MORNING CLASSES
Whoooeee! Chemistry (FULL)
Have you ever looked carefully at the word chemistry and noticed the last three letters? TRY!!! To explore the mysteries of chemistry you will try many experiments in this hands-on class. Discover how the chemicals used on winter roads are used to make ice cream! Transform milk into glue! Implode a pop can without even touching it! Eat marshmallows frozen in liquid nitrogen! Extract iron filings from Total® cereal! Make hot and cold packs! Curious and intriguing results will be observed while improving your lab skills. Come discover chemistry concepts that will change the way you look at the world around you.
Emily Binder: BA Chemistry and General Science, North Park University (Chicago)…M.Ed., University of MN...teaches chemistry at St. Louis Park High School and Expand Your Mind. Loves to laugh, bike, and bake.
Amazing Amusement Parks: A Scientist’s Playground (2 spaces left)
Your stomach is tensed up and you begin to sweat ever so slightly. You inch up the roller coaster’s steep slope; you are nervous and excited and hope the designers knew what they were doing. Amusement parks are a scientist’s playground. Thrill rides and midway games use basic laws of nature. Why do roller coaster cars stay on the track? Why do people get motion sickness? What are the odds of winning a game? Explore how forces, laws of motion, energy, and probability make the amusement park fun. You will investigate G-forces and why people throw up on coasters. Get ready to design and build your own roller coaster and midway games as we explore the science behind the fun!
Michelle Zaugg: BA Physics, BA Science Education, Bethel University. Currently teaching physical science and physics at Spring Lake Park High School.
The Art and Science of Special Effects (FULL)
Ka-boom! Special effects help to make your favorite movies and televisions shows more exciting, suspenseful, and engaging. Have you ever wondered how special sound and visual effects are created? Some of the most appealing special effects reach back to the early stages of theater and are still fun to create today! Explore how to construct your own effects and the artistic and scientific principles behind them. Learn why medieval special effect artists were called the “Master of Secrets.” You will work with your fellow artist and technicians to create unique recordings, performances and the effects to support them. Discover the Master of Secrets within you!
Brenda Barrett: Brenda Barrett is a teacher at St. Pius X School in White Bear Lake. Brenda worked at CLIMB Theater using creative dramatics to teach a number of topics.
Mock Trial: The Best Defense Doesn’t Have To Be Offensive (a few spaces left)
Have you ever thought it would be fun to be a lawyer or a judge or to be part of a trial? Learn how to do an opening statement, objections and closing arguments. Learn how to lead witnesses and influence your friends. Perfect your public speaking skills, your persuasive skills and your problem solving skills. Perform such famous roles as judge, bailiff, lawyer and witness. You will learn basics of research and trial preparation as well as improve your ability to think on your feet. Our two weeks will culminate in a trial performed in front of a jury of your peers.
Tom Rodefeld: BA, History, Augsburg College; MA, curriculum & instruction U of MN, secondary education license…currently teaches social studies at Irondale HS in Mounds View, where he coaches hockey, volleyball and track.
Fantasy Fiction: Al Fresco (Full)
Like a dark jewel, the mansion’s heavy wooden door is designed in cut facets. Yesterday, glyphs appeared on the door. Slashed and ragged, the gouged glyphs suggest hurry. Panic. You trace the glyphs with a trembling index finger. You imagine lifting the door knocker and letting the cold fat doughnut of iron fall against the battered knocker plate. Once this door opened many times. Just now, it does again. It opens for you.
Welcome to your story—it, too, opens for you in this class. We’ll walk St. Paul’s storied Summit Avenue searching for this mansion to provide the imaginative infrastructure of our fantasy fiction. We’ll develop plots, characters and dialogue. We’ll print pages, design covers; sew bindings. Behold! A book! Yours. It opens for you.
Anne Brataas: BA, English, Colorado College; MS, Zoology, UMN; MS, Environmental Science, Miami U; MA, History of Science, Technology and Medicine, UMN is president of The Story Laboratory LLC. She is an award-winning journalist; has worked at the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press. Her novel, “The Successful Mammal” is nearing completion.
ACTING! MUSIC! DANCE! (a few spaces left)
If you love the stage, this is the class for you! AMD is an introduction to the theatre arts. We will explore the triple threats: acting, singing and dancing. This class will begin with a variety of activities – improvisational theatre games, vocal exercises, and basic movement - designed to enhance your creative abilities. After building a strong base of skills, we will put together a show which reflects our ExplorSchool experience. Each student will get a chance to be a part of a brilliant ensemble! This show will be performed at the end of the session. Note: Previous theatre experience is not necessary!
Ann Whiting: Hamline U, UMN, journalism. Performing Arts instructor, Highland Catholic School; Artist in Residence, Steppingstone Theatre. Composer of music and educational theatre. Has performed at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre, Troupe America, Mystery Café and in commercials and industrial films.
Telling Stories with Art (cancelled)
Does your imagination run wild with imagery whenever you read a good story? Are your favorite children’s books the ones with the most compelling illustrations? Come explore a variety of illustrating techniques using charcoal, watercolor, colored pencils, fabric and paper collage, computer graphics and more! Study a range of illustration examples on the market and learn from the explorative work of your fellow classmates to develop your own unique illustration style. Learn to draw facial expressions, practice gesture drawing to depict action, and master how to keep your characters recognizable from page to page. We’ll put it all together with text, learn the basics of book binding, and you’ll walk away from our class with a masterpiece ready for a prominent spot on your bookshelf!
Heidi Tungseth: BA Philosophy, Art minor, Wheaton College (IL); Post-Baccalaureate Program in Painting and Illustration at MCAD; M.Ed. in Art, UMN. Taught elementary art at Forest Elementary school, Robbinsdale; currently teaches high school art at BlueSky Online Charter School.
