Collaboration and Course Guide

General Line: (608) 890-3260 Fax Number: (608) 265-4309 Need Help? [email protected]

Our Impact....................................................2Collaboration Continuum .............................3Our Assessment System................................52014-2015 Calendar......................................6

Suite 264 Teacher Education Building225 N. Mills St.

Madison, WI 53706

Hello WCATY Students, School Sponsors & Parents,

We are excited and honored to be working with you and your stu-dents this quarter. Our hope is that together we will meet the chal-lenges of embracing strengths and recognizing hurdles, so that after the last project is turned in and the last bit of feedback is received, we can look back and see the progress made. In this vision of an educational community, we all have a role in making sure success is the end result. What is a successful end result? WCATY classes are designed to help students practice higher level thinking skills while also refining their learning and communication habits. Our goal for your students is to push and test and struggle and fail and revise, over and over again. In other words, the goal is simply to grow. We ask you to support this goal by asking your students about the conversations held, the different perspectives expressed, the books read, and the projects created in their WCATY courses.

Happy Online Travels,

Rebecca Vonesh Director of WCATY’s Online Academy

Rebecca VoneshDirector of Online [email protected]

Ola SkybaDirector of Summer [email protected]

D.A. RobinsonAnimator & Data [email protected]

Christine CongdonOutreach [email protected]

Marissa GreuelOutreach [email protected]

Merone TesfayeGraphic [email protected]

Michael KenyonProgram [email protected]

Edward HartmanProgram [email protected]

Brittany FahresGraphic [email protected]

Contents:

Wisconsin Center for Academically Talented Youth

Welcome

In a Project Academy four week mission, students are project managers in charge of selecting, planning, re-vising and reflecting upon their plan of work. In week one, students jump into action selecting a problem from a range of inquiry options. Once selected, stu-dents make a plan of work, join an interest group, and add to the class-wide discussion about overarching issues. After four weeks of researching their prob-lem and crafting a product, students use group and instructor feedback to prepare their project to be dis-played in the school-wide showcase. Throughout the experience, instructors provide regular, personalized feedback focused on documenting growth. Schools and parents receive a final report which includes planning, interaction, and writing or reading grades as well as a detailed description of student growth.

WCATY’s Academy provides online classes that replace a quarter of language arts, history, science or math curricu-lum in over 75 districts. The research-based coursework is assigned in weekly chunks providing the perfect mix of community discussion and flexibility. The integrated cur-riculum begins with complex, real world problems which students dig into by discussing big questions, reading fic-tion and non-fiction texts, writing persuasive, informative and creative works and interacting with other eager minds. Students also participate in face-to-face meetings where they build community and participate in hands-on explora-tions. Instructors provide regular, personalized feedback throughout the week to students. Instructors typically spend eight to ten hours in each class per week. Our as-sessment system focuses on documenting growth and helping students reflect upon their own learning process. Schools receive a midterm and final report which includes reading, writing and interaction grades as well as a detailed description of student growth.

Academy Challenges

Online Options that Meet Your Needs

• Tier Two, Extension Curriculum, Aligned to Com-mon Core State Standards

• 20 hours of Online Instruction• A Community Passionate about Your Students’

Interests• Online activity is asynchronous, though classes

move together from week to week• Students spend four to five hours per week com-

pleting activities• Cost: Members ($115), Wisconsin Schools &

Parents ($125), Out of State ($150), International ($200)

• Tier Three, Replacement Curriculum, Aligned to Com-mon Core State Standards

• 90 hours of Blended Instruction including Three Face-to-Face meetings

• Indepth Content Explorations • Students spend seven to ten hours per week complet-

ing activities• Students tend to work independently in school librar-

ies or resource rooms• Cost: Members ($200), Wisconsin Schools & Parents

Eager to meet like-minded friends, sharpen their wit, and dive deeply into self-selected topics, each year over 1,300 students click into campus. Like their unique talents, their interests range widely. We satisfy their appetite for challenge by designing a smorgasbord of curricular nourishment.

Project A Missions4 Weeks Online

Starting in October & mid January9 Weeks Blended

Starting in November, end of January, & April

• Help find needed books, internet access, and possibly transportation to face-to-face workshops• Review student work before submission• Give feedback on course design and inform instructor about illness or learning hurdles• Enroll and support students in Project A classes

• Provides extensive training for instructors • Develops interdisciplinary gifted curriculum• Ensures the safety of students in our online campus • Provides midterm and final reports • Coordinates face-to-face workshops• Requests and uses feedback to enhance the learning environment

• Design integrated learning experiences which develop higher level thinking skills and content knowledge through exploration and the production of complex projects

• Give timely feedback to messages, tech questions, assignments and forum responses that push thought, synthesize conversation paths, and add pertinent information

• Articulate an overall picture of the student as a learner in the class through their scores and comments in the midterm and final reports

• Respond to feedback by continuously refining their practice and courses• Blend meaningful online interactions with motivating, hands on, face-to-face meetings

• Offers and conducts first rate research which WCATY uses to establish best practices• Makes available world class collections, buildings and labs, and thinkers• Provides access to graduate student mentors who often work in our online forums to provide an addition-

al perspective to conversations

• Select and enroll qualified students• Provide release time with web access • Supply books for students • Work with schools and parents to arrange transportation to face-to-face workshops• Monitor student work, discuss progress with instructor, and assign final grade• Give feedback on course design

• Engage in lively, but respectful conversations and debates• Monitor their own progress and learning, trying even when it is difficult and alerting the instructor to

learning hurdles and questions• Read directions, books, and resources carefully• Write clearly in order to express both personal and academic perspectives • Connect ideas and themes into their daily lives• Contribute in a cycle of evaluation and refinement by enlisting feedback given to improve work and by

participating in surveys in order to give the instructor essential information about how to grow

WCATY

Instructors

University of Wisconsin

School Sponsors

Parents

Students

Collaboration Continuum

Will you decide to Think like a...Target Audience Is this for you? Targeted Skills Historians inter-ested in exploring the factors that have influenced the evolution of our human story.

Do you like to read historical fiction?Do you often think about how an event might ripple throughout time?Do you think about questions like, how does our language impact us or is it better now than back then?

Read like a Historian (RI 8.1 – 8.9, RL 8.1 – 8.9, RH 8.1- 8.9)

Write like a Historian (W 8.1 – 8.9, WHS 8.1 – 8.9, SL 8.5, L 8.1-8.6)

Interact like a Historian (SL 8.1- 8.4, SL. 8.6)

Leaders inter-ested in exploring decision-making models, examples of greatness, and yourself.

Do you like to read dramas, romanc-es, action adventures?Do you tend to end up in leadership positions?Do you think about questions like, who am I or I wonder how others are feeling?

Read like a Reflective Leader (RI 8.1 – 8.9, RL 8.1 – 8.9, RH 8.1- 8.9)

Write like a Reflective Leader (W 8.1 – 8.9, WHS 8.1 – 8.9, SL 8.5, L 8.1-8.6)

Interact like a Reflective Leader (SL 8.1- 8.4, SL. 8.6)

Designers who tend to envision the new by chal-lenging assump-tions.

Do you like to read humorous or sur-realist stories?Do you tend to see stories in your mind rather than hear them?Do you think about questions like, what is creativity or, what if…?

