Epic Minecraft Builds Flex Classes That Teach: Math, Geography & Architecture.

In this extremely popular Minecraft course, students will travel all over the world learning about famous buildings and structures and build them. Coupled with a mini history and geography lesson, students will have a choice to build with me, or draw upon their own creative abilities in Minecraft. 

This course will follow a “flexible schedule” and does not have scheduled online meetings. This flexible schedule allows students to work at any time, 24/7 for the duration of the course. Thus, keeping all students working at a similar pace but not requiring them to attend online class meetings in Zoom at a set time. This "flex" course works great for families with varied schedules and allows students from any time zone to participate! 

Each Monday morning, the tasks for the week will be unlocked and available to enrolled learners. The weekly tasks include reading notes, watching video lessons, creating your Minecraft builds, and posting screenshots/pictures of your Minecraft builds so your classmates and teacher can see them and comment of them.

The teacher will provide feedback on your weekly tasks via the Outschool message/email system and answer any questions you may have.  Students should be sure to complete the weekly tasks before the next week of tasks are unlocked to stay on track. 

Regarding Minecraft:
Each student will need a Minecraft account. Class participants will do all Minecraft building on their own personal device. Any version of Minecraft (PC/Mac computer, Minecraft for Windows10, Xbox, PlayStation, Switch, or other gaming consoles, Minecraft PE for iPad, Android tablets, etc.) will work for this course. The purchase of Minecraft must be made separately and prior to the start of class. Students with a few weeks 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.

What is NOT included:
This course will not include a group server or realm. Students can work together if their devices are compatible but partner/group projects are not required. Most learners will build in Minecraft on their own.

The "Week 1: Ancient China- In this unit we will study the timber work of ancient Chinese dwellings, as well as, the unusual reason the buildings have sloped roof lines and large statues. What is Feng Sway, and why are its principles so important in modern Chinese architecture. Then you will build with me, and learn to make an ancient Chinese dwelling place.  

In "Week 2: Tower of Powers" students will learn about the towers of the world and what is a mathematical sequence. We will focus on building a famous North American tower and learn who built it. Why was it built and what unique details it took to build it. We will also integrate a sequence into our build can you find it? In Minecraft, students will build with me or they can decide to make their own tower.

During "Week 3:Can you Lever? We will study the works of Frank Lloyd Wright and focus on a building technique called the cantilever. We will build a Frank Lloyd Wright inspired house in Minecraft. Students will be encouraged to find examples of a cantilever in your neighborhood and post them on the classroom page? 

For the "Week 4: We are going 4D? Here we will study the works of Architect David Fisher and his famous four dimensional tower. We we learn about building, and how he designed it with the environment in mind. In Minecraft, students will build with me and then can decide to make their own dynamic tower. Are you good with command blocks?

"Week 5: "Up Up and Away" This week we will learn about space shuttles, why were they created and why did NASA shut the program down. Come learn from Keith Hatfield, a Canadian Astronaut about the international space centre. In Minecraft, students will build with me and then can decide what unique patterns to inject into their space shuttles. In this build, we will touch on the Minecraft art form of pixel art.

"Week 6: Can you Arc? - Welcome to France. In this weeks build, we will learn about who Napoleon Bonaparte was, what famous build he commissioned to be built, and why he never got to see it finished. How does this build connect to the first lady Jackie Kennedy, and why she brought home an eternal flame. In Minecraft, students will build with me and then can decide to make their own arc. As an aside, we will make a celebration bonus build for doing so well in this building unit. 

All student participants must have a working version of Minecraft to participate. Any costs for Minecraft accounts are not included with the course fee.   

As a "Flex" course offering, this class does not include live class meetings in Zoom but teacher-to-learner and learner-to-learner interaction are expected from course participants in the online classroom. These interactions will take place using the Outschool message delivery system so learners and the teacher can interact on a one-on-one basis for questions and feedback. Group discussions will be visible to all learners in the course and students are expected to post, share, and comment on the Minecraft creations of their classmates.  

This course will follow Outschool’s “Flexible” 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