Browse SA2U Classes | Saturday Academy

2021 Catalog: Online Classes

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Marine Biology (Grades 2-12): Take a journey through our ocean’s ecosystems! Where animals the size of a pin to animals bigger than a bus live and interact in various types of environments. Learn about kelp forests and deep sea bottoms, as well as the impacts we humans have on each of these places. Watch a squid dissection and follow-along with a model squid. Learn about the unique animals that live under the sea! Lead Instructor: Allie Tissot

Microscopy Club: Explore the Unseen (Grades 6-9): Explore the unseen microscopic world around you! Make discoveries about otherworldly small places hidden in plain sight, and the minute creatures that inhabit those worlds. Select, collect and prepare your own specimens for detailed study by optical and electron microscopy. You will be provided with an optical microscope for use during the class, and have remote access to a scanning electron microscope with which to explore some of your samples in greater detail. Learn how to make a scientific record of your observations, and how to organize your observations to create your own exploration story to share with others. Lead Instructors: Barbara Miner & Michael McKeag

Related STEAM classes: See Visual Arts for Scientific & Medical Illustration, STEAM Comics

Programming from ‘Scratch' (Grades 4-6, 6-8): Scratch is a kid-friendly, open-source, popular language developed by MIT’s Media Lab. Students learn the basics of computer game design and how key scientific concepts can be learned and practiced by playing an indie game. As students add more challenges to their games they build reasoning, design and problem-solving skills. No previous experience required. Lead Instructor: Barbara Miner

Game Design with Python® (Grades 6-8): Step into the world of game design with programming. Design your own game from beginning to end using Python. Understand the basics of the programming language and explore different ways of using it, to create your own spacewar game! This class will go over the basics of variables, loops, functions, and libraries in Python. No prior knowledge of Python is required.

Become a Scientist, Coder and Gamer with OHSU Biomedical Engineering (Grades 9-12): What do scientists do all day and how do they do it? Study with an OHSU Biomedical Engineering research group and learn how computer technologies assist with their research into how molecules and cells work. Program a computer from scratch using the powerful language Python - the same language that is used by professionals all over the world. Students will be provided with the tiny but powerful Raspberry Pi computer for all their work. Lead instructors: Dr. Zuckerman & OHSU's Biomedical Dept.

SAT Prep: Attention college-bound juniors and seniors: maximize your SAT scoring potential. Learn powerful test-taking techniques and strategies for improving your score. High scores on the SAT can help with admittance to the college of your choice and increase the size of potential scholarships. Get ready for the two required sections of the SAT: math and evidence-based reading and writing. For the math section, you will review the basic concepts of algebra and geometry. This review is especially important for students who are currently taking upper-level math and have been away from the basics for a while. Additionally, problems from third-year college preparatory math (including exponential growth, absolute value and functional notation) will be covered to give you an edge on the more advanced problems. Preparation for the critical reading section stresses vocabulary, reading comprehension and grammar skills. Click here for upcoming test dates. Lead Instructors: LeKisha Moore (Math), James Vautravers (Language Arts)

ACT Prep: The ACT is a widely accepted college entrance exam. Many students' strengths are better reflected on the ACT than the SAT as it more closely aligns with school curriculum. The ACT tests reading, math, science, and English, with an optional writing portion. There are clear differences between the ACT and the SAT, including: four answer choices instead of five for most sections, no penalty for wrong answers, and deeper questions requiring prior knowledge. Lead Instructors: LeKisha Moore (Math), James Vautravers (Language Arts)

Kinetic Machines: Rube Goldberg (Grades 4-8): Engineer a contraption to perform a simple task by using cause and effect to produce a chain reaction. Design and build your contraption using everyday materials. Build a machine that includes an intricate series of imaginative steps while gaining hands-on engineering experience. Along the way, learn about the physics of energy conservation, inertia, forces and electric circuits. Check out http://tinyurl.com/sarubegoldberg to see an incredible example of a Rube Goldberg machine.

