Attention 7th and 8th graders! If you’ve ever wondered what college will be like, experience it firsthand this summer at the Honors College at the University of Houston. Preview college courses in various topics, taught by actual University faculty, including English literature, creative writing, engineering, and chemistry.
When: June 25-29, 2012
Times: 9 am to 4 pm
Tuition: $400
Where: The Honors College, 212 MD Anderson Library
2012 Application
Regular Registration is March 1- May 16
Class Descriptions
Literature
Sherlock Holmes solved his cases by observation, deduction, and unending wit. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's tales of Holmes' adventures illustrate the way in which we read books—we don't just absorb, we investigate. What do settings and objects tell us about a story? How do we read characters? Can we make sense of the clues left by an author? Come with us as we explore these possibilities with Sherlock himself!
Chemistry
Some simple and important chemical concepts will be explained and exemplified using hands-on activities and demonstrations. The topics will include (but are not limited to) the periodic table, thermochemistry, reaction equilibrium, and reaction kinetics.
Creative Writing
Good critical writing begins with good critical reading. This week we will learn how doing a little "detective work" with a book can help solve the "mystery" of writing a good paper. Together we will investigate the way character, setting, conflict, and details really work in a text, and what you can meaningfully say about them on paper. The mysterious "case" we'll be working on is Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles.
ENGINEERING
Students will be introduced to a number of basic principles in engineering, including demonstrations based on current research activities at the University of Houston. Opportunities will also be given for hands-on construction of simple communications systems that are a part of today’s wireless environment.
