SEP Session 2, Day 4 (9-11)

SEP Interns
Jul 4, 2019
3 min read

Each day, we will feature several courses. Throughout the session, we will feature as many courses as possible.

Today in "From Hamlet to Black Panther," students began class by reading act IV of Hamlet. Students took turns reading as various characters. Teacher, Maayan Ornath, did a wonderful job stopping students every few lines and asking students to clarify what was happening in the scene. Reading Hamlet in this way allowed students to gain a deeper understanding of the text and allowed them to interact with and respond to the text.

This morning in "Lights! Mysteries of the Electromagnetic Spectrum," students were studying colors and absorption. Tomorrow they transition into discussions on emission. In class today, students learned about the structure and properties of benzene before doing calculations in order to determine its color. Then, Independence Day was brought into the chemistry class. After a brief history lesson on the original American flag, students explored the materials (cotton and wool) as well as the plant dies that absorb certain wavelengths of light to produce red and blue colors. Happy 4th of July from "Lights! Mysteries of the Electromagnetic Spectrum."

This morning in "Periodic Explorations," chemists watched a demonstration of an experiment where students used their knowledge of PH levels to identify a substance as either an acid or a base. After the demonstration students worked together to balance the chemical equations related to the experiment demonstrated.

Today in "Gender Games: An Exploration of Social Norms," SEP 9-11 campers discussed the philosophy of gender and delved into different philosophers definitions of gender. Students shared their opinions and thoughts on the various definitions and agreed on a favorite definition. The class then broke out into small groups to come up with their interpretation of gender using the philosopher's ideas to guide their thinking.

Today in "Engineering Hogwarts," SEP 9-11 student's worked in small groups to read different articles about events throughout history, which highlighted various ethical issues in engineering. Students discussed with their small groups their thoughts on these moral issues and then worked to put together a poster and present to the dilemma and their ideas about it to the whole class.

Today in in "Math, Statistics, and Game Theory," students learned about extensive form game theory. After talking through and practicing more simple examples of this strategy's use, students worked on applying the strategy to a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Then, after watching a clip of "Noah's Ark," students constructed a tree form diagram using extensive form game theory to the creation story. This tree diagram helped students determine the rationality of both Adam and Eve, as well as God in the Garden with the forbidden fruit. This example was adapted by Brahm, professor at NYU. More unconventional applications of game theory to Old Testament stories followed.

The Controversy of Bacchanalia is one game that students played today in "Religion, Rulers, and Riots." In this game, students were senators conducting investigations and determining legislation following a murder suspected to be the actions of the cult of Bacchanalia. Teacher, Peter Morris, played the role of the a chief and the game master. Students seemed to really enjoy the role-play of such a challenging scenario.

Today in "How to Make a Podcast," students worked on outlining their podcasts.

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