Intro to Engineering (Grades 8-10): Explore electrical engineering and the creative thinking and problem-solving of the design process. Learn the basics of circuit building and coding with the Arduino Uno student kit. Build circuits and see the results of your code in real time. Why Arduino Uno? Arduino boards are able to read inputs - light on a sensor, a finger on a button - and turn it into an output - activating a motor, turning on an LED. There are endless project capabilities using these boards, so the fun doesn't have to stop after this course! https://store.arduino.cc/usa/student-kit

Engineering - Clean Energy: Coming soon!

Stories, Salmon and Social Justice (Grades 4-12): Take a journey with Ed Edmo - a Shoshone-Bannock poet, playwright, performer, professional storyteller, tour guide and lecturer – through stories and photos of his life growing up in Celilo Falls on the Columbia River before and after it was flooded by the Dalles Dam. Learn about the art and craft of storytelling and explore your own stories and how they weave between environment, culture and society. Lead instructor: Ed Edmo

Emergency Preparedness & Urban Survival (Grades 9 -12): Prepare, respond, survive. A little preparedness can go a long way in an emergency. Learn how to purify water, preserve food, build shelters, learn plant and animal identification and more. Create emergency plans on how to survive during and after natural disasters. When disaster strikes, every youth may need to take on a role. Lead Instructor(s): Sharon Ross

Environmental Justice: Coming soon!

Climate Action Teams (All Grades, 2-12): We'll start with the basic physical science behind our changing climate, and then focus on the social aspects of the changes underway -- and specifically, what roles young people can play in this ongoing transformation. Lead Instructor: Karen Wolfgang

Model United Nations (Grades 8-10): Where scientific research and global policy meet. As a delegate of one of 193 countries in the United Nations, learn to research, negotiate and debate a country’s interests and risks on climate change policy. Delegates will debate “nationally determined contributions” to adopt at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Practice the art of diplomacy and parliamentary procedure. Lead instructor(s): Neeraja Haviligi, Adam Goldstein

Speech & Debate: Learn the basics of public speaking and experience what it is like to be on a debate team. Read, watch and analyze great speeches. Practice extemporaneous speaking and debating on an array of topics. Instructor: TBD

Creative Writing (Grades 5-12): Unlock your creative writing potential. Learn how to turn your ideas into rich, imaginative prose and poetry. Use professional writing techniques such as writing from memory, free-writing and sensory awareness. Free your imagination and access all the brilliant words that you have to share. Writing exercises will focus on key concepts such as image, description and voice. Instructor: TBD

Improvise It! (Grades 2-12): Engage in freestyle theatrical play with your peers as you invent characters and scenarios. Build the basics of improvisation and movement as you practice theater arts. Learn to rely on your wits and trust your instincts as you develop your communication skills. This course culminates in a final “Improv Showcase,” of theatrical games and long form presentations. Lead Instructor: Carolyne Haycraft

Algebra: Learn core advanced algebraic topics: solving equations with two variables, exponential functions, parabolas and logarithms prior to the upcoming school year. Lead Instructor: LeKisha Moore

Calculus: Work in teams to solve intriguing problems designed to reveal the big ideas behind core calculus topics including: definition of limits, continuous and discontinuous functions, instantaneous rate of change, definition of the derivative and definite integrals and area under a curve. Lead Instructor(s): LeKisha Moore, Roger Eiss

Calculus Study Group: Work in teams to solve engaging, relevant problems designed to reveal the big ideas behind core calculus topics: definition of limits, continuous and discontinuous functions, instantaneous rate of change, definition of the derivative and definite integrals and area under a curve. Leverage your prior work, understanding and success in math. Optional practice problems are provided and students are encouraged to bring their current class work and questions to this cooperative study group setting for guidance. All level of calculus students welcome! Lead Instructor: Roger Eiss

Math Connections (Grades 4-5, 6-8): Do you love math and the challenge of a hard puzzle? Learn winning strategies for some mathematical games, build polyhedra models and discover their symmetry, test your intuition with probability paradoxes, navigate a maze using graph theory, prove algebraic formulas using toy blocks and much more. Lead Instructors: Cristina & Mircea Draghicescu

