Day Calendar

Compete in the ultimate racing challenge! Working in teams, learn how mechanical systems operate by using a 1:10 scale electric radio-controlled car that can be set up in 4 million ways. Teams race their engines at the HiTech Carnival!

Learn how to create digital designs using Adobe Illustrator!  Also, learn how to get illustrations and designs print-ready for the large format printer.  

Using the principles of engineering, help us keep our carnival cool this year by building the water mister arch!  

Registration required. Grades 6-12.

Taught by a HiTech instructor.

The students will do a deep dive into some of the marine environments they see often but know little about.

This class teaches students the engineering principles behind robotic arms and their real-world applications. Students will work collaboratively to build hydraulic arm kits and modify them to include Arduino powered remote-controlled wheels.

Engineer Carnival Games for the HiTech Carnival!  Use your creativity and engineering skills to design and build games such as Ring Toss, Spin the Wheel, and Plinko--or come up with your own idea!

Registration required. Grades 6-12.

Explore the world of engineering, marketing, packaging individually and in teams while getting to use a true vacuum form machine.

Have you ever wondered what kinds of rocks make up our planet? Are you interested in learning about beautiful minerals, powerful natural hazards, and fascinating careers in geology?

Join other adults who knit, crochet, embroider, and sew, in an open forum for creating, conversing, sharing, and learning. 

Allow 20 min.

Play with our toys, read a board book, and visit with others.

Learn about the elements as you arrange the periodic table, name compounds, balance equations, and discuss orbitals, electron configuration, and VSPER Theory.

Registration required. Grades 6-12.

Taught by a HiTech instructor.

Learn how the digital single lens reflex camera is engineered to utilize part of the electromagnetic spectrum we call visible light. Obtain hands on experience using a DSLR camera and learn numerous picture-taking techniques.

This course will cover a review of basic chemistry concepts and will guide students to build and design chemistry-related carnival games.  

Registration required. Grades 6-12. 

Taught by a HiTech instructor.

Discover the basics of Java, a class-based, object-oriented language used to design applications. Learn data and expressions, using classes and objects, conditionals, and loops.

JUST FOR ME

Ages 3-6; 30 min. Limited Attendance. Ticket (name tag) required.

Veterans: drop in to meet with a Social Worker for the Baltimore Veterans Administration Community Resource and Referral Center (CRRC), ask questions, seek support, and get information on the services provided at the CRRC in Baltimore.

JUST FOR ME

Ages 3-6; 30 min. Limited Attendance. Ticket (name tag) required.

This is a class designed to teach students how to use deductive reasoning through a growing knowledge of geography, science, culture, and other facts about the functions and facets of different countries around the world.

Work on two games for the carnival - the Strongman and Skeeball! 

Strongman

This is a class designed to teach students how to use deductive reasoning through a growing knowledge of geography, science, culture, and other facts about the functions and facets of different countries around the world.

This course is an introduction to paleontology. Learn about a variety of fascinating fossils, how they are formed, and how they inform us about the Earth’s past. 

Registration required. Grades 6-12.

This is a class designed to teach students how to use deductive reasoning through a growing knowledge of geography, science, culture, and other facts about the functions and facets of different countries around the world.

Sound effects are an integral part of video and animation. After learning about the history of sound effects and the basic physics of sound, we will create sound effect objects for telling stories in motion picture formats.

Have you ever wanted to become a mad scientist? Explore fun and exciting chemistry experiments using basic household chemicals. Engineer an assortment of mind-blowing matter to take home and spook your friends and family.

HCPSS 2025 Summer Lunch Meal Program provided by Howard County Public School.

We hope to see you at Thunder Hill Elementary School (9357 Mellenbrook Rd, Columbia, MD 21045) from 12:30-2:00pm in the bus loop.

Learn about the process behind designing your own characters and using illustration software. Create the look of your character, its costumes, and props, and give it a unique personality!

Registration required. Grades 6-12.

In this hands-on course, students will explore 3D designing using Fusion 360, a modeling software. Students will learn the basics of Computer-Aided Design (CAD), including how to sketch, extrude, and modify 3D objects.

This course will cover an overview of the topics in zoology, including cell biology, taxonomy, major vertebrate groups, physiology, genetics, evolution, and ecology. Activities related to the course material will be completed each day.

Lights On, Lights Off! Ever wonder what happens behind the scenes when you flip a light switch on the wall or press the ON button of a battery-powered fan in the summer?

Using the iPad Pro and animation apps such a FlipAClip and Animation Sketch, students will learn how to create their own 2D animations using their own drawings and the principles of squash and stretch.

Registration required. Grades 6-12.

Join us for access to the sound booth and other HiTech equipment to record and mix music or create movies.

Registration required. Grades 6-12. 

Taught by a HiTech instructor.

Learn about one, two, and three-point perspective and create illustrations using newfound knowledge. By learning perspective drawing techniques in Sketchbook Pro, students will be able to create illustrations with dynamic angles and views.

Ages 6-10; 45 minutes. Ticket required.