Arlington Community Education

Design intricate 3D objects using BlocksCAD, a software program that combines 3D modeling with block-based coding. Through hands-on projects, you’ll learn computer coding, graphing skills, and 3-dimensional design. By dragging and dropping locks of editable code that create and modify 3D shapes, you’ll use problem-solving to build 3D models that can then be exported to a 3D printer. At the end of the course, you can pick one of your models to be 3D printed for future pickup.

Learn both the programming and design aspects of creating great apps, and build an app of your own. In this no-experience-required course, we use MIT App Inventor software to make fun, creative apps for Android phones and tablets. We will also explore wireless communication by building custom Bluetooth hardware controllers and readouts for our apps.

Join in entertaining and educational science experiments to gain an understanding of physics including Newton’s first, second, and third laws of motion, Newton’s law of gravity, and more. We'll make boats and rockets, make and play with marble runs and catapults, and experiment with many other fun physics projects.

Come join in on some coding fun. In this self-driven and self-paced course we will use Scratch Jr., Ozobots and code.org to explore coding and programming concepts that will bring computer screens to life. All junior coders are welcome.

Begin by learning Scratch, a block-based programming language, where you will learn key coding concepts and build a small video game or a cool animation. As you advance, you can begin to apply these same coding concepts in Python. You will experiment with variables, conditionals, and loops, and combine these elements to create a second video game. Advanced students will be given the chance to tackle additional challenges.

Learn about the engineering and design process to build a sail car that rides the wind. Take the survivor engineering challenge and design a system to protect a passenger from flying out of a car when it crashes. Build basic circuits and experiment with insulators and conductors as we shift our focus to electricity. Make a light circuit and experiment with LED mini lights.

By combining LEGO elements with a programmable brick, motors, and sensors, you can make your creations walk, talk, grab, think, shoot, and do almost anything you can imagine. We will build things like a humanoid robot, a shooting scorpion, a slithering snake, a fork lift, a race truck, an electric guitar, and a walking dinosaur. Or, of course, anything else you dream up.

Let your imagination run wild with tens of thousands of LEGO. Build engineer-designed projects such as chugging steamboats, enchanted moon bridges, and bustling airports. Design and build as never before and explore your craziest ideas in a supportive environment.

Let your imagination run wild with tens of thousands of LEGO. Design and build leaping dolphins, buzzing beehives, and towering giraffes, in a world inspired by the animal kingdom. Design and build as never before.

Each week we’ll hear about a fascinating time in history, and then build a LEGO representation of some aspect of it. Hear how airports graduated from landing strips to vast travel networks, how Depression-era farms survived hordes of grasshoppers, and how aeroelasticity explains why the Tacoma bridge nicknamed “Galloping Gertie” collapsed. Our group building challenges will allow you to discuss each event, and to make decisions about addressing what happened.

Bring your favorite Minecraft adventures to life in a Minecraft world powered by LEGO resources. We will build shelters to keep out creepers, craft mystical items that only true masters can wield, and perfect our crossbow skills to stop the wither from taking over. If you can imagine it, we can build it.

Power up your engineering skills with thousands of LEGO. Apply real-world concepts in physics, engineering, and architecture through engineer-designed projects such as gear cars, merry-go-rounds, and tower cranes. Design and build as never before and explore your craziest ideas.

Use Roblox Studio to create your own Obby (short for obstacle course) video game. You’ll experiment with specific tasks and movements and share gaming with classmates while learning important STEM concepts of design, problem solving, and trial/error. All games will be stored online, so you can access them from home.

Use Scratch, a drag-and-drop coding system, to build a small video game or cool animation and then progress to more complex projects. Along the way, learn universal coding concepts applicable for more advanced coding languages such as Python, Java, and C++.

What makes a superhero super? Physics! Conduct gravity experiments to learn what it would take for Superman to leap over tall buildings in a single bound. Create optical illusions to understand how Wonder Woman’s jet can disappear. Investigate how Spiderman (and real spiders) can walk up walls. Examine Batman’s super gadgets and morph into the world of superheroes using the science that could make superheroes a reality.

There is absolute wonder in the life of plants! Explore the world of biology through fun hands-on scientific analysis as we poke, prod, and observe a slew of intricate and fascinating behaviors in nature. Extract pigmentation from plants, observe capillary action, learn and experiment with paper chromatography, and explore photosynthesis in a variety of ways. Learn what all of these scientific terms mean and observe them in action. Lab coats are optional.

Ready. Set. Take off! From paper airplanes to rockets, we’ll make all sorts of flying inventions while exploring aerodynamics and how things move through the air. Students will make, test, and reinvent catapults, kites, parachutes, and more as we explore the laws of physics and the forces that keep objects afloat. Lessons will be just "plane" fun.

Learn programming for robotics through weekly challenges and trial and error with Dash, an intelligent Wonder robot. As you gain an understanding of the computer software, and increase your drag-and-drop coding skills, you will be able to direct your robot to move faster, slower, spin, avoid objects in its path, play music and other sounds, light up, and even play with you.