Read like a Designer (RI 8.1 – 8.9, RL 8.1 – 8.9, RST 8.1- 8.9)

Write like a Designer (W 8.1 – 8.9, WHS 8.1 – 8.9, SL 8.5, L 8.1-8.6)

Interact like a Designer (SL 8.1- 8.4, SL. 8.6)

Researchers who enjoy collect-ing, categorizing, and measuring information.

Do you like to read mysteries?Do you often find yourself categoriz-ing things?Do you think about questions like, what caused that or, is that really true?

Read like a Researcher (RI 8.1 – 8.9, RL 8.1 – 8.9, RST 8.1- 8.9)

Write like a Researcher

(W 8.1 – 8.9, WHS 8.1 – 8.9, SL 8.5, L 8.1-8.6)

Interact like a Researcher (SL 8.1- 8.4, SL. 8.6)

Engineers inter-ested in under-standing how it all connects.

Do you like to read science fiction or fantasy stories?Do you tend to draw out concepts to show connections?Do you think about questions like, how do things work?

Read like an Engineer

(RI 8.1 – 8.9, RL 8.1 – 8.9, RST 8.1- 8.9)

Write like an Engineer (W 8.1 – 8.9, WHS 8.1 – 8.9, SL 8.5, L 8.1-8.6)

Interact like an Engineer (SL 8.1- 8.4, SL. 8.6)

Destination: Higher Level Thinking

Balance Time and Challenge: Self-motivation, follow through, and time management are key.

Who should take a WCATY course? Can you...

Understand Your Own Process: Successful students openly articulate their learning process, are not al-ways “right,” and respectfully question.

Consume Text and Media Wisely: A balanced approach to student-chosen and class-wide readings culminates in contemplative conversations. Success requires sifting and winnowing large amounts of resources. Reading several books while also doing research is very common.

Effectively Communicate: In an online setting, written communication expands beyond the realm of formal papers and be-comes the tool through which students articulate their position, share personal stories, build consensus, and deviate from the norm. Successful students write continuously, using logic, research, and personal stories as support.

Dig Deeply: Courses delve deeply into a theme, use higher level thinking skills, and highlight multidisciplinary connections.

2. Developing Concept Knowledge: Each course is guided by an essential question and uses a project space to help students apply what they have learned. These two assessments are then used to gauge whether the depth and breadth of the student’s understanding of the content has grown.

Essentail Question Responses: Students respond to this essentail question at the beginning and end of the course. The instructor gives students feedback to their final response. Students then reflect upon their two responses, thinking about the instructor feedback and the big ideas of the course. This reflection becomes one of their portfolio pieces.

Final Project: The final project is developed throughout the course, revised in online spaces, and presented at the last face-to-face meeting. A score is given to the final project and is included as part of the reading or concept development grade.

3. Becoming the Manager of Their Own Learning Process: Throughout the process students are asked to reflect on their learning process, defining hurdles, strenghts and next steps of their own. They do this in our pre and post surveys as well as in their portfolios.

1. Growing Skills: Focused on teaching students to read, write and interact like the chosen profession, the system uses instructor feedback and student portfolios to outline growth and to target next steps. Depending on the focus, instructors select a next step for each assignment from a list of aligned learning goals. These next steps document individual growth by marking progress throughout the class, noting movement from novice to professional goals. As instructors give more goals, pat-terns emerge. Students complete portfolios which help them reflect on their own skill development and select their own focus for further development. Instructors then use the patterns they see in the assigned learning goals and the students’ reflections in their portfolios to synthesize the growth seen into the narratives they write on the midterm and final reports. A 1-4 number score based on the amount of growth seen is given for reading, writing, and interacting skills.

WCATY programs develop students’ concept knowledge (depth and breadth); skills (writing, reading, interacting, and sometimes com-putation); and learning behaviors (focusing, organizing, reflecting, working with others). Growth is documented and analyzed through our assessment system, Pathways to Expertise. This system links school-based standards to professions (ex. historians, engineers, designers) and is partly based on Beck and Schacter`s (1996) idea of establishing ``expert benchmarks`` for gifted students.

The WCATY Way: Growing Your Talent

4(Dramatic Improvement) Considerable growth. While participating in all activities, he/she received progressively more difficult learning goals, rarely receiving the same comment twice.

3(Consistent Improvement) Demonstrated growth. While participating in most activities, he/she rarely received the same learning goal, though goals were often the same level of difficulty.

2(Some Improvement) Demonstrated some growth. Though participation is not consistent and learning goals are often repeated, some movement has been noted.

1(Little Improvement) Very little demonstrated growth. Participation is infrequent and learning goals are aften repeat-ed.

0(No Improvement) No work has been turned in.

Rubric for Midterm & Final Reports

September 1st: Registration opens for all school year experiences

Project A Fall Missions: Oct. 5th-Oct. 30th (4-Week, Tier 2 RtI Extension Curriculum)September 28: Registration deadlineSeptember 30: Login information emailed to families & schoolsOctober 5: Online missions beginOctober 30: Online missions end November 6: Reports sent to families & schools

Academy Fall Challenges: Nov. 2nd- Jan. 15th (9-Week, Tier 3 RtI Replacement Curriculum)October 26: Registration deadlineOctober 28: Login information emailed to schoolsNovember 2: Online challenges beginNovember 2-13: First face-to-face meetings scheduled December 4: Fall midterm comments available in grading section of School Support SystemNovember 30–December 11: Second face-to-face meetings scheduled December 21–January 3: Two week winter breakJanuary 4-15: Third face-to-face meetings scheduled January 15: Fall challenges endJanuary 22: Fall final comments available in grading section of School Support System

Academy Winter Challenges: Jan. 25th-March 18th (9-Week, Tier 3 RtI Replacement Curriculum)January 19: Registration deadlineJanuary 21: Login information emailed to schoolsJanuary 25: Winter challenges beginJanuary 25-February 5: First face-to-face meetings scheduled February 17-March 2: Second face-to-face meetings scheduled February 26: Winter midterm comments available in grading section of School Support SystemMarch 7-18: Third face-to-face meetings scheduled March 18: Winter challenges endMarch 25: Winter final comments available in grading section of School Support System

Project A Winter Missions: Feb. 22nd-March 18th (4-Week, Tier 2 RtI Extension Curriculum)February 15: Registration deadlineFebruary 17: Login information emailed to families & schoolsFebruary 22: Online missions beginMarch 18: Online missions endMarch 25: Reports sent to families & schoolsMarch 21-April 3: Two week spring break

Academy Spring Challenges: April 4th-June 3rd (9-Week, Tier 3 RtI Replacement Curriculum)March 29: Registration deadlineMarch 31: Login information emailed to schoolsApril 4: Spring challenges beginApril 4-15: First face-to-face meetings scheduled April 25-May 6: Second face-to-face meetings scheduled May 6: Spring midterm comments available in grading section of School Support SystemMay 16-May27: Third face-to-face meetings scheduled June 3: Spring challenges endJune 9: Spring final comments available in grading section of School Support System

2015-2016 Schedule

Project A Missions- 4 Weeks

Who: Historians, Researchers, Writers, CartographersWhat: Physical Geography, Cultural History, Creative WritingCCSS: Analyze Historical Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Historical Theory

While trekking around the world and connecting the locations, your head is filled with questions. What does the world look like from the throne of the most powerful ruler? How treacherous is the journey to the worst battle in history? In four weeks of fast-paced challenges, you will travel to a variety of far off places to explore all the wonder our world has to offer. Your quick thinking and research skills will help you uncover the mysterious, fascinating and little known facts of the locations and cultures you encoun-ter on your worldly travels as you make your way to your final destination. Your final project will be to collaborate with your Amazing Race Adventure Planning Team to create a map of all of your destina-tions, highlighting their stories and adventures. Work hard and work fast to finish the race!

