Splash Fall 2016
Course Catalog

Have you seen the ropes? If you haven't then I will show them to you! We will learn everything from theory to pure pragmatic execution.


Prerequisites
None.

Come prepared to learn a new hobby using a very cheap medium -- free newspapers! Besides recycling, you will be able to create something that is functional and decorative. Once you learn the basic idea, you will know how to make pencil holders, boxes, containers, bowls. . .etc. You will learn all the basic steps but keep in mind that you may need to continue at home. However, I will be providing you with the tools you need to continue. (Note: this is not paper-mache).

The goal of the class is to have students exit with a new spoken word piece, a better understanding of poetry as an art form and with the tools/opportunities they can showcase their poems or compete with them on a national level. Class will be led by 2015 Bay Area Slam Team alumn, Gracia Mwamba.

Do you know you can reverse the mixing of a dye in a liquid? Want to know why it is important in bioengineering? Ever interested in bio-inspired designs, nano-technology, micro-fluidics, but articles you found on Google are just too hard to decipher? Curious about what differences distinguish successful and unsuccessful engineering designs? Join this two-hour seminar to find out. You are encouraged to bring question(s) about bioengineering or engineering in general. Fun and chocolates guaranteed.

Making clean water dirty is easy, but making dirty water clean again isn't so simple. Learn the basics parameters of water quality, what they mean and how we measure them, and how we can improve them to ma

In this class, we'll discuss the use of microfluidic devices in bioengineering. Microfluidic devices are small mechanisms, normally made of silicone, which use networks of tubes to control biological and chemical reactions on a very small scale. You'll create your own fluidic device to figure out the composition of different mixtures. We'll also talk about other interesting applications of microfluidics in medicine, industry, and scientific research.

Whether your introduction was Percy Jackson or Mark Griffith, your interest in Greek Myths has made you pause a second to read this description.

We will be hitting a few of the most popular myths (with a brief explanation as to how they became popular):
- Origin of the Pantheon (Hesiod)
- Hades and Persephone (Homeric Hymns)
- Daedalus and Icarus (Ovid)
- Oedipus Rex (Sophocles)

We will not discuss

This class with discuss topics that may be triggering. Feel free to reach out the facilitator. We believe that only through an inclusive space can we have a well rounded discussion.


Prerequisites
No background in mythology required. Reading before is recommended. You do not need to understand completely. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21765 We will not discuss Hercules/Herakles.

This course may single handedly be the most meaningful class you could ever take. We will survey topics that are at the heart of the formation of societies and individual identities. Come prepared to discuss and debate fascinating questions about the complexity and meaning of life and the nature of reality.

Pattern popularity! Catalan numbers! Bijections! The Left-Subtree-Switching Lemma! Come on a whirlwind tour of combinatorics and learn all about the concepts in this paper:
http://www.combinatorics.org/ojs/index.php/eljc/article/view/v20i1p8


Prerequisites
You've heard of a factorial

Some problems are really easy to describe, addictively fun to think about, and when you finally come up with the solution, it's *really* satisfying. Come think about problems like that, and learn a little bit about math and algorithms along the way

https://xkcd.com/356/

Learn to create your own website with HTML and CSS. We will cover formatting text, displaying images, and general layout and styling. By the end of the class, you will have designed and made your own website to show off! We will teach you how to upload your site to Heroku so bring a laptop running either Windows, OS X, or Linux.

Learn about probability and basic statistics. Learn about how google search gets better with every passing year. Did Siri just read your mind? Find out how she did that.


Prerequisites
Basic Probability would be nice but not required (I'll cover the basics).

Learn to program and control a remote control car with coding! Throughout the lesson, we will be learning how to wire an Arduino to a circuit board, and how to code instructions for the car to work through an obstacle course! (This course is taught by Berkeley Engineers and Mentors.)

