25-29 October 2021: Face to Face in Kensington, 65-67 Queen's Gate, SW7 5JS
This new and inspiring 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 and minimising the spread of Covid.
In Electronics and Robotics, junior pupils will create a Halloween mask with LED lights and senior groups will make a ‘smart pumpkin’. This will actually be an interactive lamp - an LED light within a 3D pumpkin model made from paper. The pumpkin will detect motion and turn its ‘face’ towards the nearest moving object. If there’s an unsuspecting adult about, they’re in for a Halloween surprise!
The first step will be for pupils to create a model of a pumpkin out of paper, learning about 3D modelling on the way. Then the pumpkin will be assembled on top of an Arduino controlled platform complete with ultrasonic sensors, a servomotor and mechanical parts.
This camp teaches and demonstrates how robots use sensors to detect motion and the ways in which they can be programmed to react, all in a fun Halloween inspired week of learning. Once completed, pupils will be able to take their mask or ‘pumpkin’ home.
In Programming, depending on a child’s previous experience and knowledge, pupils will either learn the fundamentals of programming using Scratch or will go further and study Python, Processing or Python Blender 3D.
Processing (Java-based) classes will focus on the visual simulation of 3D by working with 2D objects. One of our tasks will be the visual illusion of an infinity tunnel. We will start with the foundations and then will cover such topics as the use of variables, counters and loops. Pupils will practice with the Processing framework to develop an interactive communication between the end-user and the application. From the perspective of applied maths, we will touch on the linear interpolation method that is widely used for mapping values from one range to another and for basic machine learning tasks.
In Python Blender 3D lessons we will focus on recursion tasks and programme a series of continuous on screen ‘explosions’ of various objects and shapes. Pupils will learn the basics of programming in 3D, will have hands-on experience with materials, the rendering process and even how to set up a 3D camera. For their advanced task, pupils will make a dynamic 3D fractal with various fluctuations to achieve an attractive visual effect.
In Maths, as part of the camp, all year groups have a one hour maths lesson each day. In this camp we’ll be calculating distances and angles in 3D and making polyhedra. Participants can also join an extra problem solving session in the morning from 9 to 10am where they will tackle different levels of UKMT challenges from the Primary Maths Challenge and International Kangaroo, up to more senior levels looking at Combinatorics, Number Theory and Senior UKMT challenges.
Here are more details of what will be studied by each Year group during the camp:
Years 3-6
We will be solving geometric puzzles, building models of various 3D shapes, searching for all five Platonic solids, learning to draw nets of polyhedra and checking Euler's famous formula for the number of their edges, vertices and faces.
Years 7-9
Experimenting and working with the very versatile ‘Polydron Geometry Set’. Discovering theorems about the combinatorics of such structures. We will also study Platonic and Archimedean solids and the shortest paths across surfaces.
Years 10-11
The elementary geometry of points and lines in space. If two lines are not in the same line then how many lines can intersect both? Plane sections of figures. The magical properties of a tetrahedron.
Format and fees for the senior face to face camp:
- pupil to teacher ratio of 6:1 for maths, 5:1 for programming and 4:1 for robotics
- 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 olympiad style maths or additional coding, and/or from 3pm to 4pm with our chess class. There is a supplement of £25 for each additional session booked
- fees are £585 for five days. It is not possible to join for a shorter period
Places are limited, please register your interest HERE.