Amazing Race, WCATY Edition|Mapping Out World Culture

Who: Historian, Creative Writer, ResearcherWhat: History, CharacterizationCCSS: Analyze Historical Texts and Persuasively Argue For a Historical Theory

What defines a hero? A villain? Take Christopher Columbus. As a member of his crew, do you consider him a hero? As a native of the Americas, do you feel the same way? What role does perspective play in examining and judging historical figures? What if your perspective is that of an inanimate object? Imag-ine you are the bus in which Rosa Parks sat, or the podium at which President Lincoln gave his Gettysburg address. What will your versions of these historical events offer to your readers?

Heroes and Villains|Writing Historical Fiction through their Perspective

Who: Historian, Researcher, Non-fiction Writer, Politician, Media-Communication Specialist/JournalistWhat: History, Non-Fiction, Detective/Mystery, Politics, JournalismCCSS: Analyze Historical Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Historical Theory

Vincent Van Gough had his ear cut off as a result of an argument. Pocahontas, an adult Powhattan prin-cess, fell in love and married John Smith. Albert Einstein, before the age of fifteen, mastered differential and integral calculus. Do you know which of the above two statements are truths and which one is a lie? What other historical lies do people continue to believe? Are you willing to play detective and place historical events/people on the scale of truth? Will you then be able to tweak a historical belief and sell your misconception to your peers?

It Never Happened|Misconceptions about History

5th-8th Grade

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Think like a...HistorianAll WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century

Standards; NAGC Pre K-12 Gifted Programming Standards; and ISTE Standards.

Who: Psychologists, Teenagers, Sociologists, Questioners of the Human ConditionWhat: Positive Psychology, Leadership/IdentityCCSS: Analyze Psychological Texts and Practice Reflective Journaling

Happiness. What is happiness? Is it genetic? A question of our habits? Throughout its history, the field of psychology has focused on the dark side of human consciousness. Now a new group of psychologists are asking the question, ``What does it really mean to be happy?`` Learn how to navigate WCATY`s online world while joining the discussion. Exchange views with students throughout the state as we all research, read, test, and synthesize in order to find out what exactly happiness is.

Happiness?|The Psychology and The Numbers

Who:Diplomats, Political/Military Analysts, Economists, Anthropologists, SatiristsWhat: Identifying factors in evaluating historical decisions; comparing perspectives of time, culture, and motivations as factors of responsibility; defending a system of evaluation.CCSS: Additional alignments to National Council for Social Studies Standards

What is the dumbest decision ever? You choose. You create a spectrum of stupid. Perhaps you have heard of the Darwin Awards, bestowed to people whose comical, ill-advised actions land them in fatal situations. What about historical acts that harmed others; how would they compare? You might con-sider the decision to delay a nonessential test to the middle of the night resulting in the world’s largest nuclear disaster. Boom! Death and 200 years of destruction over millions of acres. Would you rank that before or after a political leader’s campaign to mass produce steel that led to more than 20 million deaths? Play an evaluative role and rate missteps like these, defending your order. Will you emphasize the cost, the human toll, the global damage, the long-term effect? Will the perspectives of time, culture or motivations weigh in your process? Theorize what human characteristics led to the biggest errors. What recommendations would you make to protect against stupidity?

Stupid|The Impact of Dumb Historical Decisions

Who: Anthropologists, Musicians, Radio Show HostWhat: Culture, Rhythm, Keys, Scales, Tempos, PhrasesCCSS: Research and Analyze Media, Clearly Inform Others about a Process

Do you hear music and get carried away thinking about the people and places that gave birth to the sounds? Have you ever wondered, “Am I more woodwind or brass?” Does listening to dueling conch shells sound like fun? Have you ever pretended to have your own radio show? Join us as we sample mournful funeral songs, celebratory songs of praise, romantic love songs, and aggressive battle songs from around the world and from different time periods. Explore how a group of instruments have voiced the melodies that shaped cultures around the world. Meet the musicians whose ability to fashion new sounds and rhythms defined different music periods. Come be the radio host who takes listeners on a tour of the world.

World Beat|Mash-Up World Beats and Lyrics

5th-8th Grade

5th-8th Grade

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Think like a...LeaderAll WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century Stan-

dards; NAGC Pre K-12 Gifted Programming Standards; and ISTE Standards.

Who: Negotiators, Legal Administrators, Conflict Mediators, Human Resource ManagersWhat: Crisis Management, Communications, Human Behavior, Legal StudiesCCSS: Analyze Biographical Texts/Non-Fiction Reports and Persuasively Argue for a Plan

Just about everything we do on a daily basis involves some form of negotiation. Think about it. You want to ask your parents’ permission to spend the night at a friend’s house. Do you anticipate and prepare for their response? What are you going to offer in return? It is more than merely a game of chance, if you want to guarantee success in your favor. “A negotiator should observe everything. You must be part Sherlock Holmes, part Sigmund Freud.” explains Victor Kiam. Examining the strategies used to negotiate issues, and how laws impact conflict management will take you closer to becoming master negotiator. Your skills will be put to the test as you rewrite a book or movie with a “Hollywood ending” to show what success looks like in the real world.

The Negotiator|Law and Conflict Resolution

Who:Neurologists, Sociologists, Anthropologists, Health Care Professionals, Educational Psychologists, Teachers/PrincipalsWhat: Learning Styles and Their Advantages, Effects of Diet, Sleep, Exercise on the Brain, Activities and Puzzles that Stimulate the BrainCCSS: Targeting students with identified leadership talents

Have you ever wanted to learn how to bend spoons with your mind? While it would be awesomely cool to manipulate objects with mere thought, you need to sign up for the magic course to learn that skill! How about taking less time and energy to finish homework, conquer your gaming friends, and complete the latest trilogy by your favorite author? In this class, by studying and experimenting on the three pounds and 86 billion neurons within your own skull, you will discover a variety of ways to improve the efficiency and capacity of your brain.

How to Learn (Almost) Anything|Understanding How to Maximize Your Brain

Who: Artists, Graphic Novel Enthusiasts, Story Tellers, Graphic DesignersWhat: Design, Art, StoryboardingCCSS: Analyze and Create Media

Great writers SHOW rather than TELL a story. Have you ever wanted to show in pictures rather than words? The comic strip format of graphic novels allows authors to show actions and emotions in a series of pictures. Thoughts and motives are often projected through words in either dialogue, thought bub-bles, or narration. Sounds like an easy way to tell a story, right? Wrong! Graphic novels have challenges unique to the genre. While exploring what makes for stellar graphic novels, students will create their own graphic novel pages to share with the WCATY community.

Drawing You In|Create Your Own Graphic Novel

5th-8th Grade

5th-8th Grade

5th-8th Grade

Think like a...Designer All WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century


Spoken Word|The Poetry Behind the NumbersWho: Poets, Performers, Statisticians, SociologistsWhat: Poetry, Performance, Statistics, Social JusticeCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

Poetry, what do numbers have to do with it? You tell us! Our theme is the numbers of our lives, the data that defines us and the statistics that stagger us. What are you passionate about? Why does it matter? When will you do something about it? Explore the world of spoken word poetry. Speak up and tell the story that needs to be told. Create vivid images, engage in wordplay, generate powerful rhythms, repeat important stats, rhyme and rhyme some more. It’s your time to perform. It’s your turn to speak. It’s time we listen to the poetry behind the numbers.

