Welcome to the Bloomfield Science/STEM/Industrial Arts Department! 

The goal of Science and STEM education is to anchor student learning in phenomena which provides students the opportunities to apply science and engineering practices to disciplinary core ideas and gain a better idea of crosscutting concepts as intended in the NRC (National Research Council) Framework and the Next Generation Science Standards. Natural phenomena are observable events that occur in the universe and that we can use our science knowledge to explain or predict. The goal of building knowledge in science is to develop general ideas, based on evidence, that can explain and predict phenomena.  Phenomena are the context for the work of both the scientist and the engineer. Anchoring learning in explaining phenomena supports student agencies for wanting to build science and engineering knowledge. By centering science education on phenomena that students are motivated to explain, the focus of learning shifts from learning about a topic to figuring out why or how something happens. Explaining phenomena and designing solutions to problems allow students to build general science ideas in the context of their application to understanding phenomena in the real world, leading to deeper and more transferable knowledge. Students who come to see how science ideas can help explain and model phenomena related to compelling real world situations learn to appreciate the social relevance of science. They get interested in and identify with science as a way of understanding and improving real world contexts. Focusing investigations on compelling phenomena can help sustain students’ science learning. 

The goal of industrial arts educaiton is to expose students to industrial and engineering technologies in a hands on environment.  It is through engineering concepts that science, STEM and inducstrial arts connect.  Engineering involves designing solutions to problems that arise in society and using explanations to design those solutions.  Industrial arts involves building those solutions through experiential learning.  Students learn the use of a wide range of tools, machines, materials and systems.  Eventually, students can tap their imagination to not only create their own designs and solutions to problems but then to build them.