How does a coal power plant work? Where do granite countertops come from? How do you get gold and gemstone jewelry from metal and minerals that were in the ground? 

This LIVE course from STEM Qwest will focus on different science topics each day related to "Earth Science – Natural Resources in Minecraft and the Real World". The course will teach students about renewable and non-renewable resources, minerals and rock types, precious metals, gemstones and the methods used to mine them from the Earth and convert them to objects for human use. This course will run as an “online camp” for 5 consecutive days (Monday – Friday). Special note, double check your time zone as the course may run Tuesday-Saturday for some students (ex: Australia).

Students will meet in the online Zoom classroom for 60-minutes each day with *Minecraft building time to follow.

Daily themes are: 
•	Day 1: Renewable and Non-renewable Resources (similarities and difference between Minecraft and the real world)
Minecraft building task: start your Museum of Natural Resources.
•	Day 2: Rocks and Minerals (properties and characteristics of rocks and minerals)
Minecraft building task: continue your Museum of Natural Resources.
•	Day 3: Gold Rush (mining for precious metals and other resources from Earth's crust)
Minecraft building task: replicate a working mine (gold, coal, diamond, etc.).
•	Day 4: All that glitters isn’t gold (fluorescent minerals, gems, and jewelry)
Minecraft building task: create a gem and jewelry store from the resources you have mined.
•	Day 5: Show and share what you created with your classmates
Minecraft building task: make any finishing touches to your Minecraft builds.

In addition to the live instruction each day in Zoom, a daily quiz will be provided (posted to the Outschool classroom) to accompany the daily science topic. This work is optional and will not be collected for a grade but we will go over the answers during Zoom class. An answer key will be provided after each class. Students are encouraged to take screenshots of the builds they create each day in Minecraft and post them to the online classroom discussion area.      

*Regarding Minecraft*

The purchase of Minecraft account(s) must be made separately and prior to the start of class. Instructions on how to build with Minecraft are not part of this course. Students with a few weeks or months of Minecraft experience through play or otherwise will have the skills needed to complete the builds in Minecraft. Minecraft is a building tool for this course (think of it as digital building blocks). The lessons and information in this course are not official Minecraft products and are not associated with Mojang.

Minecraft building time will follow the Zoom room class for approximately 45-60 minutes. Students will work on their builds independently. If students would like to work with their classmates, they can post their device type and user information to the Outschool classroom. Given the limitations that students may be working from many time zones and that Minecraft runs across many platforms that are not all compatible with each other (computer, tablets, gaming consoles, etc.) there is no guarantee that other students will have compatible devices to build cooperatively with other learners. 

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In the unlikely event that the course instructor cannot hold a class session, the course session will be extended and a make up class will be held on the regularly scheduled day, at the same time, the following week. 

This course will follow Outschool’s “Limited” refund policy. For more information on the Outschool refund policy, you can view the website here:   
https://support.outschool.com/about-outschool/refund-policies-and-happiness-guarantee