Badger Precollege Classes

Adventures in Coding will spark your curiosity about the connections between math, computer coding and programming. If you geek out about video games, computers, equations or even different mathematical languages, join us for this coding adventure!

Prepare to be amazed, astonished and maybe even a little grossed out in Gross Biology! Here you'll go on a mind-boggling quest to uncover the squirmy, slimy, creepy, crawly and downright bizarre features of the natural world. You'll be intrigued by parasites, mucus, bacteria and more! Put on a brave face, and maybe some gloves, as you complete hands-on experiments to uncover the purpose of some of nature's oddities.

Inside Out/Upside Down will introduce students to the world of psychology using the movie Inside Out as a base for exploring emotions, actions, and memories. Students will be learning about the foundations of psychology through role play, hands-on activities and class discussions.

Are you interested in finding out more about how forensic science helps us solve mysteries? Intro to Forensic Science is an interdisciplinary class that builds upon the skills explored in our Secret Agents class. We introduce forensic science techniques used in the field.

We introduce students to the major systems of the body through interactive and engaging activities. They will not only learn how the inner body looks, but also how it works. We explore the muscular, skeletal, nervous, digestive, respiratory and immune systems through models and experiments.

It is time to explore the skills of presenting and public speaking! This class will help you develop your own powerful voice. Through both group and solo presenting, you will build self-confidence and strengthen your social interaction. We will learn how to inhabit a character, speak on the fly and even convey a message without using any words! If you want to build effective speaking skills of all kinds, then this class is for you.

The Green Team: Introduction to Environmental Science offers a multi-disciplinary approach to learning about environmental issues by increasing knowledge and building critical-thinking skills that will help our students make informed and responsible decisions in an age-appropriate format.

During Exploring Engineering, each class will focus on a different discipline of engineering, with stations and hands-on projects to foster exploration and discovery.

Fall in love with words! In this class, you'll begin by going back in time to discover the foundations of our language and explore Latin and Greek roots. We'll explore figurative language, such as idioms and puns through engaging active play. We will also connect words to art through illustrations and shape poems. Finally, you'll put your creative thinking to good use by creating your own words and finding new ways to use language. This is not your traditional writing class! Be ready to push your knowledge of words to new heights!

A Walk Through History will transport students to a living history museum! Students will choose a historical figure, research them and write a speech as if they were that person. During family visiting day, students will dress up and stay in character, give their speeches and answer questions.

Creative Writing will explore many of the ways that words can express our imaginations and our ideas. Through exercises, reading, feedback from classmates and instructors and other exploratory activities, we will grow as writers together in this class.

Game of Economics will spark your curiosity about one of the driving factors in the world today — economics. Through critical reasoning, creative problem-solving and hands-on learning, you will construct your own games to help you understand large economic concepts such as scarcity, supply, demand, opportunity costs and diminishing returns.

This course will tackle the age-old question of "What happened to the dinosaurs?", and take that idea to the next level by exploring common perceptions (and misperceptions!) surrounding dinosaurs.

This class will spark your curiosity about the objects in the world around you. Did you know that everything is basically made of the same three ingredients? Participate in hands-on experiments, make observations and learn how to communicate your findings like a scientist.

Students in this class will think deeply about the design elements necessary to create a livable city. They will become urban planners who consider how a city is shaped by its natural borders and what impact urban sprawl will have on the surrounding environment. They will consider the needs of their citizens and look for innovative solutions to meet them, in every area from public transportation, to public space and cultural identity. Students will examine cities from around the world, as well as study urban space in Madison to think critically about what ultimately makes a city livable. By the end of the course, students will have used this knowledge to create a model city.