Winter Learning Lab 2022

Winter 2022 Learning Labs will start on Feb. 5 and run through March 12. They will take place at Wydown Middle School in Clayton. Classes are $100/each for the six-week session.

Registration is now open!

Winter 2022 Learning Labs

Read the descriptions below or download brochure. Register online here or by filling out the form in the brochure.

NEW! Architecture Meets Mythology, North America
Grades 3rd & 4th 9:30 – 11:00
Grades 1st & 2nd 11:15 – 12:45
From the Caribbean to Canada, you’ll explore a wide swath of the architecture, art and mythology of North America. Check out the architecture of Toronto’s CN Tower and the legend of the Slide-Rock Bolter in Colorado. Recreate O’Keefe’s skulls and design your own Bigfoot mask. Build a Native American pueblo and investigate the rainbow-colored homes in Willemstad. Immerse yourself in a different building challenge and art adventure weekly. Tons of hands-on projects and fun!
Instructor:  Lisa Bader

Checkmate! – Beginning & Advanced Chess
Grades K+ 9:30 – 11:00 – Beginning/Novice CLOSED – CLASS FULL
Grades K+ 11:15 – 12:45 – Intermediate/Adv.
Choose your level! If your child is just learning chess (or wants to learn!), the beginning/novice class is the perfect place to start. Learn the rules, the moves and basic strategies.
Ready for more? Want to enhance and advance your chess stance? In the intermediate/advanced class, learn about pins and forks and skewers. Look at advanced skills such as attacking on opposite wings and end game strategies. Benefits of the game for all levels: Problem-solving skills, coping with the consequences of your decisions, and good sports behavior.
Instructor: Stephen Randoll

Crack that Code
Grades 3rd – 5th 9:30 – 11:00
Puzzles, logic, math, language – cryptography has something for everyone. Investigate cyphers like Pigpen, Playfair and Polybius Square. Explore how these codes and ciphers have been used in history and how we still use codes today in pop culture as well as for hiding communication.
Instructor: Hannah Noack-Ruebling

Dive In!
Grades K – 1st 9:30 – 11:00
Grades 2nd – 3rd 11:15 – 12:45
Explore the layers of the ocean from the sunny surface to the dark abyss. You’ll take a closer look at the animals that reside in the ocean and the adaptations that help them survive. Learn how gravity and buoyancy work together to keep sea creatures afloat and demonstrate how a special swim bladder keeps a shark from sinking. Learn what threats oil spills pose to our oceans and test out some oil spill clean-up methods.
Instructor: Kara Viviano

NEW! The Great Escape
Grades 3rd – 5th 9:30 – 11:00  CLOSED – CLASS FULL
Grades 6th – 8th 11:15 – 12:45
Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to draw on your knowledge of science to escape from this GRC class! Uncover hidden clues, crack tough codes, and solve challenging puzzles based on different themes each week, including Moon Phases, Plate Tectonics, Rocks, Body Systems, Energy Transformation, and Atoms. Time is running for your team to escape the clutches of the Diabolical DeLong!
Instructor: Jane DeLong

NEW! Meet Me in Orion’s Arm
Grades 3rd – 5th 11:15 – 12:45
Explore our solar system from the inside out, from the sun all the way out to Pluto and the Kuiper belt. Experiment with the unique conditions on the planets and moons and model the solar system to get a sense of its astounding distances. What makes each planet or other astronomical body unique? What do they have in common? Which planets have a magnetic field and why? How does the atmosphere of each planet (if there is one) affect what it would be like to go there? How does gravity hold it all together?

LEGO Mindstorms Robotics
Grades 3rd – 8th 9:30 – 11:00
If you’ve taken at least a beginning Mindstorms class, now you can go further! Learn more and work on harder challenges, based on your skill level. Build and program working robots which respond to your commands as well as information from their environments. Working with a partner, you can even design your own robot from scratch! You’ll learn to control your creation using multiple sensors, various moving parts, and complex programs that allow the robot to assess its environment and make decisions. You will be given a specific challenge to accomplish with your programming at the beginning of each class.
Instructor:  Lisa Hummel

NEW! Mesmerizing Mathematical Art
Grades 5th & 6th 9:30 – 11:00
Grades 3rd & 4th 11:15 – 12:45  CLOSED – CLASS FULL
Using math concepts as a springboard, you’ll explore how math and art intersect. Each week, you’ll investigate a different idea, like tessellations, string art, proportions, symmetry, paper art and more! Design beautiful hands-on creative art projects to take home. Math has never looked so good!
Instructor: Morgan Moody

NEW! Models, Maps, and More
Grades 6th – 8th 9:30 – 11:00
Grades 4th – 5th 11:15 – 12:45
Be the FIRST to test out new scientific models being developed for middle school students by MIT, the Missouri Botanical Garden, and others. Each week we’ll spend about 20 minutes testing out a model. After learning how it works we’ll spend the rest of our time together applying what we learn as you code your own simulation or game. The computer modeling software is free for use after the Learning Lab ends, so you can continue your adventures. This is a BYOD (“bring your own device”) – preferred course, but GRC has laptops available if needed.
Instructor: Bob Coulter

NEW! Paper Art: Sculptures
Grades 3rd – 6th 11:15 – 12:45
Move beyond airplanes and fortune tellers in this class where you’ll discover the possibilities of creating art with paper. More and more artists are discovering the simple beauty and creativity of sculpting with paper. Explore how to use symmetry, depth and movement in your three-dimensional relief pieces.
Instructor: Hannah Noack-Ruebling

People Behaving Badly: Dictators, Tyrants & Kings
Grades 3rd – 6th 11:15 – 12:45
Join Mr. K for this exploration of political figures behaving badly throughout the ages, from the culture that gave us the word “tyrant” up through Hitler and Stalin. You’ll touch on Aristotle and how running a state can go wrong, as well as any number of historical figures who went down in the history books for all the wrong reasons.
Instructor: Art Koenig

Revolutions through History – Successful & Otherwise
Grades 4th – 7th 9:30 – 11:00
What causes people to dissolve “the political bands that have connected them with another”? From the Jewish nation’s attempt to throw off its Roman oppressors to revolutionary conflicts in America, France, Haiti, Russia and Iran – you’ll look at battles and outcomes which changed ways of life. Students will be given the chance to construct blades, shields and other tools of the soldier.
Instructor: Art Koenig

STEM Challenge: Building Bridges
Grades 2nd – 3rd 9:30 – 11:00
Grades K – 1st 11:15 – 12:45  CLOSED – CLASS FULL
Explore the fascinating world of bridges and engineer your own bridges to test for height, length and strength! Will you build a graceful arch, a sturdy beam or a soaring suspension bridge? How do you decide what materials to use? Will you put piers in the middle? Use trusses? Every decision is important. One mistake and your bridge could come tumbling down! Today’s bridges are different from the ones of the past, but the basic parts are the same – we’ll discover why. Let your inventive mind and spirit spark new ideas in bridge building.
Instructor: Jen Sciuto

Tricks are for Kids
Grades 1st – 3rd 9:30 – 11:00  CLOSED – CLASS FULL
Grades 4th – 6th 11:15 – 12:45
Abracadabra! Ever wonder how famous magicians do their tricks? Learn about famous illusions, then design your own to perform for family and friends. This (very) hands-on class will delve into some magical principles and you will create DIY tricks to dazzle and deceive. Register now before the class disappears *POOF*!
Instructor: Dave Cole

For information about GRC Learning Labs or to request a brochure, please call 314.962.5920 or email us at info@giftedresourcecouncil.org.