Short Takes

July 11, 2017 | Jim Townsend

Film speaker series: ‘A Quiet Passion’

Cynthia Nixon portrays Emily Dickinson in the film, “A Quiet Passion,” which will be shown 7 p.m. Saturday, July 22, in University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Student Services and Classroom Building lecture hall, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston.

Conor Bracken, assistant director of the UHCL Writing Center and the 2017 Frost Place Chapbook Fellow in American poetry, will read Dickenson selections as well as his own work.

“A Quiet Passion” is rated PG-13. Admission and parking are free. For more information, visit www.uhcl.edu/campus-life/arts/film-speaker-series.

Send your kids to science, technology camps

University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Kids U has something for your young scientist or engineer to discover July 24-27 at the UHCL Arbor Building, 2700 Bay Area Blvd., Houston.

Kids U, offered through UHCL’s Center for Educational Programs, features two concurrent camps in science and technology, with grade-appropriate activities K-8.  Registration is $149 per student.

Science camp:

• Grades K-1 “Under the Sea,” 8:30-11:30 a.m.:  Explore ocean life, discover sharks, dolphins, clown fish, squid, stingrays and more.
• Grades 2-3 “Kitchen Chemistry,” noon - 3 p.m.: What makes food puff up and sodas fizz? Make your own snacks, such as homemade root beer and yeast bread.
• Grades 4-5 “How do Things Move?,” noon - 3 p.m.: Explore Isaac Newton’s laws of physics by making balloon rocket cars and hovercrafts and more.
• Grades 6-8 “CSI: UHCL,” 8:30-11:30 a.m. Examine how Crime Scene Investigation forensics are used to solve mysteries.

Technology camp:

• Grades Pre-K; K-1 “Programming for Beginners with Bee Bots and More,” noon - 3 p.m.:  Program with Bee Bots, Daisy the Dinosaur and Hopscotch.
• Grades 2-3 and 4-5 “Digital Playground,” 8:30-11:30 a.m.: Create avatars, 3-D images animated graphics and more for your own website. (An email account is required.)
• Grades 2-3 and 4-5 “Bloxel Game Builder - Your Imagination’s Turn to Play,” 8:30-11:30 a.m.:  Build, capture, design, play, and share your own video games.
• Grades 2-3 and 4-5 “Inventors of Tomorrow,” noon - 3 p.m.: Use interchangeable, electronic building blocks to invent almost anything – from instruments to robots. Build creative confidence, problem-solving and collaboration skills.
• Grades 4-5 and 6-8 “Aegis,” 8:30-11:30 a.m.: By combining the interaction of video games with the storytelling power of graphic novels, students engage in computer science, learn basic programming skills and robotics for a complete STEM experience.
• Grades 4-5 and 6-8 “Introduction to Video Game Design & Development,” noon - 3 p.m.: Students take charge and create their own video games.

For more information, visit kidsu.uhcl.edu or call 281-283-3530.

Need teaching resources? Check out UHCL online

Are you a newly minted K-12 teacher looking for ideas? Make University of Houston-Clear Lake’s website your starting point for lesson planning and resource-gathering. Perhaps it’s time to take the next step in your teaching career. Visit the UHCL College of Education’s Center for Professional Development of Teachers online.

Educators can find hundreds of curated references, resources and referrals by starting their free search at www.uhcl.edu/education/centers-initiatives. To find out more about UHCL College of Education, call 281-283-3600 or email education@uhcl.edu.