This is a program for learning through multimedia technology, bringing out the creativity in children through not just engineering principles but also arts and design. It is developed with a focus on learning through design. We use Robolab, PicoCrickets and Scratch in both levels.

Based on LabVIEW™, from National Instruments, Texas USA, the ROBOLAB Software uses an icon-based, diagram building environment to write programs. PicoCrickets and Scratch are programs developed at MIT in collaboration with the Lego Company, and Scratch with NSF grants. Scratch is a software program for students to make their own videos, animations, and games.

Students will use Lego, K'Nex and other building blocks to build their creations.  Generic building materials such as balsa wood, nails, and electronic parts will also be used.

Metropolis! Metropolis! II

Build your own ideal metropolis with a combination of interlocking bricks and interconnecting rods and connectors. Brainstorm on how to add different contraptions using an array of gears and recyclable materials. How do you design your building to be taller, safer, cooler and more environmentally friendly? Construct smart structures that would interact with the surroundings or smart devices that would interact with their users. Let the imagination fly and create our dream city!

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party

Did you know that digital puppeteering allows us to generate animations in real time? Create a digital show based on “A Mad Tea Party” in Lewis Carroll’s Book. Use scratch and graphic editing software to put effects on the clothes and the surroundings. Learn how two use basic skeletal animation to draw the characters. Make interactive “Eat It” and “Drink It” commands for the player to choose from. It’s a digital light show!

At the Safari Reserve

Did you know that a Liger is half tiger and half lion? Construct a park with rides and moving animals. Design a cougar-like claw that you can use to “hunt” for animals. Build a trunk that the elephant uses to move things and help drink water. Can you make a jaw like the hippopotamus that is powerful and strong? Learn from the environment and integrate the ideas into our own creations. Figure out how to use these robots in the real world and see how close to real life the motions are. You are in for an experience!

Virtual Gaming II

Join in the Science Workshop game sequence writing extravaganza! Create short films with the combination of computer graphics and programming. Craft your own multimedia art with the display of flashy graphics and interactive motions. Plan and write interactive video games to play with each other. Can you make electronic entertainment that can move according to verbal or motional instructions? Let's get into the virtual world!

Robomechanics II

What do a VCR and a microwave have in common? Enlist in the “Can-Do” challenge to compete with other robotic environmentalists. Discover that all robots have three elements in common – body, control and behavior. Look out! We’re surrounded! But don’t expect robots to look like anyone we know!

Claymation II

Calling all stop motion film producers. Can you create a claymation movie using multimedia technology? How can music and dialogue make it meaningful? Move from programming a linear sequence of actions to simultaneous actions of multiple characters. It’s all in the repositioning!