Academic Summit: Brain Challenge

Visitors from the future have landed with new teleidoscopes that allow you to see and reimagine the future. What do you see? People today are working on a future of autonomous vehicles, clean energy systems, plant-based plastics, improved healthcare technologies, climate resilience, sustainable agriculture and data analysis with artificial intelligence… In brain development or fractals, one small change modifies everything. If you changed one thing today, how could that affect the future? Play with change, change the future.

This camp is for students entering grades 6-8 who:

Self-identify as having a passion for STEM and Arts subjects, persistent curiosity and a desire to be intellectually challenged by experts and peers and/or test in the top quartile of their class, or have been identified by a school, mentor or teacher as talented and gifted (TAG), advanced learner or other system aimed to support students who desire in-depth learning in STEM & Arts topics.

How it works

Once you have registered for this camp, you will receive an email on March 1st with a survey link to prioritize your top three courses in order of preference. There are 3 class sessions per day. We make every effort to match you with your top choices, however we can make no guarantees. Your camp schedule will be available one- to two-weeks before the camp starts. Students are placed on a first-come, first-served basis so please register early to secure a place in your top choice classes. Register for Academic Summit: Brain Challenge.

2020 Academic Challenge Courses to date:

Biomimicry Challenge, Clean Energy Challenge, Math Challenge, Space Math, Comic Book and more coming soon!

Courses

Select from the following:

Discover, explore, and present your big ideas about the future.

In a TED Talk, an expert shares their unique insights about an “idea worth spreading.” What is your idea or vision of the future worth spreading? Dive into activities that expand your curiosity, then identify and discuss your big idea for the future and how it can change the world. Learn public speaking techniques from other TED speakers, and prepare and present your very own talk to share with the class. Gain skills in storytelling, storyboarding, production, and visual creation that help you communicate your ideas clearly.

Instructor: Stacy Carleton, MEd, is a certified English teacher and writer who has worked in education for more than 10 years. She is the co-founder of a private writing workshop group, and has worked with Write Around Portland, Wordstock, and Literary Arts. Her work has appeared in multiple publications, including Willamette Week, VoiceCatcher, Oregon Humanities Journal, and Oregon English Journal, and she is a regular performer in the comedy show Mortified. She also offers tutoring services through Carleton Academics (www.carletonacademics.com).

Welcome to the SpaceMath Olympiad! Message from the future: The universe is a mathematical riddle – solve it and you’ll be admitted to its mysteries.

Learn how to solve fascinating problems relating to astronomy and space that the ‘future you’ will encounter. Work in teams and compete for prizes! We’ll create blackboard challenges, discern patterns in data, derive and solve equations, and discover the power of math – so you can qualify as space engineers of the future. Whether you are a passionate puzzle-solver, a nimble number-cruncher or a thoughtful theorist, if you like math and want to expand your horizons to the depths of space-time, then this is the course for you.

Instructor: Douglas MacDougal, an attorney and mathematician, is a life-long amateur astronomer and a member of Rose City Astronomers. He is the author of Newton’s Gravity, an Introductory Guide to the Mechanics of the Universe (Springer, 2012).

"Nature is full of solutions looking for problems to solve" -Dr. C Viney. We use Nature's natural abilities to jump-start our design thinking in this engineering intro. A pollutant to us, carbon dioxide, is food that powers coral. What other powers does nature have that we can harness to address today's challenges and create a better tomorrow? Design your own solution to meet the challenge of the week!

Instructor: Deb Mrazek, MS, BSE, holds degrees in Industrial Engineering & Human Factors and System Engineering. She has helped institutes from startups to Fortune 100s, governments and NGOs develop user-centered strategies and has worked with teams to integrate these strategies into meaningful outcomes. Deb has taught Design Thinking to hundreds of students as well as adults.

Programming has many uses, including as an artistic medium! It allows us to use simple mathematical patterns to create complex and beautiful images in ways that traditional media like paint or pencil can’t. Explore the world of Java Processing, an open-source coding application made for artists and designers. Create fractals and other geometric patterns through code and see in real-time how the changes you make to the program affect the images you create.

Instructor: Sonya Neunzert, BS in Digital Art, is a freelance programmer and artist. Sonya works in 3D animation, game art, virtual reality development and creative coding, primarily using Unity Engine and Blender3D. She programs in C#, Python and Java. Sonya sees coding not only as a useful tool, but as a fascinating artistic medium as well.

Take a journey with Ed Edmo - a Shoshone-Bannock poet, playwright, performer, traditional storyteller, tour guide and lecturer – through stories and photos of his life growing up in Celilo Falls on the Columbia River before it was flooded by the Dalles Dam. Explore your own stories and the intersections between environment, culture and social justice through writing, drawing and public speaking.

Instructor: Ed Edmo is a Shoshone-Bannock poet, playwright, performer, traditional storyteller, tour guide and lecturer on First Nation cultures in the Northwest (http://ededmo.tripod.com/).

OPB Interview: Ed Edmo, a storyteller, playwright and poet, passes his craft to the next generation.

This class may include students Grades 4-5 from Curiosity Challenge.

Explore plant anatomy and physiology, and use genetics to predict the traits of plants and entire crops. Explore the challenges presented by climate change on the world’s food supply, and use principles of plant genetics and biodiversity to find solutions to drought, water contamination, and food scarcity. How will modern agriculture adapt to feed a growing population of 10 billion people? Go beyond just sunlight and water – what are the essential nutrients for plant growth? Practice the basic care of plants, and bring home on-going experimental designs to bring to your home “laboratory” as well as a new green friend from camp!

Instructor: Tom Benenati, MA Education and MS Biological Sciences with an emphasis in botany. Tom brings 15 years experience as a Park Ranger as well as teaching biology and botany labs at the college level. He plans his classes to meet Next Generation Science Standards.

Join Coach Justin Jones of The Knight School for an exciting course focusing on improving your chess game. Explore more high-level chess strategies, including advanced openings and checkmates, middle game tactics, and more! And the return of everyone’s favorite chess games: Bughouse and Promotion! Develop your critical thinking skills even further as you explore new methods and learn how to evaluate a position and execute a game plan.

Instructor: Justin Jones, BA, is a Chess Coach and Public Relations Major who graduated from The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Justin has professionally taught chess for over five years and brought the Knight School to the Portland Metro area in 2019. For more information on The Knight School, please visit www.theknightschool.com.

Comic storytelling combines both writing and drawing to tell tales that span every conceivable genre. Create your very own graphic novel that tells a unique, interesting and personal story. Employ the techniques of professional cartoonists to tell your story, from narrative development to layout, penciling, inking, coloring, and lettering a final product. You will improve your ability to tell a story clearly by designing pages that engage readers and communicate effectively using both words and art.

Instructor: Justin Rueff is a Chalk Artist for New Seasons Market. He is also a freelance artist, focusing on illustration, signs, comics and murals. He has worked as a teaching artist in California and was a staff member of the SHINE After-School Programs.