Who: Designers, Media Moguls, Producers, Actors, Creative WritersWhat: Script Writing, Story Creating, World BuildingCCSS: Analyze Non-Fiction/Fiction Texts for Interconnections and Create Science Fiction

Is Dr. Who the savior of species as well as a true friend to Earth, or is he the villainous avenger of his race of Time Lords? How will you depict Dr. Who in a new adventure of this infamous time traveling humanoid alien? Learn the rules of the growing genre of fan fiction, explore the character traits of one of the Dr. Who incarnations and his companion(s), and design a problem to be solved within a creative plotline. Has a menacing intergalactic plot been hatched or is time itself in peril? Your final project is creating a Dr. Who episode script or short story to be shared with the WCATY community.

Dr. Who|Write Your Own Fan Fiction

Who: Psychologist, Anthropologist, Oneirologist, Analyst, ScientistWhat: Psychology, Science, Oneirology, AnthropologyCCSS: Analyze Scientific Non-Fiction Texts & Persuasively Argue for a Cause/Solution

For millennia, people have pondered the meaning of dreams. Early civilizations thought of dreams as a medium between our earthly world and that of the gods. Greeks and Romans were convinced that dreams had certain prophetic powers. Dreams are responsible for many inventions, great artworks, and are incredibly fascinating. In your lifetime you will get to experience more than 150,000 dreams, yet will be able to remember only 1 of them. So, how do dreams work? How do we generate them? Do dreams have meaning? Is it possible to control your experiences in dreams? How come dreams can feel more vivid than reality? Take on a role of a psychologist, oneirologist, anthropologist, or analyst to explore these and many other questions. Come and explore the mysteries of dreaming, and discover what role-our experiences and memories play in our dreams.

Dreams|Experimenting on Your Sleeping Mind

5th-8th Grade

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Think like a...Researcher All WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century Stan-


Who: Agriculturist, Military Specialist, Public Health Official, Medical Doctor, Ecologist, Eco-Engineer, Historian, ResearcherWhat: Pandemics, Anatomy and Physiology of MicrobesCCSS: Analyze Scientific Texts and Persuasively Argue For a Solution

Ravaged crops, mass starvation, and disease in Ireland. Infected rodents, swollen lymph nodes, and gangrene in Europe. Body rash, blisters, and blindness around the world. What do all of these have in common? Microbes. Explore their microscopic world through the scope of an agriculturist, a biologist, a world health official and a national security specialist. What microbes cause problems you work to solve? What microbes help you solve problems? Write a policy brief and propose a course of action. How will you prevent further destruction or use the power of microbes for good?

Microbes|Explore the Small but Deadly

Who: Inventors, Researchers, Readers, Writers, Creative ThinkersWhat: For this course, all the resources and reading materials will be provided online. CCSS: Analyze Scientific Texts and Persuasively Argue For a Solution

Become a superhero in this course! Have you channeled your inner superhero lately? Do you have what it takes to “fight the bad guy?” Consider Spiderman. What roles would science and technology play in his world? Do you have the potential to become the next Spiderman? Uncover these ideas when you unlock the superhero within yourself!

Real Life Super Heroes|Explained by Science

Who: IT Specialists, Coders, Video Game Designers, and EngineersWhat: Properties of Apps, Programming, Mathematics, Visual DesignCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

Can you design the next big app? What app do you need that you don’t have? Why do you need it? Can you design it? How do they affect you, your education, and your free time? Join the adventure to explore apps and evaluate their development. Coders, video game players, Minecraft aficionados, and engineers are needed to join our App Guild. Our guild will use models to understand and analyze how Apps are created and developed as you design and create your own App!

App|Create a New Approach to Computing

Who: Engineers, Architects, Urban Planners, Government LeadersWhat: Math, Science, Language ArtsCCSS: Analyze Scientific Non-Fiction Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Problem/Solution

Challenger and Columbia. Silver Bridge in Ohio and the I-35 Bridge in Minneapolis. Levees during Hur-ricane Katrina and dams during the Buffalo Creek Flood. Space shuttle explosions, broken bridges, col-lapsed infrastructures. How do these things happen? Who or what is to blame? Investigate the world of engineering by analyzing failed projects. You will work in a small group to identify a problem and design a solution. In the end, your group will identify challenges, explore impacts, and present solutions in a proposal to City Council.

Failed|Engineering Busts

5th-8th Grade

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Think like an...EngineerAll WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century Stan-


Patterns that Matter|Golden Ratio, Fibonacci and More

Who: Scientists, Mathematicians, Philosophers, and ArtistsWhat: Patterns in Nature, Science, MathCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

Follow the spiral in search of order. Ride a wave toward understanding. Let symmetry predict the future. Dissect nature through the magnifying glass of a scientist, mathematician, philosopher, and artist. Journey deep into the natural world identifying, studying, and explaining natural patterns and their impact over time. When do they benefit living organisms? What mathematical patterns are most common? How is natural beauty defined? Choose a role, dissect a pattern, collect your specimens, and report your findings.

Who: Puzzle Makers, Problem Solvers, Engineers, Mathematicians What: Problem Solving, Mathematical Thinking, Critical Thinking, LogicCCSS: Analyze Scientific Non-Fiction Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Problem/Solution

What do transposition, ROT1, Caesar`s Shift, and monoalphabetic substitution all have in common? How can a matrix help you solve a logic puzzle? Do you know any cruciverbalists? If you could spend hours searching for a solution, if creating a truly difficult puzzle seems appealing, or if you would be honored to be called the greatest puzzler in your class, then this Mission could be in your destiny. Come join a Puzzling Society where you learn the master craft of puzzle making. Enter puzzle competitions, and see if your best puzzle can win approval to be shown in the Project A Student Gallery.

Puzzle Makers & Code Breakers|Create and Solve Logic Puzzles

Who: Mathematicians, Athletes, Adventurers, SurvivalistsWhat: Applied Mathematics, Creative and Cooperative Problem Solving, Survival ScenariosCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

Iron Tri-Mathlon: Do you have the math skills to survive?Considered one of the most difficult sporting events in the world, the Ironman Triathlon is a series of grueling long distance races which only the toughest athletes can complete. An Ironman or Ironwoman must swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then run a 26.2 mile marathon without a break. Now YOU can go beyond racing to test the limits of your skills! Iron Tri-Mathlon challenges you to use math skills to complete THREE extreme adventures. Pick your scenarios, sharpen your pencils, and get ready to calculate your way to the finish line! Whether mountain climbing, scuba diving, trekking across a desert, or mushing a team of sled dogs across the Arctic, you will need math skills to survive! Do you have what it takes?

Survival Math|Use Logic to Master the Extreme

5th-8th Grade

5th-8th Grade

5th-8th Grade

Think like a...HistorianAll WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century


Building an Empire|Civilization’s Systematic Rise and Fall

Who: Ancient Civilization Buffs and Game Designer/InventionsWhat: Ancient Civilizations, Cause and Effect, Sociology, Game MechanicsCCSS: Additional alignments to National Council for Social Studies Standards

Why are some civilizations chronicled in history books and others left in the dust? While reading Isaac Asimov`s The Foundation or Veronica Roth`s Divergent, you will investigate the patterns that create human civilization. By playing the game Civilization, you will track how systems impact each other and explore cycles of growth and decay. Analyze complex texts and digital artifacts in order to make strong arguments in the senate halls of our forums. Play the ultimate logic game, Civilization.

