Session 3: July 14-18, 2025   

Build A VEX Robot: Students will compete in a challenge where they will learn how to design, build and program a VEX Robot. The competition will be centered on the Engineering Grand Challenges which aim to solve some of the world’s biggest issues. This program is designed for all levels of experience; ranging from beginner to expert programmer.

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Earth Science with Satellite Imagery: Satellite images of the Earth from space are some of our best tools to study our weather, oceans, pollution, and changes to our cities, rainforests, and polar caps over time. In this class, you will learn why scientists care so much about measuring the entire Earth from space daily. We’ll also talk about the different kinds of signals we measure from space – specifically, how to identify liquid water from ice clouds, algae blooms from sediment in the ocean, desert dust from wildfire smoke – and all from satellite imagery. You’ll also get hands-on experience with satellite data from an exciting new NASA climate mission called PACE (which stands for Plankton, Aerosols, Clouds, ocean Ecosystem). Image credit: Joseph Knuble/NASA GSFC

Image Caption:  True color imagery from the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) on the NASA Plankton Aerosol Cloud ocean Ecosystem (PACE) spacecraft. OCI observed the smoke plume from the January 2025 Palisade wildfire in Southern California (left), low clouds over snow and ice in Northern Canada (center), and a great phytoplankton bloom around the Falkland Islands in the southern Atlantic (right).

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Entrepreneurship: Financial Literacy- Back by popular demand to the SEA lineup of programming is this new financial literacy class focused on personal finance and entrepreneurship. This class will examine the basics of financial literacy and each student will create their own personal budget, a critical skill for teens earning their first paychecks. They will also learn about entrepreneurship as they create and present their own business plans. Students taking this course will further their knowledge of financial literacy, explore and grow their mathematical and critical-thinking skills, while having fun. Students enrolled in this class will leave with valuable skills they'll directly be able to apply to their lives.

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*THIS COURSE IS BEING HELD AT THE SHADY GROVE CAMPUS (ROCKVILLE, MD)*

Food Deserts vs. Food Swamps: Tackling America's Hidden Crisis! Did you know that nearly 2.3 million people in the U.S. live in places where healthy food is hard to find? These areas are called food deserts and food swamps—and they’re not just about food, they’re about race, class, and health. In this class, you’ll dive into some of the toughest issues facing our communities today: Why do food deserts and food swamps exist? How do they contribute to health problems? And what can we do about it?

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Learn Python by Game Building: This course serves as an introduction to learning how to program using the Python programming language: one of the easiest and most popular programming languages used in real-world projects. What better way to make programming exciting for young learners than by building a simple video game? In this course, we will build a simple keyboard-based 2-dimensional "Feed The Monster" game in one week breaking it down to learn how the components of the game all come together starting with the basics. If the students are feeling more adventurous, we could also build a second game: "Catch Me If You Can", similar to the first game, but different in the sense that it incorporates the use of a computer mouse to play it.

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POLITICAL DEBATE: Did you know that UMBC has one of the top 5 debate teams in the country? Learn the art of persuasion and how to craft a winning argument. This session will explore debate strategies and techniques. Have a fantastic time arguing, discussing current events and engaging in spirited debates over all kinds of topics. Through preparation of arguments, learn the art of persuasion, practice research skills and develop the ability to think like a historian. Students will explore topics of debate including gun control, immigration, limits to the freedom of speech, American foreign relations, and other topics related to political current events. There will also be a student-choice debate which is a lot of fun.

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SEA Sustainable Design and Build: The Kinetic Sculpture Project 2025: How do a group of students design, build and race a bicycle powered work of art that can float, go through sand and mud, and survive 15 miles of Baltimore roads? UMBC students have built two award winning sculptures, one of which is a 25 foot mechanical shark! This workshop will engage students in improving mechanical systems and sculptural components in preparation for a kinetic sculpture race that they will have on the last day of the workshop.

“…it was fun and cool to build kinetic sculptures”-Kara M., SEA 2024 Student 

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*THIS COURSE IS BEING HELD AT THE SHADY GROVE CAMPUS (ROCKVILLE, MD) !

Unlock the World of Bioterrorism and Bio-Warfare: A High-Stakes Course for Future Problem Solvers! Ever wondered how dangerous diseases could be used as weapons? Or how the world would respond to an outbreak caused by bio-terrorism? In this exciting course, you’ll dive deep into the chilling world of bioterrorism and bio-warfare, exploring the real-world threats that could impact human health and the environment.

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