We held over 20 workshops to raise money for local hospitals on the front lines of the fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. Here are the workshops we held:

Fun with Physics
Taught by Edwin Xie

Many seemingly disparate events in the world are often connected by the same set of rules: The set of all these rules is called physics. Physics tells us how black holes are formed, how our universe will evolve, and (most importantly) lets us predict whether or not Kevin Durant will make that game-changing shot. In this lecture, we'll give you the foundations and intuitions on which you'll build your knowledge of physics, and open your eyes to a new way of thinking.

A Lot of Light
Taught by Amol Rama

Light - we need it everyday. Either from an artificial source or from a natural source like the sun, humans have relied on light for many of their needs. In fact, eyesight is one of our strongest senses. In addition, we have addition tools that can help us as well, like mirrors, telescopes, and microscopes, but how do these work? Join me as we explore the path of light from the sun to your eye and to your brain, and as an added bonus learn how we can see the small and far away because of light.

The Basics of Human Immunology
Taught by Angela Zhang 

COVID-19. Surely you’ve heard about it. It’s all over the globe and still spreading, and the very reason we are unable to meet in person to conduct these workshops. But have you ever wondered about the machinery in your body behind all this— your immune system? In this class, we explore the inner workings of your in-built army working day and night to protect you from disease.

Intro to Chemistry
​Taught by Kevin Yang & Dylan Yang

Join us for a fun game-based introduction to chemistry! Explore what makes this branch of science so useful, versatile, and exciting! We'll be covering a range of different topics in chemistry in order to provide a general introduction to the science. Prior experience is optional.

Ice
Taught by Amol Rama

You've always heard of Antarctica - the cold place where basically nobody lives? But if nobody lives there, what is there? Ice! You are surrounded by ice in the remote Antarctic landscape, but what makes this ice any different than the one that comes out of your freezer? Join me to learn about how scientists are using ice from Antarctica to learn about the Earth's history and what they are studying about the moving ice.

The New Bone Rush
Taught by Aseem Rajopadhye

A breakdown of todays paleontology, the experiences of paleontologists working today, and statistics that show where, what kind, and how many fossils are discovered today, as well as what makes paleontology great in this day and age.

Demystifying Machine Learning
​Taught by Grace Kuo

A one-hour introduction to artificial neural networks, designed to demystify and clarify the theory of machine learning. Students will finish a program that learns to recognize numbers by the end of the workshop.

The Science of Exercise
Taught by Eshani Patel

Have you ever wondered why exercise is so important and how exactly it affects your body? Well in this course, you will learn the mechanisms by which your muscles work, from the biological aspects to the basic physics components that go into all kinds of physical movements like walking, jumping, and lifting. Learn about the biology of exercise, and how it affects your various body systems and the muscles you build. Additionally you will learn about various muscles and muscle interactions that go into the diverse movements of the human body.

Genetics (two-part)
​Taught by Saarang Kashyap

Immerse yourself in the fascinating world of genetics! Why study genes? Genetics is not only used to learn about family relationships, trace ancestors, and solve crimes but also involved in illnesses. Topics discussed will include DNA, RNA, DNA Replication, Protein Synthesis, Heredity, Traits, Chromosomes, Mendel's Laws, Alleles, Polygenic traits, and Natural Selection. We will also briefly touch upon mutations, cancer genetics, and the latest advances in gene editing to solve different types of diseases.

Earthquakes
Taught by Ryan Li

Have you ever wondered about what the biggest threat Californians face everyday is? It’s actually hidden beneath grass, in mountains, and sometimes even directly under buildings. Earthquakes are the answer, and in this class you will learn more about the mechanics, effects, and adaptation strategies seismologists have studied about this ground-shaking phenomenon for decades!

Intro to Cybersecurity
Taught by Arthur Perng

Cybersecurity: We see it everywhere, from online shopping services that protect your credit card to login pages that defend your account details from would-be attackers. However, many of us take it for granted, and never truly discover what goes on behind a website. In this workshop we will learn how to discover vulnerabilities of systems by hacking.

Viral Diseases
Taught by Joseph Lee

All around you are billions and trillions of invisible organisms responsible for the majority of deaths that happen on this planet (I'm talking about every living thing). These things aren't even alive, yet they are the reason people around the world are staying at home, while our medical systems are flooded with those who are sick and dying. In this class, you will learn about what viruses are and how they make you sick, along with various different strains of viruses and examples of well known viral diseases that have killed lots of people in the past and present (Spanish Flu, HIV, Ebola, COVID-19).

Constellation Trivia
​Taught by Daphne Guo

We will discuss in general the 88 IAU designated constellations and the areas they occupy in the sky, as well as specific mythology behind 25 of them.

Weather Trivia (two-part)
Taught by Deetshana Parthipan

Learn the science behind our everyday weather and climate as well as rare and severe phenomena. Learn about the layers of the atmosphere, types of precipitation and interesting weather formations. Watch two experiments to answer some essential questions. Finally test your knowledge with a weather trivia at the end! No background experience needed.

Cryptography
Taught by Anusha Chittari

The history of encryption and decryption traces all the way back to the time of Caesar and it still remains essential today, as it is widely used in computer science to maintain data integrity and confidentiality. Throughout this workshop students will learn about the different types of ciphers and how they can be encrypted and decrypted. We will go through some examples of how to encrypt/decrypt manually and also by writing computer programs. By the end of the workshop students will have a basic understanding of how ciphers are used in the world today and how we can use them to also keep secrecy.

Chemistry of a Changing World
Taught by Nishanth Arumugam

Everyday, the threats of climate change and global warming cause more and more of a visible change to our planet. The reality of the situation is that there is still a lot of education that has to be done in order to sustain this planet for years to come. With this lesson, we will understand some of the major chemical processes that change the world on a daily basis, both anthropological and natural. We will also discuss how to combat these issues on an chemical and ethical scale, to teach the next generation of society how to live a cleaner life. With the recent shelter-in-place, people have started to truly understand the value of nature and the freedom our planet has given us. With such drastic changes occurring as we speak, it is a necessity to spread this knowledge and protect our home

Intro to Mathematical Proofs
Taught by Jai Sharma

A disastrous misconception about math is that everything is about finding objective answers to close ended problems. Solutions are either pass or fail. Do not fall for this misleading trap! Rather, mathematicians focus on proving general concepts through manipulation and reason and end up with beautiful results. Join me as we uncover the hidden treasures and eye opening proofs found all around the subject of math, and as we investigate further this careful art of manipulating equations to explain and prove concepts and theorems. This is math.

Forensics
Taught by Iona Xia

We live in a vulnerable world where crime exists everywhere. We hear about the famous crimes, the criminals, what they did, and how they did it. But have you ever wondered how people found the culprit? It's all done through science, forensic science. In this class, you will learn the basics of forensic science, including the use of footprints, fingerprints, and tracks to solve a crime

Chaos Theory
Taught by Edwin Xie

What if you had an object, a system, where you could describe its near future with complete certainty, and yet not have any idea about its far future? Well, there are systems like this all around you: Humans. Chaos theory is the study of this idea, like the butterfly effect, or the double pendulum. In this lecture, we'll explore this idea with real systems, and develop an intuition of what chaos theory is all about.

Stargazing from your Backyard
Taught by Ryan Li

The secrets to stargazing as well as the optimal time to find celestial objects in the sky will be revealed. I will also be showing my Celestron Newtonian telescope as well as photographs I have taken using it.

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Interested?

We'll be holding workshops this summer as well. You can find out more here.