Who: Ethnographers, Geographers, and Political HistoriansWhat: Qualitative Research, History, Problem CreationCCSS: Research Multiple Historical Perspectives and Persuasively Argue for a Historical Theory

Looking for work? The Anachronism firm is hiring. Come be employed by a mystery figure who is looking to change the course of history. Travel through time to visit different eras in European history and in each era gather clues to solve the problem. What is the problem? That information is classified and only available to those who accept the challenge. You will be provided the reading, but be prepared to spend a good deal of time researching and writing to form a solution to this mysterious problem.

Mystery Hunters|Unravel the Mystery of European History

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Folklorists, Historical Researchers, EthnographersWhat: Language Arts, Ancient History, CultureCCSS: Analyze Historical Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Historical Theory

Even though they are over two thousand years old, the mythological tales of the ancient Greeks are still widely known and influence modern society today, from Hermes` caduceus to the names of businesses such as Nike shoes, Ajax Cleanser, and Midas Mufflers. Take this opportunity to read the mythological tales of the ancient Greek gods and goddesses. Write creative pieces about the heroes and their amazing adventures. Battle your classmates to gain rank in our forums on Mount Olympus. Imagine a world of ter-rifying beasts and humans with extraordinary powers. Come live with the Olympians.

Greek Mythology|Where Ancient Stories Reveal Your Hero’s Quest

Academy 9-Week Challenges

7th & 8th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Adventure Tour Guides, Insurance agents, Historians, Game MakersWhat: Language Arts, Risk Management, Psychology, HistoryCCSS: Analyze Biographical Texts/Non-Fiction Reports and Persuasively Argue for a Plan

What would you do if the worst happened? What do the recent disasters like Tsunamis and Katrina teach us about the human spirit? Can we ever be really sure of our own safety? Everything in life involves risk. Sometimes we have control over risk. Practicing prudent decision making helps to decrease the chances of bad consequences. But there are also perils that are out of our control. Come explore risk and human behavior in disastrous situations.

Survivor|Quick Thinking in the Face of Danger

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Folklorist, Historical Researcher/Investigator, EthnographerWhat: Anthropology, Sociology, Narrative DevelopmentCCSS: Additional alignments to National Council for Social Studies Standards

Since the beginning of time, people have been on a quest for understanding. Where did we come from? Why does nature act the way it does? What is our ultimate destiny? What is the meaning of life? As past cultures searched for answers, mythical characters, themes and systems were born. Come explore these sacred stories, learn how their human themes run through world culture and consider the influence they had and continue to have on contemporary life.

World Mythology|Stories that Define Culture

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Historical Researchers, Ethnographers, Anthropologists, SociologistsWhat: Language Arts, Geography, History, Problem SolvingCCSS: Analyze Historical Texts and Persuasively Argue For a Historical Theory

Unless you win the lottery, it is unlikely that you will be able to travel to every interesting place on earth. But in this class you might be able to visit Germany in WWII, China while the Great Wall is being built, Canada as they become an independent country and much, much more. Learn about different periods in history and make your own itinerary that spans countries and decades. Get your passport ready and make sure you are buckled up and ready to travel!

World Time Traveler|Connections Throughout Time

5th & 6th Grade

Think like a...LeaderAll WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century Stan-


Board of Directors|Complex Decisions with Big Consequences

Who: Future Executives and IndustrialistsWhat: Business, Statistics, Leadership/Identity, EnergyCCSS: Targeting students with identified Leadership Talents

Do you have what it takes to be a Decider? As we speak, the remaining vacancies on the board of Petro-zine Incorporated are being filled. These are seats of power. This multinational oil corporation owns oil rigs and business all around the world. If the idea of solving complex issues doesn`t intimidate you, if the idea of holding people`s lives in your hands doesn`t make you want to back away, we may have a position for you on the Board of Directors.

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Sports Fans, Athletes, Coaches, General Managers, and Team OwnersWhat:Statistics, Leadership/Identity, AthleticsCCSS: Targeting students with identified Leadership Talents

Sports fans, huddle up and get ready to give one hundred and ten percent! If you want to be recruited to play on this team, you should have interest in all things sports: famous athletes and rivalries, cooperation versus competition, salaries and sports facilities, as well as the history of sports. Future sports franchise owners should come to the class bargaining table ready to negotiate and trade, provide their best analysis of sports ideas and issues, and be prepared for anything at all times. It`s time to get ready to rumble in the wild world of sports!

Fantasy Franchise|Statistics, Team Dynamics, and Marketing

5th & 6th Grade

Law 101|The Policies Behind Civil Rights

Who: Activists, Lawyers, Lobbyists, Politicians, Union Leaders, PsychologistsWhat: Political Science, Civil Rights, Legal Studies, Sociology, PsychologyCCSS: Targeting students with identified Leadership Talents

Imagine waking before dawn every day to walk to a factory. You sit in a windowless room on a concrete floor cutting threads off shirts for 10 hours, only to break for lunch. It`s not child`s play. But for this 9- year-old girl from Bangladesh, it is survival. The goal of fair and equal rights for all has been chased for hundreds of years but is still not a reality for many people throughout the world. What can you do to bring society closer to this goal? Come explore how change takes place by examining civil rights throughout his-tory, and create an action plan to tackle a problem of your own.

Who: Leaders, Politicians, CEOs, SupervisorsWhat: Infamous historic decisions, Leadership, GovernmentCCSS: Targeting students with identified Leadership Talents

A terrible blunder… and you made it as the President of the United States! Dive deep into the archives of presidential libraries to investigate and scrutinize some of the biggest scandals of our past. Use these historic lessons to explore the art of good decision making. Can you make a good decision? Do you know how to effectively explore your options? Can you sell your decisions to others? Do you know how to deal with the outcome of a bad decision? Answer these questions and unlock your full potential as an effective decision maker and compelling leader.

Presidential|Decision Making at the Highest Level

Who: Dramatic Writers, Psychologists, SociologistsWhat: Language arts, Sociology, Psychology, Character DevelopmentCCSS: Analyze Biographical Texts and Non-Fiction Reports and Persuasively Argue for a Plan

The lady in the pink gloves. The man noisily reading the newspaper. The kid chewing on his pencil and the loud laughing girl. They are all around you. Breathe. And exhale. Secretly take out your pencil and note-book. Listen to their thoughts. Analyze their body language. What do they really think about the others in their group? Notice their wishful glances. What motivates them? What do they really value? Capture the characters in your world. Sketch, stretch and remake them into literature. Don`t just be a character. Create them.

Character Driven|A Psychological Case Study

7th & 8th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

Truth?|Logically Arguing Philosophy 7th & 8th GradeWho: Philosophers, Leaders, Critical ThinkersWhat: Logic Argumentation, Universalism, Realitivism, Fallacies, PhilosophyCCSS: Targeting students with identified Leadership Talents

Is there really such a thing as truth? Is there a right answer, or are there only right questions? Can some-thing be simple and complex at the same time? Why do people still talk about the ideas of Aristotle, Plato and other philosophers when they have been dead for thousands of years? Come investigate these ques-tions and many more while traveling back in time to explore the thinking of those who searched for the timeless. Using Sophie`s World by Jostein Gaarder as the guide, you will find out why ancient thought still rings true when applied to modern issues. As you learn to construct probing questions, design logical arguments and defend your position on the floor of our Forum, you may uncover more than just the art of persuasion. You may uncover a better understanding of yourself.

