2015 MSMS Middle School Summer Enrichment Program Offerings
(current 6th and 7th graders – June 14 – 19)
Blast Off - Study motion and forces by building and
launching rockets from simple materials. Work in a
team to solve problems, keeping a lab notebook filled
with your data and observations.
Convergent Media - Making quality media doesn’t have
to be hard. Do you like making videos? Have you ever
wanted to create your own blog that is both nice to look
at and interesting for people to read? Students taking
this course will have the opportunity to learn basic
video editing techniques across a variety of software
solutions (iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere),
learn basic picture manipulation (Photoshop), learn how
to quickly and professionally write like a journalist, and
create original web content.
Crypto-Craze I - Have you ever wondered how to create
a secret code for a message so it is easy to decode but
difficult to crack? This course will familiarize students
with commonly used cryptography terms, guide
students through encoding and decoding messages as
well as introduce various encryption techniques such as
Caesar cipher and public key encryption. Students will
use mathematics to decode messages. Students will
also be able to develop their own secret codes and have
their fellow classmates try to crack the codes using
mathematics. By the end of this course, students will
gain better reasoning and problem solving abilities and
will be able to reason and use logic at higher.
Engineering Disasters - This course will study
engineering disasters and the math behind them.
Projects will focus on recreating the disasters,
identifying the math failures that caused them, and
looking for ways they could have been prevented.
Engineering and Team Work - Problem solving and
communication are essential to the engineering
process. Through hands on activities you will discover
the engineering process and foster your team work
skills. Students will construct towers, bridges, assembly
lines, cargo containers, and marble movers.
Forensic Investigation - Have you ever seen CSI or NCIS
and wondered about the science behind catching
crooks? Have you ever wondered how fingerprints can
identify a single person, or how a single hair can be
used to find a criminal? Forensic Investigation will look
into these techniques and more as you take on the role
of a crime scene analyst, performing actual forensic
procedures to examine fingerprints, hairs, DNA, fibers,
and other trace evidence often found at crime scenes.
Introduction to Robotics - The purpose of this class is to
provide students with an introduction to both
programming and engineering. Hands-on activities
involving Lego Mindstorms NXT and the Tetrix robotics
kits will be used to explore the art and science of
robotics. Students will work together in teams to build a
robot to perform a specific task and complete
engineering challenges.
It’s All About the Numb3rs (Part 1) - Step into the shoes
of an FBI agent by solving a wide variety of cases. Is a
teacher tricking her students out of A’s? Which
company is responsible for killing fish in a local river?
Did Dennis the Menace really shoot a rubber-band
rocket and break Mr. Wilson’s window? These are just a
few of the cases that we will tackle using teamwork to
analyze the “numb3rs.” Note: This course will have the
same format but feature the same cases as the 2014
course.
Math around the World - In this course, students will
review how basic mathematics operations are taught
around the world. As the week progresses, students will
develop a complete unit, with games and activities, to
take back to their home schools. History, math “tricks,”
and methods not typically taught in the U.S. will be
covered.
Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science - 1100 College Street, MUW-1627 Columbus, MS 39701
Telephone: 800-553-6459 - Fax: 662-329-8570 - apply@themsms.org – http://www.themsms.org
You can find MSMS on Facebook and follow the school at twitter.com/the_msms
Music and Math Rock! - Counting, patterns, rhythms,
fractions, and numbers are common to mathematics
and music. In this course, students will find connections
between mathematics and music through fun and
interactive activities. They will participate in dynamic
projects that illustrate how mathematical music is.
Whether producing hip hop tracks using the latest
technology, writing songs about math concepts, or
building instruments from junk, students will discover
that math is music!
Positively Medieval - This course blends history, math,
science, technology, and the arts to provide students
with a one-of-a-kind perspective into medieval life.
Topics for the week will include papermaking, fiber
production, weaponry, and medieval math.
The Magic of Science - In this course students will enter
the world magic (via the Hogwarts School) to uncover
chemical concepts and principles while exploring and
understanding the “magic” of science. Students will
participate in inquiry-based activities for hands-on
discovery of basic principles of chemistry and the
relevance of these principles to daily life in the world of
Muggles.
Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science - 1100 College Street, MUW-1627 Columbus, MS 39701
Telephone: 800-553-6459 - Fax: 662-329-8570 - apply@themsms.org – http://www.themsms.org
You can find MSMS on Facebook and follow the school at twitter.com/the_msms
2015 MSMS Summer Enrichment Program Offerings
(current 8th and 9th graders – June 21 – 26)
Convergent Media - Making quality media doesn’t have
to be hard. Do you like making videos? Have you ever
wanted to create your own blog that is both nice to look
at and interesting to read? Students taking this course
will have the opportunity to learn basic video editing
techniques across a variety of software solutions
(iMovie, Final Cut Pro X, Adobe Premiere), learn basic
picture manipulation (Photoshop), learn how to quickly
and professionally write like a journalist, and create
original web content.