It can be shown that any map can be colored with only 6 colors. But how about 5? Furthermore, how about 4? We will explore and answer these questions in this short survey of the proof of the 4-color theorem


Prerequisites
A desire to learn math and understand it is essential. A basic knowledge of graph theory would help, but is definitely not required.

How does Siri understand what I say? How does Amazon know what I want before I do? How do cars learn to drive themselves?

Jump into the strange, intriguing world of machine learning as we figure out how to teach our algorithms how to generate Shakespearean sonnets, make money on the stock market, and turn our sketches into works of art.


Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with basic calculus (at the AP Calculus AB level).

Ever wondered how you can prove beyond a doubt that you are correct? What does it mean to be logical?

A mathematical proof is an argument which convinces other people that something is true using logic. In this class, you will use your basic math skills to learn how to argue logically, and see the beauty in mathematics. You will actually experience what mathematics is actually about!
(hint: it's not about boring calculations! :) )


Prerequisites
-Algebra 1 or Pre-Algebra -Comfortable with usage of variables, basic adding, subtracting, multiplying, dividing, exponents

Money can buy (almost) anything, so you gotta save up! This class will teach you important things to know about personal finance, a subject that is super important but probably not taught at school. Sign up to learn how and what to save your money for, how to make more money off of your money, and more!

This is an eye-opening and interactive course about the gap in academic success between students of different racial and economic backgrounds, called the achievement gap. Through activities, discussion, lecture, and videos we will explore the causes and effects of the gap, as well as possible ways to minimize it.
Please bring paper and writing utensils to the class. Looking forward to seeing you all!

A short guided natural history walk to teach how to identify and use the plants of campus

Why can we exchange something called "money" to acquire goods and services? How are prices set? And why does this matter? After a brief overview of the history of money, students will be presented with both orthodox and heterodox theories of money and price. Special attention will be paid to comparing Marx's labor theory of value against more orthodox, supply/demand theories of price and money. This seminar-style course is an invitation for students to question some of the most basic, everyday assumptions underpinning our economic system.

Welsh critic Raymond Williams defined culture as what is ordinary. At the same time, Williams understood culture as the sparkle that sends people reaching for their checkbooks. This course will draw on the work of thinkers like Antonio Gramsci and Stuart Hall to approximate a definition of culture. We will ask, what is the difference between culture and being cultured? How can a national culture exist in society as saturated in a diversity of texts and ideas as the United States? By the end of the course, students should understood how culture is configured in relation to politics and economics and be familiar with ideas of cultural materialism and cultural imperialism.

The coolest matter in the universe isn't on the dark side of the moon (a tepid 116K or -250F) or hidden in the deepest depths of space (a brisk 2.6K or -455F), but rather is right here on Earth.


Prerequisites
Interest in science and willing to ask questions.

Can objects exist in multiple places at once? How do we perform spooky actions at a distance--apparent faster-than-lightspeed travel?
Quantum Mechanics seems weird on the surface, but a closer look reveals the real weirdness may not be where you expected.


Prerequisites
Willingness to interrupt me to ask for clarification or questions.

Ever ponder about what lies beyond the great blue skies above us? We, as humans, are only a microscopic speck in the entire universe. If you are interested in the many breath-taking, awe-inspiring things that lie beyond, take this class!


Prerequisites
None

Find out what scientists and engineers are doing with the variety of plasmas that we've learned to produce in the lab, the factory, and (coming soon?) the hospital.

We will give a brief introduction to...
1 Electron plasmas
2 Dusty plasmas
3 Antimatter plasmas
4 Electronic device etching
5 Advanced radiation sources
6 Hall thrusters
7 Water purification
8 Medical applications


Prerequisites
Students are invited to read the Wikipedia entries on arc welding, microwave ovens, plasma TV, and fusion reactors, which will not be covered in this course but do provide useful analogies.

In the lifetime of a multicellular organism, such as a human, millions of their cells will die in a coordinated manner. All of this cell death is a natural part of development and disease prevention. How do these cells decide to die and how does death occur?