Who: Book Lovers, Book ReviewersWhat: Language Arts (emphasis on reading)CCSS: Analyze Fiction and Persuasively Argue about Books

Are you an avid reader? Do you search online book reviews looking for recommendations? What about talking to others about what they are reading? Are you anxious to tell them about the book you are reading? Would you like to write book reviews too? Choose your genre of expertise, browse online book reviews for reading suggestions, make your choices, and dig into some great books. Then share your reac-tions by writing book reviews and responding to those written by fellow critics.

Two Thumbs Up|Becoming a Book Critic

Think like a...Designer All WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century


Who: Authors, Editors, Publishers, Teachers, LibrariansWhat: Language Arts, Purposeful Writing, PublishingCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

‘Oh, the places you’ll go’ when you’re crafting your short stories with big messages! Will you write like ‘The Jumping Mouse’ hopping from here to there or will you move like the ‘Old Turtle’ plowing forward slow and steady similar to ‘The Little Engine that Could?’ As a final project, you will select your favorite creation and publish your own online book, complete with artwork and storyline, sharing a big message with future generations! Join the WCATY young author’s club and write stories that may one day be found on your own children’s bookshelves - a literary classic with a lifelong lesson!

Authoring Children’s Books|Simple Stories with Big Messages

7th & 8th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Writers, Directors, Actors, Camera Men/Women, Film LoversWhat: Literature, Writing, Media Studies, AnthropologyCCSS: Research and Analyze Media and Persuasively Argue for a Position

Life sprawls out in front of you on the big screen. You sit munching popcorn as your mind wavers between being fully engrossed in the story and analyzing its components. With the first establishing shot you think, ``I hope the movie industry isn’t just recycling the same tired storyline.’’ With the lack of bankable actors, you ponder, ``could this film be an outlier? Will it resist genre?’’ As the plot thickens, you wonder, ``Will the character make it? Is this story relatable? Will other people care like I do?`` As the credits roll, you murmur to those watching with you, ‘’I wonder if this movie will change the world?’’ This question rattles around your keyboard as you articulate your thoughts online, arguing for the film in our group forums, and finally completing a full film critique employing elements of a variety of critical approaches.

Become A Film Critic|Where Film Making and Critique Meet

Who: Engineers, Designers, Historians, Leaders, ResearchersWhat: Creative Thinking, Problem Solving, Researching, Writing ProcessCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

Are artists the only ones who get to be creative? Why does fiction writing get all the creative accolades? Can’t engineers, leaders and researchers be creative too? What if you engineered a more realistically hu-man-like simulator to help train future doctors and nurses? Or motivated a team to bring attention to global poverty? Or researched the way young brains learn language to find the most effective method for teaching reading? Would you be considered creative?

Creativity in Context|Design Like a Professional

Who: Businessmen/women, Graphic Designers, Writers, Movie Buffs, Pop Culture Fanatics, IllustratorsWhat: Franchising, Reading, Business, Design, Ethnology, CompositionCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

Imagine Katniss Everdeen shaking hands with Spiderman, or Loki meeting Wolverine for the first time. The characters you love don’t have to exist only in fiction. Enter the world of Comic Con, a multi-day, multi-genre fan experience of a lifetime. Lovers of comics, movies, television, video games, books, and more unite and share with each other their love for the characters and franchises that make up their obsessions. Learn about different mediums of storytelling and characters from genres you’d never imagine existed. Delve into the business side of Comic Con and take a look at franchising. Create your own character or dress up as your favorite and attend our own WCATY Comic Con!

Comic Con|Characters, Costumes, and Adventure

Who: Engineers, Designers, Historians, Leaders, ResearchersWhat: Creative Thinking, Problem Solving, Researching, Researching, Writing ProcessCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

What does it mean to be creative? Are engineers, designers, historians, leaders and researchers all creative in the same ways? Or does creativity look, sound and feel different in each of these real world spaces? Explore the unique design and writing processes used by people who think, generate and achieve great things in a variety of fields. Do your research and find out how different people from different professions might apply a creative process to solve a problem. Are their approaches more alike or different? Do they experiment, explore and question in the same ways? Do they find patterns, make connections and gener-ate solutions in the same ways? Find out when you explore Creativity in Context!

Creativity in Context| From Ideas to Product

7th & 8th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Inventors, Creative ThinkerWhat: Language Arts, Creative Process, Design, EthicsCCSS: Research a Market Need and Create a New Invention

Unique. Unusual. Imaginative. Artistic. Resourceful. Novel. Do any of these words describe you? Can you think creatively? Do you often envision something that doesn`t exist yet? Do you ask “what if?” Explore what it means to be original, creative, and innovative as you read about discoveries that shape our world today. Stretch your problem solving skills as you play in our creative thinking sandbox. Unleash your own creative process as you develop an innovative concept. In a world buzzing with ordinary people, what makes you innovative and original? Come show that you too belong in the ranks of the edgy and uncon-ventional.

iCreate|Design Problems and Processes

Who: Photographers, JournalistsWhat: Language Arts, Photography, Journalism, GeographyCCSS: Research a Market Need and Create a New Invention

What stories do you see happening every day? What about your own story? How can you blend words and images to illustrate who you are? Come learn how to tell stories through your images and how to visualize with your words. Read how masterful writers paint pictures of big ideas through everyday situ-ations. Learn about human consciousness and perception. Discuss the extremes of human emotion. Blend photography and psychology to create pieces that represent the depths of your mind and express who you really are. What will your words and photos say?

Images=1,000 Words|Reveal the Hidden You

Who: Playwrites, Scene Designers, Critics, Dramaturges, DirctorsWhat: History of Folklore, Genres of Theatre, PlaywritingCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

Do you love to create? Do you really enjoy fairy tales but feel that with a twist here or there, you could make, say, “Jack and the Beanstalk” truly epic? Do you love the stage? Would you welcome the opportu-nity to create your own work of theatrical excellence? Using this amazing knowledge and your creative genius, you will learns the ins and outs of playwriting (including how to get your play published), while creating multiple works of awesomeness including monologues, duet scenes, and a 10-minute scene. So bring your inner Shakespeare and prepare to embark on a journey that will most likely end in a happily ever after. Well, unless you’re one of the evil stepsisters. Or a witch. Or a troll. Anyway, the curtain’s about to open. Are you ready to take the stage?

Playwrite|The World, the Characters, and the Script

7th & 8th Grade

Make ‘em Laugh|Puns,Parody, and Punchlines Who: Actors, Screen Writers, Social Critics, Comedians, HumoristsWhat: Defining Humor and Finding Inspiration for Comedy, Real World Applications for Humor and Co-medic Devices, Writing and Performing ComedyCCSS: Targeting students identified as Creative Thinkers with additional alignments to National Coalition of Core Arts Standards and/or Engineering Design Next Gen Science Standards

Ever gone for a punchline only to have your joke taken the wrong way? Laughter is said to be the best medicine, yet it seems to be taboo in a traditional academic setting. Come see life from the vantage point of the outsider, the jester, the comedian, and discover how they have leveraged social change through laughter. Discuss what is and is not funny and then take a leap into the world of verbal and visual humor, improvisation and stand-up comedy as you learn how to ‘’make ‘em laugh’’.

