Let's make learning fun with Minecraft Education Edition! My name is Ms. Astrid and I am a certified Minecraft Educator. Using the Minecraft Education platform I will be using game-based learning to guide students through 6 weeks of exciting lesson plans. There are no live meetings scheduled for this class; rather, each week I will post a video presentation going over the weekly assignment and any instructions that are helpful to the lesson. The video will also contain details on how to complete your homework for the week, and instructions on how to submit it to me when you are done.

Here is our 6-week schedule:

Week 1: History and Culture - Explore Ancient Egypt! Students will navigate a custom-built server of Ancient Egypt to learn about its fascinating geography, advanced economy, governing structure, iconic architecture, and unique culture. Creative free build challenge: design a structure with an NPC that teaches us something about Egypt and write your name in Egyptian hieroglyphics. Share it in the classroom and answer some review questions about Egypt. 

Week 2: Extinction Crisis! (Science: Biodiversity and Conservation). Learn about the value, threats, sustainable management of biodiversity before building an Orangutan reserve to benefit the people, profit and planet. Students will enter a custom-build world to free-build and restore an orangutan preserve. Homework: import our shared world file and finish your build independently, then share pictures or a video in the classroom.

Week 3: Art & Design - Recreate an important or iconic scene from a story or movie you like. Design the set and characters, then present to the class. This is a great challenge for students who like creative builds, and a great way to learn about starting and building a new flat world independently. Share your completed world in the classroom by learning how to export a world file and by sharing photos. 

Week 4: Language Arts: 6-Room Poem Workshop. Explore a maze in Minecraft while writing a descriptive poem using our book & quill option in-game. Homework: Share your poem in the classroom, then find a poem by another writer and share it with the classroom.

Week 5: Build with Bees: Bee Treasures. Students learn about what bees produce in the hive: honey, beeswax, propolis, bee bread, and royal jelly, and how humans use these products, too. Minecraft Education offers an entire series called "Build with Bees" that is a fascinating study of bee habitats, anatomy, life cycle and more. This unit focuses on the many treasures that are produced in a beehive by exploring a hive and interacting with bee-themed NPCs in-game. Homework: complete the Beehive Treasures Worksheet and try to spot honey, beeswax, pollen (bee bread), propolis, or royal jelly products at home or during your next shopping trip.

Week 6: An Hour of Code: Timecraft. Experience a choose-your-own-adventure game with beginner coding skills. No prior coding experience necessary!

At the end of the 6-week course your learner will earn a certificate of completion, logging the hours spent in class and completing any external (optional) projects/homework. This is great for homeschooling families who are required to report hours for homeschooling credit and/or portfolios! 

***TECH REQUIREMENTS***
Minecraft Education Edition is free to download here: https://education.minecraft.net/en-us/get-started/download

Available platforms: PC/Mac, Chromebook, Android, iPhone, iPad. If using a PC it is preferable to use a mouse rather than touchpad, but either way will work. You can use the same device to log into the Outschool meeting plus play, but you might need to run some tests to ensure that your device has sufficient memory/RAM to run both Zoom and Minecraft simultaneously.  

After downloading Minecraft, please note that you are not required to sign up for the free trial or pay for a subscription. Upon enrollment in this class your learner will be assigned a custom license to use during the course. The day prior to our first class your learner will be given a custom login and password, which can also be used to play Minecraft independently during the week. If you are enrolling early and would like to test Minecraft on your own beforehand, feel free to sign up for the free trial that Microsoft offers. When it’s time for class your learner will sign into the class account for unlimited access. 

***Learner Expectations***

For the best experience, plan on submitting your homework by the end of each week, before the next one is uploaded on Monday. It's more fun when we can review one another's builds and comment back and forth, so plan on being active in the classroom by posting comments and videos as often as you can!