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Curriculum


On this page: Mathematics, USACO, Biology, Physics, Chemistry, Business for Youth, Writing, Debate, Python, and Photography
Mathematics (Combinatorics & Number Theory)
General Information: 
Students will take an assessment test prior to the camp and will be grouped into 2 groups: the Pythagoras group and the Fermat group. The Pythagoras group will expect teaching materials similar to the AMC8 level. The Fermat group will expect teaching materials similar to the AMC10/12 level. Both groups will take Combinatorics and number theory courses, each for 5 lectures of 1 week.
Combinatorics
Dr. Pavlo Pylyavskyy will lead the Combinatorics course.
  • Pythagoras: we will cover the basics of olympiad combinatorics, such as pigeonhole principle, enumeration, graphs, and combinatorial problems that use the idea of parity. The class will be very interactive and involve solving practice problems and explaining solutions to others. 
 
  • Fermat: we will cover both basic and advanced topics in combinatorics, such as pigeonhole principle, invariants, algorithms, and graph theory. The class will be very interactive and involve solving practice problems and explaining solutions to others. 
Number Theory
Mr. Nicholas Wang will lead the Number Theory course.
Number theory is the mathematical study of integers and integer functions. For this course, students will be split into two levels based on their existing knowledge. Topics will range from the basics of divisibility and factoring to modular arithmetic and diophantine equations.
  • Pythagoras Level
    • Divisibility
    • Prime Factorization
    • GCD & LCM
    • Divisibility and Remainders
    • Algebraic Factorization
  • Fermat Level
    • Divisibility and Remainders
    • Prime Factorization
    • GCD & LCM
    • Modular Arithmetic & Fermat’s Little Theorem
    • Diophantine Equations

Business for Youth
This summer session of “MBA for Youth” Program (M4Y) will focus on fundamental knowledge of finance. The content will be an extended version of F001 (Basic Finance) class and a review of B001 (Business Concepts).

The complete M4Y program is designed especially for students from Grade 6 to 12, which aims to help students systematically build fundamentals of business operations and applications, promote collaboration with other team members, improve negotiation skills, understand advertising and marketing in a consumer-driven market, analyze business operations, design business strategy, and master their business tools and skill sets.

​Dr. Jingwei Meng will lead the F001 course.
F001 is one of the core courses of the M4Y program, focuses on basic accounting concepts and tools used in business environments through online simulations, case studies, 1-on-1 meetings, group discussion, and personal evaluation. Students will apply the techniques learned from F001 to analyze the financial activities during a Merger & Acquisition case study. 
​


Fiction ​Writing
Mr. Jonathan West will teach storytelling. Students will learn to create imaginary experiences that entertain and inspire. The class will focus on essential narrative elements, such as characters and plot, and the use of energetic language. By the end of the class, students will understand more deeply how stories work and know how to use the storyteller’s tools.

Key concepts:
  • Developing characters, setting, and plot
  • Waking the imagination through description
  • Harnessing dialogue
  • Building suspense​

Photography
Dr. Bin Zhang will teach a photography course. This course is designed to introduce the fundamental concept of photography, including photography history, how to appreciate the artwork of photography,  basic rules of capturing a photo, and how to take good photos. 

Since photography stepped into the digital age, taking photos for recording and sharing our lives are way easier than in the old times. Unfortunately, the smartphone and modern camera itself can’t automatically generate good photos. There were so many times we missed the important moment of our lives, such as blurred imagines with the very important someone or moments, beautiful sunrise but with a crooked horizon line…… The goal of this course is designed to deeply understand how imagines are generated, what factors will affect your photos, and how to avoid making common mistakes when you take a photo. Hope after this class, we know how to appreciate a good photo and also able to take beautiful photos to memory the details of our own journey.

​
Key Concepts:
  • Equipment requires: a smartphone with camera function or any type of digital camera will work for this class
  • The photographic equipment developing history 
    • Camera
    • Film to digital
    • Lens
  • What makes a good picture
  • Basic concepts of Aperture Shutter Exposure Focal length depth of field……
  • Basic concepts of retouch photos: White balance, ToneColor temperature……
  • Common mistakes should be avoided when taking a photo
  • How to maximize use your camera functions
  • How to process and share a photo

Honor Physics
Dr. Yi Zhou will lead the physics course.
This course is designed to introduce high school-level physics to students with little to no background in the subject.

Honors Physics is a course that introduces the fundamental language, ideas and tools used in the study of physics. Emphasis will be placed on introducing and developing concepts, skills, and methods necessary to excel in physics, thus providing the foundation for more advanced study of physics. Through in class experimental work, students will learn to understand physics concepts better.

