6th Grade Curriculum
Tech 6: A ten week introduction to Technology Education. During this course students are exposed to a variety of hands-on problem solving activities. Activities may include design, construction and testing of model bridges; invention research project; and completing coding challenges using the S3 Scribbler Robot. Topics taught in the class include History of Technology, Safety, Measurement, 7 Resources of Technology, Problem Solving, Simple Machines, Robotics, Bridges, Separating Tools & Fastening, and Processing Materials.
Bridge Building Activity- The bridge activity turns the students into engineers as they use West Point Bridge Designer to design a bridge to build with limited materials to hold as much stress as possible.
Robotics Activity and Coding- Coding the S3 robots gives the students the hands on opportunity to complete specific tasks. Students learn about sensors to complete demos. The students will program the robot to successfully navigate the maze. Students will also be utilizing the CoderZ software to successfully complete various levels of CoderZ Adventures.
Research Activity- Students will research an invention and gather/organize information related to the invention using the library as a resource. Research will then be organized into a poster, Google presentation or report.
7th Grade Curriculum
Tech 7: A ten week course in Technology 7, involves a hands-on, problem solving environment. It provides the students with the skills to successfully use their resources to solve problems.
In this course the students are taught to correctly use common tools and machines. As with any class that utilizes tools or machines, safety is the number one concern. In Technology Education class safety is reviewed on a regular basis and monitored very closely. This is a ten week course that completes the following activities:
Materials and Processing, Clock Activity-This activity exposes students to the conversion of raw materials into practical, useful items. The students develop the skills needed to safely and correctly utilize common tools and machines during this activity. Students will also research an image of choice and then laser engrave into the clock for customization. The final product of this activity, a clock, is something that the students are extremely proud of and will use for years to come.
CoderZ and Tello Drone Coding- Students will continue to develop their coding skills in the CoderZ program expanding on the 6th grade scribbler block coding and the CoderZ Adventures. Students will collaborate with each other and develop codes for flight paths of the Tello drones.
8th Grade Curriculum
Tech 8: A twenty week course in Technology curriculum continues to build on the 6th and 7th grade programs, students will engage in problem based learning projects. Using hands on, activity based learning, students will complete projects including:
Rocketry Activity-This activity uses rocketry to explore transportation technology and the history of flight. The students build a model rocket and launch it. During the launch the students use an angle finder and tape measure to gather data. Using that data, the maximum height of the flights are determined through geometry, trigonometry and basic mathematical calculations.
CO2 Dragster-This activity develops the engineering skills of the students as they design, build and race a model dragster. Students first create a digital model using Whitebox Learning that allows them to analyze the aerodynamics and weight of their designs. Students will also learn how to design a wheel in Sketchup to be 3D printed. Once students have a design they will race them virtually before building a final wooden dragster. They test their final dragster in both a wind and smoke tunnel to analyze real life aerodynamics of their design. Students need to stay within a specific design criteria while also making a creative design.
Vex Robotics and Coding - This activity utilizes drag and drop coding to teach the basics of coding. Students will build off of what they learned in 6th grade to program more complex scenarios. Students will work with various sensors on the robot to complete a series of specific tasks.
20 week Program
Hands-on math and science applications
Problem solving
Using common tools and resources to solve the problems presented
Teaches skills for life-long use
Vex Robotics programming and engineering
Co2 Dragster aerodynamic design and testing
3D Printing
Rocketry
Media- is an every other day full semester course (10 weeks). Students will learn how to design in Sketchup, a C.A.D. program. Measurement will be emphasized through the design process to help the student have an understanding of scale and models. Students will also be learning about 3D printing and design objects to ultimately be printed.