up, or Circus, Circus
(younger students). Stage a review of favorite
songs and scenes from popular musicals, such
as Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, or Wicked
(older students).
Powerful Forces of Nature: Explore volcanoes,
earthquakes, and tornadoes through hands-on
experiments and engineering projects. Discover
how volcanoes provide new land and explore
magma, lava, and the Ring of Fire. Create your
own cityscape; will your design and engineering
ideas result in earthquake resistant structures?
Build (and keep) a simulated model of the
dangerous tornado vortex using bottles,
batteries, and motors! ($20 lab fee)
Princesses, Knights, and Dragons: Discover
your favorite princesses, bravest knights, and
their adventures with dreadful dragons.
Imagine life in a castle. Create your own stories
and fairy tales. Celebrate with a medieval feast!
Pulleys, Levers, and Gears: Create Simple
Machines: Explore physics through hands-on
experiments as you discover how machines
work and create your own!
Roller Coaster Physics: Explore forces centrifugal and centripetal, acceleration and velocity.
Seek the ultimate balance of speed, thrills,
and safety, as you design and construct
working models and mini-coasters.
Science Wonders: Bring your curiosity and
your questions! Explore different areas of
science through hands-on activities.
Mysteries, Clues, and Codes: Uncover schemes
and break secret codes. Sleuth for clues, deduce Sleuthhounds of Science: Discover scientific
conclusions, and crack cases to solve mysteries! secrets in a hands-on lab. Can spaghetti fly?
How many pounds can you lift with a sheet
of paper?
Mysteries in History: Did the Greeks build the
Trojan horse, or was it just part of a story? Was
Slopes and Slides: Draw, build, and measure
King Arthur really an English king, or just a work
the slopes of slides and ramps. Engineer your
of fiction? Explore these mysteries through
own ramps course as you investigate variables
activities that require fact gathering and coming
that affect how objects move down various
up with solutions that make sense and are
slopes.
defensible.
Mythology Madness: In this multi-disciplinary
class we will examine several different myths
from various cultures through such activities
as art projects, writing, creating and playing
games and scientific explorations of mythological claims.
Ocean Explorers: Sail the ocean blue! Visit
islands around the globe, investigate tidal pools,
scuba dive around coral reefs, and discover the
briny deep through imaginative activities.
One Point Perspective Drawing and Figure
Drawing: Drawing a picture creating the
illusion of depth is awesome and challenging.
The human figure is amazingly built naturally
in proportion. Learn to draw in proportion and
to create movement in your art with the figure.
Soaking Up Science: Swish, squish, and splash
as you experiment with everyday items to understand better the world we live in.
STEM: Motors, Mechanics, and Engineering:
Explore forces, motion, and engineering through
a series of rapid prototyping design challenges
and building projects. All projects can be
brought home for further revision and
experimentation. ($30 lab fee)
Stories and Art: How does a story inspire art?
Or art inspire a story? Explore the rich diversity
of artistic styles honored by the Caldecott
Medal. Express your own creative ideas
through both writing and art.
Stories and Art: The Caldecott Winners: Why is
a book a Caldecott winner? How does the art
express the story? How does the story inspire
the art? What do you think of the stories and
illustrations? Explore artistic styles found in the
superbly illustrated winners of the Caldecott
Medal. Create illustrations of your own.
Tales Around the World: Discover heroes and
heroines, clever thinkers and silly fools, kings
and commoners from around the world. Explore
why stories change when told in different
cultures. How the Gingerbread Boy told in
Mexico? Or Cinderella in Africa? Explore our rich
heritage of folktales, fairy tales, and storytelling!
The Sea and Me! Discover the briny deep, from
colorful sea horses to legends of giant squid.
Create aquatic environments. Investigate coral
reefs, tide pools, and arctic oceans. Marvel at
the amazing variety of life in the earth’s oceans.
The Wonder of Bees and Other Pollinators:
Would you like to meet live caterpillars and
butterflies, learn how beekeepers manage
their hives, and how you can help endangered
species? Bees and other pollinators are
responsible for much of the food we eat, yet
they are often overlooked. Have fun learning
about the wonders outside your window!
Think Art! Enter the setting of thinking about
using materials (paints, ink, oil pastels) in your
own style. Drawing, painting, printmaking,
paper crafts are some options open to you for
your experimentation.
Think Quick Improv: Do you like to think on your
feet? Do you like working with others? Do you
like to laugh? If so you will probably enjoy
learning and practicing improvisational acting.
Learn warm-ups, play theater games, and create
a performance with your fellow actors!
This Is Your Country! Form a government,
establish a treasury, organize a defense system,
and forge alliances with neighbors. Design your
flags, symbols, and currency.
Trial by Jury: Taught by an attorney, learn about
the justice system by taking part in student-led
courtroom trials. Argue for the prosecution or the
defense, and then the next day be a witness or a
judge! Learn to see both sides of an argument
and think logically to make your case!
What Really Happened to King Tut? Explore
the various theories around the demise of the
famous pharaoh. Evaluate the theories, collect
evidence, and create solid arguments to support
your ideas!
Writing, Art, and Calligraphy: Do you love to
paint pictures with words? Express your creative
ideas through free verse poetry and haiku. Use
watercolors on rice paper to create beautiful
images to complement your poems. Enhance
your writing with italic calligraphy.
Writing Short Stories: Everyone loves stories!
Focus on the writing of different kinds of stories,
such as adventure, fantasy, science fiction, and
biographical fiction. See your stories published
in our creative writing magazine