student hot glues a crystal to a staff, table top game, backlit biology experiment, students stands holding a foil, FPV goggles, transmitter and tiny whoop drone, cooking utensils, student's handing w Score and rehearsal for Babes in Toyland during the Spring 2019 semester a whisk in a bowl of frothed liquid from How to Boil Water during Spring 2019 semester two PHS students practice Ballroom Dance during Spring 2019 Semester money and worksheets from Japanese during Spring 2021 semester fencing gear including foil, glove, and helmet sit on the floor next a PHS student during a spring 2019
 

STEM at Planet Homeschool | Spring 2023 To Publications / Articles - STEM at Planet Homeschool | Spring 2023

Posted 11/2/22
PHS Leadership Team | News & Updates

Fridays, 6 January–5 May 2023

16 weeks — no classes on Fri 17 Feb or Fri 7 Apr

Science

Biology

Costa Rica Red Eye Frog3rd Period (12:30 PM–1:45 PM)

High School Biology

Dr. Tom Anderson

  • ages 14–19 years

Learn about the living world. Classes will consist of discussion of textbook material as well as some hands-on lab activities. The spring semester will cover macroscopic biology, including ecology, evolution, and the structure and function of organisms. This course will be based on Biology for AP Courses, which is a textbook produced by the OpenStax project at Rice University. The text is freely available online, and a printed version is also available.

The fall semester explored microscopic biology, including the molecules of life and cell structure and processes. Because of the conceptual separation of the fall and spring semesters, it is possible for students to take the spring semester course without having taken the fall semester course.

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Chemistry

The different colors of bromothymol blue (from left to right: blank, pH 4, 6.2, 6.6, 7.2, 7.5, 8, and 12).2nd Period (10:35 AM–11:50 AM)

Middle School Chemistry

Dr. Tom Anderson

  • ages 10–14 years

This fun hands-on class will give students a chance to learn about the natural and man-made materials in the world around them. We’ll also introduce skills in making careful measurements and observations in regular lab activities.

This course is offered as two independent semesters with different material and activities covered each semester. Students may take the spring semester course without having taken the fall semester course.

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Physics

Light spectrum across outstretched palms.1st Period (9:15 AM–10:30 AM)

Backyard Ballistics, Optics, and the Science of Sound

Rebekah Jorgensen

  • ages 10–19 years

This course will teach practical physics applications. Topics will include ballistics and projectile motion, optics and light, and acoustics and sound. Through hands-on activities, exercises, and virtual labs and examples, students will explore how physics concepts are used in daily life.

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Multidisciplinary

Five red tomatoes in a wooden bowl.2nd Period (10:35 AM–11:50 AM)

Cooking Basics

Peter Hoh

  • ages 14–19 years

Not really a science class but you can’t learn to cook without also learning a bit of chemistry and biology!

Peter believes that everyone should know how to put together a meal that’s healthy, delicious, and relatively inexpensive. This course will introduce students to some of the fundamental skills of cooking. The class will cover food safety, knife skills, pantry staples, basic sauces, sautéing, roasting, and steaming.

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Engineering & Technology

A jumble of multicolored LEGO bricks.1st Period (9:15 AM–10:30 AM)

Principles of LEGO Design

Dr. Tom Anderson

  • ages 10–19 years

Want to take your LEGO-building skills to the next level? In addition to plenty of free-form activities to exercise students' creativity, this class will explore construction techniques and the design process, including the use of free computer-based tools.

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a brick rests atop a bridge model3rd Period (12:30 PM–1:45 PM)

Design, Build, Test: Structures

Peter Hoh

  • ages 10–14 years

Use the engineering design process to explore materials and structures. We will work collaboratively to build structures out of various materials such as paper, cardboard, and wood. Then we’ll test our structures to see how they respond to forces. We will analyze what works and what doesn’t to learn how we can make better structures.

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Multicolored code on a computer screen.4th Period (1:50 PM–3:05 PM)

Coding Club

  • ages 10–19 years

A space for hobbyist and semiprofessional programmers to collaborate on club projects, assist each other through problems, and share progress on their personal projects.

This is not a place to learn to program but a mutually supportive co-working space for programming in the company of others.

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Pink and blue tiny whoop drone with white and black googles4th Period (1:50 PM–3:05 PM)

Freestyle Drone Club

  • ages 10–19 years

It’s robotics-meets-Pinewood Derby-meets-Star-Wars with freestyle drone flying! Gain a hands-on understanding of the engineering behind this sensational new way to fly. Not only will you learn all the STEM subjects (mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, software engineering, aerospace engineering, video engineering, open source, math, physics, battery science, MacGyvering, and more) but if you can fly these little micro drones you can fly any drone, opening up a growing world of drone-related professions.

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Tiny whoop drones lined up for practice flights.5th Period (3:15 PM–4:30 PM)

Micro Track Smash Tiny Whoop Drone Racing Team

Séa Blake (Eclipse) and Aurora Pass (ShyDragon) with Nic Rosenau

  • ages 13–19 years

Micro Track Smash is a team competition from Youth Drone Sports Championships. The focus of class time will be on laying down times to submit to YDSC leaderboards and practicing for YDSC Regionals and Nationals. New pilots will begin flying virtually in the VelociDrone FPV Racing Simulator and will progress to flying IRL after passing a simple flight test to demonstrate they have control of their drone.

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