Crypto-Craze II - Have you ever wondered how to
create a secret code for a message so it is easy to
decode but difficult to crack? This course will familiarize
students with commonly used cryptography terms,
guide students through encoding and decoding
messages as well as introduce various encryption
techniques such as Caesar cipher and public key
encryption. Students will use mathematics to decode
messages. Students will also develop their own secret
codes and have their classmates try to crack the codes
using mathematics. By the end of this course, students
will gain better reasoning and problem solving abilities
and will be able to reason and use logic at higher.
Engineering Disasters - This course will study
engineering disasters and the math behind them.
Projects will focus on recreating the disasters,
identifying the math failures that caused them, and
looking for ways they could have been prevented.
Engineering and Team Work - Problem solving and
communication are essential to the engineering
process. Through hands on activities you will discover
the engineering process and foster your team work
skills. Students will construct towers, bridges, assembly
lines, cargo containers, and marble movers.
Forensic Investigation - Have you ever seen CSI or NCIS
and wondered about the science behind catching
crooks? Have you ever wondered how fingerprints can
identify a single person, or how a single hair can be
used to find a criminal? Forensic Investigation will look
into these techniques and more as you take on the role
of a crime scene analyst, performing actual forensic
procedures to examine fingerprints, hairs, DNA, fibers,
and other trace evidence often found at crime scenes.
Going Global - Explore the concept of normal from a
global statistics perspective. How much food is normal?
How much education is normal? How might we work
towards a new global definition of normal? We will
explore statistics and challenge viewpoints as we
grapple with the issues of global poverty and education.
Introduction to Robotics – This class will provide
students with an introduction to both programming and
engineering. Hands-on activities involving Lego
Mindstorms NXT and the Tetrix robotics kits will be
used to explore the art and science of robotics.
Students will work in teams to build a robot to perform
a specific task and complete engineering challenges.
It’s All about the Numb3rs (Part 2) - Step into the shoes
of an FBI agent by solving a wide variety of cases. Is a
footprint enough evidence to deduce a criminal’s
height? Did a group of participants in a study lie to get
ahead? Is a government’s fuel policy actually saving
fuel? These are just a few of the cases that we will
tackle using teamwork to analyze the “numb3rs.”
Math around the World - In this course, students will
learn how basic mathematics operations are taught
around the world and as the week progresses develop a
complete unit, with games and activities, to take back
to their home schools. History, math “tricks,” and
methods not typically taught in the U.S. will be covered.
Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science - 1100 College Street, MUW-1627 Columbus, MS 39701
Telephone: 800-553-6459 - Fax: 662-329-8570 - apply@themsms.org – http://www.themsms.org
You can find MSMS on Facebook and follow the school at twitter.com/the_msms
Music and Math Rock! - Counting, patterns, rhythms,
fractions, and numbers are common to mathematics
and music. In this course, students will find connections
between mathematics and music through fun and
interactive activities. They will participate in dynamic
projects that illustrate how mathematical music is.
Whether producing hip hop tracks using the latest
technology, writing songs about math concepts, or
building instruments from junk, students will discover
that math is music!
Positively Medieval - This course blends history, math,
science, technology, and the arts to provide students
with a one-of-a-kind perspective into medieval life.
Topics for the week will include papermaking, fiber
production, weaponry, and medieval math.
The Chemistry of Art - Students will study a variety of
science topics and their use in producing art. In
“Colorants and Painting Media,” they will explore
pigments, dyes, and paint media, conducting
experiments to synthesize dyes and pigments and, then,
activities to analyze and utilize these coloring agents. In
“Fibers and Dyes,” they will analyze and identify natural
and synthetic fibers and utilize natural and synthetic
dyes to color both types; and in “Chemistry through
Metalwork, Jewelry, and Sculpture,” they will learn how
basic chemistry concepts can transform stone, metal,
concrete, clay, and glass into works of art.
The Magic of Science - In this course students will enter
the world magic (via the Hogwarts School) to uncover
chemical concepts and principles while exploring and
understanding the “magic” of science. Students will
participate in inquiry-based activities for hands-on
discovery of basic principles of chemistry and the
relevance of these principles to daily life in the world of
Muggles.
Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science - 1100 College Street, MUW-1627 Columbus, MS 39701
Telephone: 800-553-6459 - Fax: 662-329-8570 - apply@themsms.org – http://www.themsms.org
You can find MSMS on Facebook and follow the school at twitter.com/the_msms