Statistics: Data is constantly collected, analyzed, interpreted and used in today's world for many different fields. Get a handle on statistics and basic data analysis, and discover deceptive statistics and learn how data can be analyzed to different ends. Lead Instructor: LeKisha Moore

Astronomy - Space Travel (Grades 4-8): Take an imaginary space trip around the solar system from Pluto to each of the inner planets and moons. Explore what it would be like to land on the moon and then journey past the Asteroid Belt and outer edge of our solar system, past the Kuiper Belt, to the farthest reaches of the Oort Cloud. Incorporate your new galactic knowledge as you prepare your own tour of outer space in Microsofts World Wide Telescope software to share with family and peers.

Kitchen Chemistry (Grades 6-9): Use household products to investigate elements and compounds. Observe chemical reactions in the combination of milk and vinegar to create plastic milk. Learn about atoms, bonds and different states of matter. Discover the surprisingly simple chemistry of your favorite foods!

Science Rules! (Grades 2-4): From the most bizarre to the most fascinating, explore the mysteries of our universe through science. Conduct hair-raising experiments with electricity and discover the three laws of motion in action through your own Rube Goldberg Machine design. Explore the chemistry of ice and find out what’s up with the parasitic tapeworm and its totally gross relationship to its host.

Comic Book & Graphic Novel (Grades 2-12): Comic storytelling combines both writing and drawing to tell tales that span every genre. Create your very own comic that tells a unique, interesting and personal story. Learn techniques of professional cartoonists from narrative development to layout, penciling, inking, coloring, and lettering a final product. Communicate effectively through words and art. Lead instructor: Justin Rueff

Digital Photography (Grades 6-12): Photography is a wonderful way to discover the world around us. Beginning students learn the basic controls on digital cameras and tips to enhance pictures using different functions such as ISO, aperture and shutter speed. They discuss composition, lighting and perspective and learn how to best capture an image regardless of the lighting or weather conditions. In addition to improving camera skills, students learn how to save, edit and print their photographs. Lead Instructor: Ellen Regal

Drawing and Sketching (All Grades, 2-12): Using pencil and ink, charcoal and markers, students will create portraits of animals, people, plants and other subjects. Techniques for shading, contouring and perspective will be introduced and step-by-step instruction on how to draw will be given. Students will create a final piece of art to share with family and friends. Lead Instructor: Alice Hill

Movie Making (Grades 6-8): Creative storytelling for film. Find ways to express yourself in a format that connects and communicates. Explore how to create a story, recognize the power of imagery, and create collaboratively through discussion to introduce positive feedback and artistic development. Make a story using imagery and craft a video using a non-linear editing program. Learn tips of the trade from industry professionals at Iris Oregon.

Nature Photography (Grades 6-12): Learn about photography through exploring your surroundings. This course is an introduction to nature photography using digital cameras or smartphones. Master the basic controls on your camera while learning about composition, perspective and light as you get up close with local flora. Find the beauty in the everyday and create unique images. Collaborate with classmates to choose the best photos to share and present in a final slideshow. Lead Instructor: Ellen Regal

Scientific & Medical Illustration (Grades 9 - 12): New! Learn traditional medical, biological and/or botanical illustration techniques using graphite and pen/ink, including stippling, crosshatching, and line drawings. Through these techniques you'll explore the world through a different lens as you learn how to bring the smallest and even hidden details to the surface in your drawings. Then discover how these skills can benefit you as a creative career in many forms of illustration that interest you. Lead Instructor: Alice Hill

STEAM Comics (Grades 6-8): NEW! Graphics that solve problems. Pick a problem, sketch different approaches to solutions and explore possible storylines. Learn to thumbnail, draw and ink your problem-solving comic. We'll examine different approaches to answering questions, like design thinking, biomimicry, the scientific method, Goethean observation and traditional ecological knowledge. What kinds of problems can you solve? Draw inspiration from Rube Goldberg's "invention for when you slip on a scatter rug." Lead Instructor: Rachael Pecore-Valdez