We will discuss the process of apoptosis, or programmed cell death, that occurs in development and can happen (or fail to happen) in many diseases.


Prerequisites
a basic biology class, students should be familiar with organelles in the cells and what cell signaling is

What is cancer? What happens in the body when cancer starts and spreads? What causes cancer? How can we treat it? What would it take to cure this disease?

We'll discuss all of these questions through a whirlwind lesson on genetics, cell biology, evolution, medical research, and more! Be ready to participate and bring any questions you have on cancer and scientific research.


Prerequisites
the more biology you know the better, including topics like what is a cell, what are the parts of the cell and what do they do, what is the purpose and function of DNA/RNA/proteins, etc.

We all can see that humans have variations in skin color. Today, we pretty much call this race. Conversations around race are changing--we now know that race does not determine intelligence, morality, or much else. Therefore, it is useful to think about what skin color actually means.

In this class, we will examine the biological history of skin color. We will look at what humans looked like when they evolved, why there is variation in skin color in humans, and how this variation was treated historically in the biological sciences (and how this science was wrong).


Prerequisites
None

HIV has probably been one of the important infectious diseases of recent history. However, the virus's symptoms were only first mentioned in 1981 and the virus was only characterized in 1986. Today, we think that the first human infections only happened in the early 1900s.

In this class, we will examine the origins of HIV--from when it was discovered to when it first infected humans. We will look at how the virus interacts with the immune system and how social conditions led to it infecting humans and later spreading around the world. We will talk about why HIV is so difficult to treat and what HIV's history can tell us about other emerging infectious diseases.


Prerequisites
Some biology would be useful

Have you seen the movie "Interstellar"? Did you know that there is a lot of interesting, cutting-edge science and technology involved in this movie? From the biology of a plant disease plaguing earth, to the chemical makeup of other habitable worlds, to the physics of beings in an extra dimension, we will explore some of this science in an accessible manner. You will also get to learn about wormholes, blackholes, and other exotic phenomena at the frontier of our understanding of fundamental laws of nature.


Prerequisites
Basic biology, chemistry, and physics (at the level of Newton's laws)

The Standard Model of Particle Physics tells us how fundamental particles interact with one another. What are these particles? What do we know about them? And are there more to be discovered?

In this course we will give an overview of the Standard Model and describe how physicists search for new particles at the LHC.


Prerequisites
Algebra would be useful, but is not required.

This course is designed to provide an overview of human genetic concepts and clinical disorders that have a genetic component in order to help students understand the basics of genetic disorders. The course seeks to familiarize students with different categories of genetic disorders affecting the human population in addition to the basics and principles of human genetics in order for the students to understand how genetic disorders are initiated, inherited to the next generation, and affect the body. Moreover, this course will provide students with the most recent discoveries about the presented disorders.


Prerequisites
Have taken a biology class

The question "Are we alone?" has vexed philosophers and scientists alike since antiquity. Modern advances in biology, engineering, and astronomy have revolutionized our understanding of what aliens might look like and the technology available to find them. This class presents a scientist's perspective on extraterrestrial life and how to search for it. Topics include the requirements for life and extremophile life on Earth, the search for microbes in the Solar System, theories of non-water-based life, and attempts to detect signals from intelligent interstellar species.

Learn about chemistry as it is applied to your everyday life, like how dynamite is made from... soap?

We'll go over a lot of fascinating chemical reactions that take place in your everyday life that are often overlooked.

Samples topics include how nitroglycerin (dynamite) is made and why it is so explosive, and how Alfred Nobel made a fortune out of tweaking the process. We will talk about rocket fuels and the beautiful chemistry involved in them, and many other things as well.

Time allowing, we will go over a variety of other topics as well- some straight out of the movies and Breaking Bad!

There will be demonstrations of reactions that are visually interesting at the end of the class.


Prerequisites
High school chemistry course

“If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man.”

This above - and mostly nonsense - quotation is apocryphally attributed to Albert Einstein.