AFTERNOON CLASSES
How GREEN Are You? (a few spaces left)
Are you curious about local environmental issues? Are you a budding park naturalist? There's a title for you: Environmental Scientist! Come along as we splash into some local water and collect samples of animals you've never noticed. We'll take trips on public transit to learn about what's "going green" around us. We'll also have the opportunity to ask questions of local environmental experts. We'll learn more about what "being Green" really means.
Annie Olson-Reiners: BA, environmental studies, St. Olaf College; M.A., Hamline University; teaches at Nuevas Fronteras Spanish Immersion in Cottage Grove, Minnesota. When she's not teaching she shares a sweet life with her husband and their very beloved Nicaraguan mutt.
Exploring Electricity and Magnetism! (1 space left)
Have you ever felt static on a dry winter day and wondered why you sometimes get a shock when you touch the doorknob? Not only will we answer this question, we’ll play with simple electrical circuits, explore lightning on a small scale, build the world’s smallest motor and try to turn on a light bulb with just a battery and a couple of wires. We’ll build an electromagnet and determine how much power is used in simple, every day appliances. Finally, we will discover how a Van Der Graaf generator can make your hair stand on end! Become familiar with the “leaping” electrons - join us for a multitude of hands-on electricity and magnetism experiments!
Michelle Zaugg BA Physics, BA Science Education, Bethel University. Currently teaching physical science and physics at Spring Lake Park High School.
Be The Change: Make a Dramatic Difference (a few spaces left)
Some day, when you are famous, you can use your celebrity to support an important cause. Until then, let’s dream big right now! With a little training, you’ll “Be the change you wish to see in the world” –Ghandi This class incorporates conservatory-style actor training; vocal-physical exercises and warm-up games. You’ll strengthen your essential actor’s tools and build trust with your fellow actors. Then, you’ll explore your heart and mind, along with guided research, to discover your personal cause. You will write a short scene to combine your personal cause with your acting talent. Think: Lady Gaga shares her bus seat with the President and they discuss teen-homelessness in Minnesota. This is your chance to write, act, direct and even design your own costumes and scenery. Acting and advocacy: Be the change.
Patty Hall: BA, Theatre, UMN…has taught and created theater courses in Minneapolis schools, directed Theatre for the Young in Duluth, MN…national award winner for performances at The Kennedy Center…currently works for children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis.
Sports and Science: The Scientific Approach (only 2 spaces left)
Do you love science, sports and experiments? Do you wish you could run faster, throw farther, or score more goals? This is the class where it all comes together! In this hands-on, minds-on, and bodies-on class we'll use the scientific process to look at sports and analyze them from a scientific point of view. You will investigate the fascinating relationship between physiology, physics and sports, while enjoying the process of 'playing' with science. You will use formulas to calculate speed and acceleration as well as learn about projectile motion. You’ll ask questions about sports and discover the answers through investigations and experiments on the field or at the court. Invent a new sport or take your game to the next level. Discover the science behind the sports you see, play and cheer for.
Tony Sexton: BA, biology and psychology, St. Olaf College...MA, education, U of Saint Thomas...taught at Kodaikanal International School in India...coached boys' and girls' soccer...currently teaches science and coaches girls' and boys' tennis at Falcon Ridge MS, Apple Valley.
Exploring Aerodynamics (Class is full)
Have you ever wondered how birds fly? Are you interested in understanding how something as large as an airliner is able to move through the air? Would you like to learn how to design and build successful hot-air balloons, gliders, propeller aircraft and more? This class is dedicated to the aspiring designer and pilot. We not only have planes that fly everywhere we also have craft that explore the farthest reaches of our solar system. We will explore the history of flight and we will be actively involved in designing and testing our own flying machines. Join us for a chance to build and test large hot-air balloons, paper gliders of all kinds, balsa gliders that you design, propeller-driven balsa aircraft, rockets and more.
Michael Thomsen: BA – Biology, MA.Ed Science Education, Hamline University. Currently teaching physical science, 6th grade science, Anatomy and Environmental Education at Mounds Park Academy.
Picture This! (A.K.A. Turning A Negative into a Positive) (1 space left)
Do you like to take pictures? Then come and explore black and white photography. First, you will learn how to take pictures and experiment with various photo compositions. You will also explore different types of pictures. We will be taking fun field trips and nifty neighborhood excursions to find festively photogenic material. Next, we will develop our film, crop negatives, and enlarge photos. Finally, you will frame your best photos for exhibition in the annual Picture This gallery show. Note: Your own 35mm camera is helpful, but not necessary; if you have one you should bring it to the first day of class.
Tom Rodefeld: BA, History, Augsburg College; MA, curriculum & instruction U of MN, secondary education license…currently teaches social studies at Irondale HS in Mounds View, where he also coaches hockey, volleyball and track.
The AEROBIC Newspaper: Telling Summit Avenue Stories (only a few spaces left)
Can you march while you write and type? Does your idea of summer fun include walking to research St. Paul’s historic Summit Avenue, sleuth out a hidden time capsule, document the history of cookies or review a local restaurant? If so, we need you—and your active feet, hands, minds and imaginations—on our staff of The Aerobic Newspaper. We will engage mind and body in fitness learning while we tell stories in print and on the Web site we build. Walking 1-3 miles a day, we will report, research, interview, photograph, film, write, edit, design, lay out and publish while we apply a continuous-movement theory of metabolism known as NEAT, short for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis.
Anne Brataas BA, English, Colorado College; MS, Zoology, UMN; MS, Environmental Science, Miami U; MA, History of Science, Technology and Medicine, UMN is president of The Story Laboratory LLC. She is an award-winning journalist; has worked at the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press and has created many children’s publications.
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