23 - 27 October 2023: Face to Face at Baden-Powell House, 65 Queens Gate, SW7 5JS
Our October half term camp features robotically controlled skulls, spooky electronics and a serious and in depth investigation and study of the world of equations.
This camp will appeal to children who want to learn more about robotics, programming, engineering and exciting maths concepts - in this case Equations.
Specific learning points will include:
practical programming, from Scratch to Arduino C depending on each child’s age and experience in the subject
how equations are fundamental to problem solving in science and mathematics
how gesture control robots work as campers aged 11 and over work on a project with the same principles as the fast developing world of robotic prosthetic limbs
electronics and design as children aged 8 to 10 work on hands-on experiments and projects
Our pupil to teacher ratio is always 6 to 1 with participants taught in small classes based on their age and experience in each subject.
Places are limited, please register your interest HERE.
In Electronics and Robotics, children will work on different projects by age group:
The Halloween Light box project for children aged 7 to 10
Alongside Mathematics, Coding and Engineering children will be working on an exciting electronics based project. With Halloween in mind our R&D team has prepared a light box for younger participants to construct. Once each child’s model is complete at the end of the week they can take it home to demonstrate what they have learned and achieved.
This project is fun, extremely satisfying to build and mesmerising to watch. The educational benefits to pupils are:
scientific knowledge: how electricity works, what an electrical circuit is, safety with electronics
design, as children create their own light box with images of their own choosing to illustrate the shadow cast by the LED strip inside
The Spooky Skull project for ages 11 and over
This is an exciting project that focuses on robotics and specifically on the field of gesture control. This is where the movement or gesture of a human being causes a robot to act in a specific way.
Gesture control lies at the heart of human/robot interaction, an important area of study in this field being the development of robotic prosthetic limbs. Campers will study the essential components of robotics including programming, electronics and design.
Each camper will take as their starting point a model of an anatomically correct skull. Campers will then instal LED strips in the eye sockets and gesture control sensors so the LED ‘eyes’ will react to human movement. Pupils will then learn how to program in Arduino C so they can code an ESP8266 microprocessor to control the ‘eyes’ and sensors of the Spooky Skull.
The project is an introduction to relatively complex robotics with the mission that campers:
understand the relationship and interaction between hardware and software components in robotics
learn how to programme in Arduino C, including practising programming concepts such as variables, loops and conditional statements
discover what ‘gesture control’ is and how their model project works on the same principles as the fast developing world of robotic prosthetic limbs
This is a take-home project and pupils can use it as part of their skills portfolio right up to university application level.
Places are limited, please register your interest HERE.
In Maths we will dive deep into the subject of Equations with the complexity increasing by age group. How and why can we take:
practical problems and transform them into the abstract world of mathematics?
create and handle their formulae and then collect the fruits of this mathematical work?
how can they then be transformed back to provide practical results or mathematical theorems?
what can we say in advance about the solutions to an equation or a simultaneous system of equations?
Equations are the fundamental topic of every scientific discipline. We will be looking at and revising what we know about them from different perspectives.
Here are more details of what will be studied by each Year group during the camp:
Years 3-4
Pupils will work on arithmetic and geometric puzzles before moving on to learn how to develop diagrams for solving word problems.
9am to 10am Optional Problem Solving: In problem solving lessons, pupils will work on past problems from UK and international mathematics competitions relevant to their ages.
Years 5-6
Introducing basic algebra to generalise the description of quantities and using equations as a powerful tool to answer questions about quantitative relationships.
9am to 10am Optional Problem Solving: In problem solving lessons, pupils will work on past problems from UK and international mathematics competitions relevant to their ages.
Years 7-9
Equations versus identities. How to set up an equation? Linear equations and simultaneous systems of linear equations. Typical mistakes. Working with parameters.
9am to 10am Optional Problem Solving: Shapes and equations. The Ancient Greek world of Geometry and their handling of quadratic equations. Plus word problems, questions related to motions and geometry from UKMT Challenges.
Years 10-11
Different ways to look at an equation. Equivalent and nonequivalent steps. Typical mistakes. Why do we check? Plus, the geometry of the simultaneous system of equations.
9am to 10am Optional Problem Solving: Diophantine equations: What if the solution is supposed to be a whole number? Number theory in action. Functional equations: what if the solution is supposed to be a function instead of a number? A gateway to modern science.The camp offers children the chance to engage in hands-on experiments and projects designed to teach electronics and robotics, programming and maths. Whether your child is already a confident programmer or just starting out, we will create the most appropriate small study group for them, based on their age and experience.
Each group of participants is taught in their own separate classroom, maximising the learning opportunity.
Format and fees for the senior face to face camp:
- pupil to teacher ratio of 6:1
- participants are taught in small groups, tailored by similarity of age and ability, in individual classrooms
- camp times: 10am to 3pm
- or from 9am for an extra hour of problem solving and/or from 3pm to 4pm with our chess class. There is a supplement of £25 for each additional session booked
- fees are £595 for five days. It is not possible to join for a shorter period
Places are limited, please register your interest HERE.