7th & 8th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Song writers, Musicians, PoetsWhat: Music, Creative Writing, Media StudiesCCSS: Research a Market Need and Create a New Invention

Course Description: When you pop in your ear-buds and pump up the volume, do you see yourself on stage? Do you ever wonder about the singer or the band, and how they came to make such a sound? What is the musical journey from the songwriter’s pen, to the stage, to the listener’s ears and into the hearts of the audience? Come explore the genres of American music, define your style, and write songs! There is much work to be done when you Step On Stage. Musicians , poets, songwriters, and unite!

Step on Stage|A Songwriter’s Journey

Who: Game Designers and MarketersWhat: Language Arts, Business, Design, System MechanicsCCSS: Research a Market Need and Create a New Invention

Do you spend a lot of time playing board games or gaming on your computer? Playing Wii or X-Box? These games are fun to play—but they’re strengthening your brain, too. This course will focus on how GAMES help learning achievement. Dive into the world of gaming and learn the ins and outs of what makes a game worth playing. You will also explore various games, analyze their target strategies, review their processes and procedures, and then relate that information to how the BRAIN develops. You will learn why games can be beneficial to learning processes and how to use gameplay to increase your BRAIN POWER! Use your knowledge to design, test, and share your own board game.

Video Games|Choice, Consequence, and Design

Who: Astronomers, Astronauts, Anthropologists, Linguists, Cultural SociologistsWhat: Verbal and paralinguistic communication and environment and cultural affects on communicationCCSS: Research a Market Need and Create a New Invention

According to the Kepler space mission data, the Milky Way Galaxy contains as many as 40 billion Goldi-locks planets. Other species have developed on some of these planets, would you like to talk to them? What challenges might humans and aliens encounter upon first contact? Human communication and understanding is often hampered by different ways of thinking, sensing, feeling, and expressing thoughts or emotions. How much more difficult will it be to communicate with an alien race significantly different from Earthlings? Consider challenges in human communication, explore possible human/alien commu-nication challenges and investigate cultural challenges that could cause misunderstandings between hu-mans and aliens. Create your own alien species and develope a communication method to use between your extraterrestrials and the inhabitants of Earth.

Alien Minds| The Neuroscience of Extraterrestrial Communication

Think like a...Researcher All WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century Stan-


Who: Developers, Ecologists, Local ActivistsWhat: Language Arts, Environmental Science, Geography, LeadershipCCSS: Analyze Scientific Texts and Persuasively Argue For a Solution

The heavy, humid air soaks your shirt and makes it hard to breathe. The river sparkles red, orange, and yellow as the sun sets on the horizon. Your day of rainforest adventure and exploration weighs heavy on your eyelids. You finally give in and close your eyes. As the noisy chorus of insects, amphibians, and monkeys serenade you to sleep, you ponder, can humans find a way to be a part of the Amazon without destroying it? Explore this question through the lens of an energy company, a cattle rancher, a mining company, a crop farmer, or a cultural preservationist. Take a role, weed through conflicting information, create reports, and deal with the consequences of decisions. Come join us as we take a trip down the Amazon.

Finding the Cure|Trip Down the Amazon

5th & 6th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Geneticists, Botanists, Ecologists, Biologists, Historians, Doctors, Lawyers, Public Policy MakersWhat: Biology, Engineering, EthicsCCSS: Some courses with additional Math CCSS alignment and/or Next Gen Science Standards

What is biotechnology? What effects does it have on our everyday lives? Advances in science make more and more new technologies possible. But do the benefits of these new technologies outweigh the drawbacks? For every good intention, unintended consequences could cause more harm than good. The study of the science and ethics of biotechnology is a vast and fast growing field. We will learn the basics of the science and delve into many of the ethical issues involved. Should people be denied jobs based on a genetic predisposition for a certain disease? Should genetically modified food be mass-produced to relieve hunger? Who gets to decide the “right” answers?

Genome|The Science and Ethics of Biotechnology

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Physicians, Psychologists, DetectivesWhat: Medicine, Health, Diagnosis, Treatment and Prevention, MysteriesCCSS: Analyze Scientific Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Solution

Mermaid Girl. Elephant Man. Bubble Boy. Benjamin Button. These are just a few examples of medical mysteries, real and imagined. Perhaps Dr. House, after three unsuccessful diagnoses, would have discov-ered their cures via inspiration from a seemingly simple clue. As a doctor, what investigatory skills would you use to determine a diagnosis and to administer successful treatment? Could you, using tools and knowledge that have been available to those in the medical profession, adjust your care and treatment of your curious patients, depending on the time period?

Medical Mysteries|Diagnosing Medical Phenomenon

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Mathematicians, Sociologists, Political LeadersWhat: Language Arts, Mathematician Modeling, Statistics, Leadership CCSS: Analyze Scientific Texts and Persuasively Argue For a Solution

How do your actions impact your school? Your town? Your state? The USA? The world? How do small ac-tions lead to big consequences? Come ponder your role—your power—in the universe by using algebraic equations and statistics to describe yourself and your community. Read about how experts have used math to better understand our world through finding patterns and solving problems. Use models to understand and analyze how problems build when their size is adjusted to state, national, and international scales. Journal about your findings, incorporating mathematical thinking to create truly persuasive pieces. Analyze data and writings from a variety of perspectives, weighing conflicting influences in order to better under-stand the complexities involved in the problem you have chosen to study. Come learn how to describe your influence in your world, mathematically speaking. Note on books: each student will only be working with one of these books for research purposes. They will be determined during the 1st F2F meeting.

Measuring Up|Using Math to Describe Impact

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Mystery Writers, Detectives, Spies, ScientistsWhat: Language Arts, Forensics ScienceCCSS: Research and Analyze Scientific Texts, Create Mysteries, and Persuasively Argue for a Solution

What’s your motive? Cut to your opening scene. All of the clues, right in front of everyone’s eyes. The vic-tim, the foot prints, the lurkers, the culprit, all there from the very first chapter. And yet, they don’t know. They can’t sort out the truth from the lies. They don’t see the hidden relationships. They haven’t read the forensics report. They don’t see the twist. But you know. You have strategically planted each lead, carefully mapped out the possibilities, hinted at the possible motivations, and skillfully added the misdirection. You are a mystery writer. Come join the secret society and learn how to hide in plain sight.

Murder, Mystery, and Mayhem|Forensic Science Meets Mystery Writing

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Scientists, Urban Lore CollectorsWhat: Language Arts, Scientific Process, Mythology, PsychologyCCSS: Analyze Scientific Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Solution

Have you ever tapped the top of a soda can before opening it? Waited at least 30 minutes to swim after eating? Eaten carrots because they’ll improve your eyesight? You’re not alone! You’ve experienced the power of an urban legend. Why do you believe what you believe? Are you getting information from a reliable source? Does something need to be scientifically proven in order for it to be true? Explore the meaning behind myths and urban legends. How do myths get started and what impact do they have on our culture? Why do humans believe when we don’t know for sure? Consider the role myth builders play in developing scientific theories. In the spirit of Mythbusters, the popular Discovery Channel show, test your scientific thinking and experimenting on a commonly held belief. Do you have what it takes to be a myth buster?