Whilst unfortunately false, what is the truth about our reliance on bees for the food we eat? Why are people worried all the bees are dying? What even is a bee?

This class will delivery a whistle-stop tour of all things bee. Covering bee evolution, identification, modern beekeeping, and the role of bees in human societies.

Recommended for anyone with interests in evolution, ecology, disease, agriculture, or people considering beekeeping as a career choice.


Prerequisites
Basic understanding of evolution and a flaming passion for Beyoncé are both helpful, but not necessary.

(1) What are black holes?
(2) What would it mean to "destroy information," and how bad would that be?
(3) Can black holes do that??

Have you ever held a human brain in your hands? Here’s your chance! This class will provide a general introduction to human anatomy along with a more in depth look at select topics, including: the skeletal system, muscles and innervations, function of major joints, cranial nerves, and the brain! This class is open to anyone interested in learning about the human body, including those considering a career in the health fields.

Have you ever seen those old black and white films with folks dancing to big bands like they're having the best time of their life? Wish you could be them? Swing dancing is very popular, especially in the bay area! Come take a class that will give you the necessary skills to dance with people from all over the world to awesome music!


Prerequisites
None! Just bring your best attitudes. :) The course will be adjusted by the overall skill level and learning speed of the class, so be prepared to do some partner dancing and/or solo line dancing.

Achieving results in life, ranging from doing your homework, going to the gym, mastering a skill, developing patience, having the courage to talk to the person you like -- and many more -- come from the basic principle that what you FEEL on the inside determines what you DO on the outside.

Taking an inside-out approach using key principles from the Great Master Teachers in Psychology and Philosophy, you will learn how to begin mastering your internal state by cultivating awareness, emotional intelligence, and intention.


Prerequisites
A deep curiosity for life and a desire to fulfill a purpose beyond yourself.

“I’ll celebrate after I ____.”

Popular belief holds that if we fill that blank with our personal or career goal and aim for success in achieving it, happiness will follow. Once we succeed, however, we form new goals and happiness gets pushed farther and farther into the future. Inspired by recent groundbreaking research in the field of positive psychology, Harvard alumnus and professor Shawn Achor posits a theory that happiness fuels success, not the other way around. Being happy can actually give us a competitive advantage!

In this class, we will explore practices of mindfulness (meditation), gratitude, and kindness as ways to boost our own happiness, and that of those around us. :)

Learn California's state dance, which can be danced to nearly any type of music, modern to classic.

Come learn the basics of reading, writing, and "speaking" Middle Egyptian Hieroglyphs! You will be introduced to a variety of vocabulary and grammatical forms that will allow you to make simple sentences and phrases. You will also learn about papyrus, stelae, Gardiner's Sign List, and Faulkner's Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian.


Prerequisites
To get a head start (and get more out of this class), please begin memorizing/looking at the Uniliteral Alphabet which can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/egyptuniliteral Another helpful resource will be hierolgyphtutor.com

The course will explore a brief history of the rise of college football in American life. Starting from the earliest iterations of the sport, we will explore the side of the sport as it has run through numerous conference realignments

Can some of the highly improbable events impact the course of history?
Does our mind fool ourselves by simplifying the nature of the universe?

What is the randomness of nature and how to take advantage of it.

Come join us to learn some new, exciting and silly card games that are extremely popular in India

yoga for body, mind, and sprit includes laughter yoga and eyes movements


Prerequisites
none

Danger! Peril! Doom! It lurks around every corner. Earthquakes. Heart Attacks. Snakes. Car Accidents. You're in a plummeting elevator with seconds to act. What do you do? This class is here to help: jam-packed with step-by-step instructions and guides, we're here to show you what to do when life takes a sudden turn for the worse. An essential class for a perilous age because you never know...

Being able to take a stance and articulate new ideas and perspectives is becoming increasingly important in today's society. Public Speaking 101 will examine different forms of effective communication and explore their applications in personal and career development.