Topics:
  • MECHANICS
    • Linear Motion
    • Newton's laws of motion
    • Momentum
    • Energy
  • HEAT
    • Temperature, Heat and Expansion
    • Heat Transfer
    • Change of Phase
    • Thermodynamics


Topics, continued:
  • ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM
    • Electrostatics
    • Electric Current
    • Magnetism
    • Electromagnetic Induction
  • LIGHT
    • Properties of Light
    • Color
    • Reflection and Refraction
    • Light Waves

Honor Chemistry
Mr. Chuck Wheeler Handlon will lead the chemistry course. This course is designed to introduce high school-level chemistry to students with little to no background in the subject.

Chemistry is the study of matter and energy. Each day students will explore an aspect of matter on the particulate and macroscopic level as well as the interactions of matter and energy. ​

Topics:
  • The nature and structure of the atom. Scientific evidence for atomic structure and how electromagnetic energy (light) illuminates modern atomic theory.
  • Macroscopic physical properties of matter and the Kinetic Molecular Theory. The Gas Laws and their application in building a carbon dioxide powered “launcher”. 
  • Macroscopic chemical properties of matter and chemical reactions. Identification of a “mystery drug” using chemical reactions.​
Topics, continued:
  • Applications of chemistry in colorful ways. Using chromatography to separate the dyes in markers and to create “tie dyed paper”. Using natural plant dyes as an acid / base indicator. 
  • The interaction of matter and energy. Chemical reactions that release and absorb energy and their applications.
  • Factors impacting the rate (speed) of chemical reactions. “How Fast Are You?” an activity in which students attempt to control a chemical reaction to hit a target time.

Honor Biology
Ms. Zhishan Wang will lead the biology course.
This course is designed to introduce high school-level biology to students with little to no background in the subject. Students will learn the fundamentals of biology and gain an understanding of how biology shapes the world around us. Through lectures and simple in-class experiments, this course will help students prepare for advanced biology classes/competitions, such as AP/IB Biology, and hopefully spark an interest in biology that continues beyond the class.

Topics:
  • Basics of Biochemistry
  • Cellular Structure and Function
  • Cellular Transport and Signaling
  • Enzyme Chemistry and Bioenergetics
  • DNA Replication and Cell Division
  • Gene Expression and Regulation
  • Classical and Molecular Genetics
  • Biotechnology
  • Animal Anatomy and Physiology
  • Plant Anatomy and Physiology
  • Evolution and Population Genetics
  • Ecology

Introduction to Python
Mr. Timothy Alexander will lead the Introduction to Python course. Programming is an immensely powerful tool that is useful in nearly every area of education and life, and especially STEM areas. The goal of this course is to introduce the foundations of what programming is and provide students with the basic skill set to use programming to solve problems. It is designed for students with little to no prior coding experience to build a foundation for them and get them excited about the possibilities this skill enables. The course will outline foundational topics for the first week and then apply them to tackling different questions and problems in the second week. The goal is to teach not only the technical details of coding but also the overarching thought processes. The course will include both a lecture and workshop component where students get practice applying what they learned.
Topics Covered:
  • Variables and Data Types: Integer, String, List
  • Basic Input/Output
  • If/else statements
  • While and for loops
  • Functions
  • Classes
  • Graphical User Interface (GUI)
  • Strategies for debugging code
  • How to use these coding tools to solve a variety of problems

USACO Bronze
USACO is a series of programming competitions held each year for four consecutive months (December, January, February and March). Each contest is 4-5 hours long in one fixed weekend at the student's chosen time and has 3 contest problems. The entry level is Bronze. Students can be promoted to Silver, Gold and Platinum divisions based on their performance. In this camp, the instructor will cover around 50 Bronze contest problems from 2015-2022.
Mr. Daniel Li will lead the USACO Bronze which emphasizes problem solving, programing, fundamental algorithm, data structure and debugging.  In addition, the instructor will teach students what efficient codes are, which is very useful in future contests above Bronze level. Students enrolling in this class must have taken AP Computer Science A or have watched 3 levels of Daniel’s Youtube videos and have done exercises problems that go along with them. 
​

Topics include around 50 Bronze exercises from USACO in the past few years. The instructor finds that there is a gap between Java knowledge and competitive programming. In order to participate in competitive programming, students must do hands-on practice. In this camp, the instructor will offer a lot of hands-on opportunities. The aim is for students to participate in the Bronze contest comfortably, or pass the Bronze contest, or build a solid computing foundation that is practically useful for school and career paths.​
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