Myth Busting|Experimenting on Folklore

5th & 6th Grade

You the Scientist|Genius or Villian? Who: Anthropologists, Researchers, ScientistsWhat: Ethics, Experimental Design, Scientific ProcessCCSS: Some courses with additional Math CCSS alignment and/or Next Gen Science Standards

What do you see in your mind’s eye when you hear the word “scientist?” Do you see a hero, villain, lab rat, madman or genius? What role do scientists play in your life? As Spider-Man’s Uncle Ben said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Scientific discoveries can benefit humankind or become our worst night-mare. But, who decides what scientists do and how they do it? Explore the work of those who have and will continue to change the world as we know it. Have scientific discoveries challenged or changed society for the better or worse? What role, if any, do ethics and beliefs play in the work of a scientist? You decide.

Who: City Planners, EngineersWhat: Language Arts, City Planning, Ecology, Leadership, BusinessCCSS: Analyze Non-Fiction and Fiction Texts for Interconnections, Argue for a New Vision Of The Future

Ever since Ancient Egyptian times, civilizations have attempted to plan cities to make them work more efficiently. Planners seek to organize a city in a way that benefits all its inhabitants. They build housing, construct infrastructure like roads and plumbing, provide public services like electricity and garbage col-lection, coordinate commerce, provide recreational facilities such as parks, stadiums and museums, and facilitate transport. These days, planning is not a simple job suited for one department or group. More and more, the cooperation of a number of government departments, ocal organizations and private citizens is needed to make a city—even a neighborhood—function healthily. Nevertheless, a coherent vision of what is necessary, what is good, and what works is needed if cities will survive in the future. The students` job is to construct that vision.

Build It| Engineering the Future

7th & 8th Grade

BU LT IT

Epic Failures and Wicked Problems|Design Solutions in a Complex WorldWho: Engineers, Designers, Pattern Finders, Problem Solvers, City PlannersWhat: Types of Problems, Design Constraints, Complicating FactorsCCSS: Research and Analyze Scientific Non-Fiction Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Problem/Solution

Have you experienced failure? What causes a person, idea, or concept to fail? Are failures a natural or un-natural part of life? How do epic failures and wicked problems shape society? Join us as we discover what epic failure means, what wicked problems are, how wicked problems are solved, and the psychological and social impact that epic failures and wicked problems have on both individuals and society. Stops along this journey will look at your own life and the impact failure has on it, a look into past history and how epic failures have changed the course of time, and the opportunity to work on developing solutions to wicked problems that can be found in today’s society.

5th & 6th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

Think like an...EngineerAll WCATY online courses are aligned to: Language Arts CCSS; 21st Century Stan-


Who: Pilots, Map Makers, Navigators, Air Traffic Control Operators, Engineers, Historians, What: Literature, Writing, Math, Aviation, Engineering, LogisticsCCSS: Research and Analyze Scientific Non-Fiction Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Problem/Solution

Flight plan filed? Check. Cockpit ready? Check. Left and right wings ready? Check. Fuel? Check. Passen-gers briefed? Check. You are now ready for takeoff. Taxi off the runway and defy gravity with us. Break through the ceiling of clouds as you explore the history of adventure and flight. Check your altimeter while you contemplate the impact of flight on our economies, our environment, and our world. Report back to air traffic control and explore Newton`s Laws of Motion. Balance your thrust versus the drag as you try out wind tunnels and flight simulators. Test out your engineering skills by building paper airplanes, wind foils, and parachutes at our face-to-face meetings. Begin your landing procedure as you tie all of the skills together and plan out a trip around the world.

Flight|An Aviator’s Math and Science

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Futurists, Mathematicians, Political LeadersWhat: Language Arts, Mathematical Modeling, Statistics, Cause and EffectCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

Have you ever wanted a crystal ball? Or are you the kind of person that can guess what will happen next, before everyone else? Do you love to read science fiction? Come discover how experts have learned to use math to predict the future. Comb through a variety of science fiction short stories/novels and predictions from current day futurists to explore the probability behind the predictions. Use similar mathematical models to make predictions of your own and then attempt to quantify the impacts of the predictions on local communities through statistical models. Finally, bring all of your predictions togeth-er to create your own persuasive proposals and science fiction stories.

Fortune-Tellers|Using Math to Predict the Future

7th & 8th Grade

Who:Engineers, Physicists, Mathematics, Inventors, MachinistsWhat: Initial Ideas, Improvements, ImpactCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

What are the parts of a machine that work together to accomplish the tasks we take for granted every day? How did people come up with these ideas in the first place? Even the most complex of tasks is ac-complished through different combinations of a small number of simple machines. Explore these simple machines and how they increase mechanical advantage to make work easier or life simpler. Using these simple machines, you will design and build your own multi-step machine to present at our final face-to-face meeting. Will your machine succeed in completing the task?

How Things Work|Engineering Your Own Machine

HOWTHINGSWORK

Who: Mathematicians, Reverse Engineers, Nonlinear Thinkers, Order QuestionersWhat:Linear and Nonlinear Relationships, Inference, Proportionality, Correlation vs. CausationCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

Numbers don’t lie, right? But what’s behind the numbers? As pattern finders, we are constantly making up models of our world. We make these models from our experience, from what we hear from family and friends, from what the media tells us. Often these models are made to sound more official by terms like “the data tells us” or “95% agree.” But just because math is used, does that make the model presented logical? What is logic anyway? And how does it work and how do people misuse it? After all, math isn’t debatable. Right?

How to Lie With Numbers|Exploring How Math Gets Misused

5th & 6th Grade

7th & 8th Grade

Who: Programmers, Software Engineers, Mathematics, Computer Sciences, PhilosophersWhat: The Past, The Present, The FutureCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

Robotics is a wondrous and varied topic that draws on a multitude of disciplines - from the concrete worlds of engineering, physics, mathematics and computer science to the more esoteric worlds of art, psychology and advertising. Wherever your interests lie, you are certain to find an offshoot or niche related to the growing fields of Robots and Robotics. Students will read both fiction and non-fiction sources to explore this wide-ranging topic. Isaac Asimov’s rules of robotics will be discussed in relation to the ethical code of programmers. The history of the field will be considered through the present and predictions into the future. All the while, ethical dilemmas will be analyzed for their various perspectives and nuances.

iRobot| Programming Ethics

5th & 6th Grade

Who: Mathematicians, Anthropologists, HistoriansWhat:Math, Culture, HistoryCCSS: Some courses with additional alignments to Math CCSS and/or Next Gen Science Standards

What relationship, if any, do principles of math have with the cultures and societies that create them? Is culture influenced by mathematics or is mathematics shaped by the cultures and societies they evolve from? What will math look like 10, 20 or 30 years from now? What legacy will today’s society leave on future mathematical principles? Come explore the invention and advancement of numbers and math principles, along with the impact they have had and continue to have on areas such as architecture, art, literature, philosophy and more! Discover the social side of math.

More than Numbers|The Social Side of Math

Who: Theoretical Physicists, Science Fiction Lovers, FuturistsWhat: Language Arts (emphasis on reading), Physics, Psychology, HistoryCCSS: Analyze Scientific Non-Fiction Texts and Persuasively Argue for a Problem/Solution

Would changing the past create alternative futures, a completely different future, or would time correct itself and return to a predetermined time? How could time travelers avoid the Grandfather Paradox? If you could change one event from the past, what would you change? In addition to exploring the scientific possibilities of time travel, consider the effects of altering the timeline’s past, present, and future. Through extensive readings, essays, and several projects, investigate historical research and causality. Come change history!

Travels in Time| The Physics of Alternate Futures

7th & 8th Grade

5th & 6th Grade

Collaboration and Course Guide

Documents