Athens, Ga. – Academically talented fifth and sixth grade students from across Georgia and the Southeast region will participate in a day of enriching and challenging courses Saturday, Sept. 25, as part of the University of Georgia Duke Talent Identification Program Academic Adventures.
Academic Adventures introduce topics that are generally not available in students’ local schools. The experience sharpens skills, offers enrichment and provides an opportunity for students to interact with similarly motivated peers. Directed by the UGA Center for Continuing Education and the UGA College of Education’s Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development, in partnership with Duke University, the program is open to all fifth and sixth grade students who have participated in Duke TIP’s Fourth and Fifth Grade Talent Search.
“Students attending the UGA-Duke TIP Academic Adventures are given an opportunity to go beyond the boundaries of school and explore the deepest thoughts within themselves as well as the knowledge all around them,” said Robert Maribe Branch, professor and head of the educational psychology and instructional technology department. “The University of Georgia faculty has the resident scholars who can appropriately challenge the mind of the intellectually gifted child in ways that promote creative and unique ideas to situations that have yet to be revealed.”
Duke TIP’s Fourth and Fifth Grade Talent Search gives students the opportunity to take the EXPLORE test for eighth graders, an assessment tool created by of the American College Testing program.
Courses offered are:
· Aircraft and Spacecraft Design
In this course, participants will learn how aircraft and spacecraft are designed and tested, and discover how scientific principles, such as energy, momentum, pressure, and gravity, have led to advances in aerospace technology. Hands-on activities include designing, assembling, and flying Styrofoam gliders, launching two-liter compressed air/water rockets, and trying out flight gear used by Air Force test pilots.
· Blending Humans & Cartoons
In this course, participants will learn about a few of the techniques and technologies that have been used throughout animation history to achieve this illusion, and have the chance to explore a real motion-capture studio and do a little blending magic of their own.
· Bugbot Design
In this course, participants will get an overview of selected robotics design concepts such as mechanical components (plates, brackets, linkages and fasteners), mechanical gear-reduction system for electric motors and conversion of rotational circular motion to a “walking” or “crawling” motion, as well as building robots from kits.
· Creating Hogwarts
Alice has Wonderland, Aslan has Narnia and Harry has Hogwarts. One of the most basic elements of fantasy literature is an inventive setting. Participants will read classic examples of fantasy worlds, discuss the characteristics that make certain stories successful and others not, and then brainstorm, describe, and create new worlds of their own.
· Visual Neuroscience
How does the eye work? How does the brain process what the eye receives from the environment? In this course, participants will explore basic visual anatomy and how the eye works with the brain, as well as learning about visual neural pathways and disorders that can affect visual neural functioning. At the end of the day, participants will apply their knowledge of visual anatomy and dissect an eyeball in the laboratory.
UGA will host other Academic Adventures on Jan. 22 and March 26.
For more information on this program, see www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/adventures.
For more information on other UGA-Duke TIP programs, see the University of Georgia Center for Continuing Education Web site at www.georgiacenter.uga.edu/ppd or call 706/542-3537.
