Mckinney Masjid Weekend STEM Program
This program is dedicated to teaching STEM skills that students will no doubt need in the future. These skills will help them become more likely to get accepted to the tech industry’s jobs. This program will teach the students programming, Robotics, Islamic leadership, Teamwork, and Creativity. This program will do that in a fun and nurturing way to ease the kids into programming and engineering. It is a two-hour class taught every Saturday.
Course Syllabus
Phase 1: Stencyl
The very first thing they will receive is the Stencyl app, which is designed to help beginners learn the basics of computer programming. First off, Stencyl is free to use, so this part of the operation will cost nothing.
Stencyl is different from the other types of introductory programming courses, as it focuses on the game development aspect of computer programming, but still manages to teach students the basics of computer programming. These basics, once conceived will enable the child to learn any language he/she wishes.
Getting StartedSetup and Requirements |
Lesson 1Make a Game |
Lesson 2Logical Thinking |
Lesson 3Events |
Lesson 4Variables |
Lesson 5Artificial Intelligence |
Lesson 6Objects |
Final ProjectAnd additional teaching material |
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Phase 2: Lego Mindstorms Intro
This part of the course will teach the kids how to work with Lego Mindstorms if they do not already know. It will begin with building a small robot and then programming it. Lego Mindstorms are the best tool to help students learn robotics and programming. They are slightly expensive at around $350 a set, but they last for a very, very long time. We expect to need around 4 sets for now. After they have sufficient experience they will compete in some competitions and then move on to phase 3.
Phase 3: Vex Robotics Intro.
Vex robotics are the final step before building robots from scratch and not much else. Vex Robotics are an amazing tool that teach students wiring and how it affects the set and the final build, Whereas Mindstorms are essentially legos, Vex is definitely not, they work with metal and screws and other things. They will then move on to some Vex competitions.
Phase 4: Repeat.
This process will be repeated with every group we get, and those who finish this year long process will go on to make more programs and manage similar and potentially more advanced programs.