Minecraft
At Zaniac we use Minecraft as a tool to teach real world math, science, and technology skills. Kids learn with their peers in a fun, team format while developing critical reasoning skills.
Classes
Zaniac offers the following learning progression to ensure your child is making progress and getting challenged:
Junior
Students learn about Minecraft navigation, mining and crafting, biodiversity by exploring different biomes, renewable and non-renewable resources, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. All this while working together with friends to accomplish group missions.
Grades: KStudents go for an engineering tour around the world to further their knowledge in architecture and civil engineering. They will learn about the 7 ancient and modern architectural Wonders of the World, they will learn about the history, culture, geography, and the engineering it took to build them. They will build their own replicas to create the 7 Wonders of Minecraft.
Grades: KApprentice
Students learn the basics of urban planning, architectural and building design. They explore real-world architectural landmarks, then take that knowledge and apply it to designing a cityscape using Minecraft.
Grades: 2Students learn about natural disasters the planet often faces; fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, flooding, freezes and rising water levels due to Global Warming. They explore and research ways to build dwellings and cities that can withstand these challenges and keep cities and populations safe.
Grades: 3Students explore the inner workings of manufacturing and heavy industry, ranging from baseline resource gathering to advanced metal production. With the simplified tools provided by Minecraft, students set up working and powered facilities dedicated to creating products from raw materials, and a logistics network that can quickly and efficiently move items to where they are needed.
Grades: 3Master
Students learn about earth’s oceans and undersea life and explore space. They design and build rockets that travel to the moon, International Space Station, and even Mars where they attempt to terraform the planet, all while learning the science behind the universe and space exploration. They learn about the role of oxygen, water, and bacteria to sustain life and they face different challenges and rescue missions to solve.
Grades: 3Students learn the science behind Liquid Physics, Electromagnetism, Newton’s laws and Electricity and Pistons. Students encounter challenges that require them to apply physics to identify the solution.
Grades: 4Redstone is the circuit equivalent in Minecraft™ that allows students to use electrical engineering concepts to create machines such as a vault or a robot. Using their creativity and critical-thinking skills, students help scientists solve electrical challenges. The virtual laboratory allows students to solve problems: Plan, Construct, Test, and Refine with a whole lot of fun added to it.
Grades: 3In this second part of the Game-Based Learning Redstone program, students will work with advanced electrical engineering challenges that deal with logic puzzles to overcome roadblocks. The engineering design process is a recurring theme in this lab; as students design, build and test various types of machines, mob arenas and put their map making skills to the test.
Grades: 3- Redstone I
Students are introduced to chemistry concepts such as compounds, molecules, atoms and elements. They explore and understand how they apply in the real world of Minecraft and problem-solve challenges created when chemical reactions with other compounds are detonated resulting in drastic consequences to their world.
Grades: 5