Classes

6th Grade: Introduction to Technology

The 6th-grade curriculum is designed to introduce students to basic concepts of technology. Students will learn what technology is, how it differs from science, how society controls technology and how technology controls society. Measurement will be covered as it is a critical skill to possess. Tool and machine safety will be covered. Students will make an introductory project in the production lab. The design process will be covered and used for a few projects during the six-week class. Students will learn about subsystems of technology, including construction, manufacturing, and transportation systems. The sixth-grade class is run on a pass/fail system.

The Design Process

Students will follow the design process to complete some of the class projects. Once you have looked at the design process, try the following design activity: Edheads - Design a Cell Phone. This provides a good introduction to designing and meeting criteria and constraints.

Coding

One of the seventh-grade projects is video game design. To give sixth-grade students a taste of coding, they will complete some of the coding games from Code.org. Try the following coding game: Angry Birds

7th Grade: Inventions & Innovations

The 7th-grade inventions and innovations curriculum is focused on design. The engineering design process will be the core of this class. Students will learn about inventions and innovations that have made a major impact on the way we live; as well as complete a variety of design challenges that will develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.

Knowledge of technology, inventions, and innovations can help lead to the formation of new ideas, products, devices, and systems. Technology is something we as humans need to survive. We do not have a thick coat of fur to keep warm in the winter, claws to help catch prey, superior eyesight, hearing, or smell to spot food sources from long distances. Since the dawn of mankind humans have been making tools to help satisfy basic needs... clothing, shelter, food, water, and clean air.

Technology affects everything we do... how we live, play, and work. Most people probably wake in the morning to an alarm clock while sleeping in their bed, in pajamas, under blankets, in a room, in a house or apartment. They get up, turn on the lights, use the bathroom to get cleaned up and ready for the day, eat breakfast in the kitchen. After that they drive or catch a ride to work or school. We cannot escape technology. Even people that choose to live in the wilderness are inundated with technology, even if it is basic. They have to hunt and fish using tools, store and prepare food, live in some sort of shelter, keep warm when it's cold and cool when it's hot.

In class, before we discuss specific inventions and innovations, it is important to know what inventions and innovations are. Inventions are original products, devices, or systems. Innovations are improvements made to existing products, devices, or systems. Also, just to clarify, discoveries are made when something in nature is first found or learned.

An example of an invention is the first automobile or horseless carriage, credited to Carl Benz in 1886. Every automobile thereafter has been an innovation to Benz's original car. Examples of discoveries include things like elements of the periodic table and laws like Newton's Laws of Motion.

8th Grade: Technological Systems

The eighth-grade class examines the different subsystems of technology. A system is a group of interconnected parts working together to accomplish a task. Systems can be very simple like a pen or complex like the International Space Station. All technological systems can be analyzed using the "Universal Systems Model" which is depicted below.

The major technological systems that will be examined in 8th grade include:

1. Biotechnical Systems

2. Communication & Information Systems

3. Construction Systems

4. Energy & Power Systems

5. Manufacturing Systems

6. Transportation Systems

Like the Inventions & Innovations course, the engineering design process will be the core of this class. Students will learn about these systems, as well as complete a variety of design challenges that will develop their critical thinking and problem-solving skills.