First/Third 9 weeks
First/Third 9 weeks
This curriculum map is a constantly monitored and edited document by building specific administration and teachers. Changes may occur throughout the school year to stay updated with state requirements. Any questions regarding content should be directed towards the teacher of your child’s class or content area.
The first/third 9 weeks of STEM we will cover the following topics:
Everfi STEM Career Exploration
Engineering Design Process
Tinkercad Design Skills
Isometric & Orthographic Sketching
3D Printing Projects:
Invent or Innovate Project
Coding using Physical Technology
Below are links to the standards used in 8th grade STEM:
STEM Career Exploration
Engineering Design Process
MS-ETS: 1-1,1-2,1-3,1-4
Tinkercad Design Skills, Isometric Sketching & Orthographic Views, 3D Printing Projects
Next Generation Science Standards
1. Empowered Learner
1.d. Students understand the fundamental concepts of technology operations, demonstrate the ability to choose, use and troubleshoot current technologies and are able to transfer their knowledge to explore emerging technologies.
4. Innovative Designer
4.a. Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.
4.b. Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks.
4.c. Students develop, test and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
4.d. Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
5. Computational Thinker
5.a. Students formulate problem definitions suited for technology-assisted methods such as data analysis, abstract models and algorithmic thinking in exploring and finding solutions.
5.b. Students break problems into component parts, extract key information, and develop descriptive models to understand complex systems or facilitate problem-solving.
6. Creative Communicator
6.a. Students choose the appropriate platforms and tools for meeting the desired objectives of their creation or communication.
6.b. Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations.
VEX IQ
Everfi STEM Career Exploration (Students choose 3 to work on)
Students will be able to:
Designing the Ultimate Prototype
Solve a virtual engineering problem from a set of constraints
Explain the basic process for additive 3D printing
Identify the steps of the design process and explain how it is utilized by designers and engineers
Differentiate between synthetic materials and explain why one might be preferable to another
Identify STEM careers that utilize engineering-related skills and identify one or more that might be of interest.
Home of the Future
Define the Internet of Things and describe its potential impact on day-to-day lives
Identify appropriate visual data formats (scatter plot, line graph, bar graph, etc.) for specific data sets
Understand the steps necessary to create a secure password
Identify STEM careers that utilize data literacy-related skills and identify one or more that might be of interest.
Building the Perfect Playlist
Explain how recommendation engines utilize different types of data to predict user preferences
Distinguish between content and collaborative filtering
Identify how data might be utilized for recommendation engines
Identify STEM careers that utilize data literacy-related skills and identify one or more that might be of interest
Medical Machines
Explain the process by which a physician gathers and uses data to treat a patient
Understand how aspects of a physical exam contribute to accurate assessment of patient’s condition
Identify three types of imaging, how they work, and their purposes
Identify STEM careers in the medical field and how they may be of interest
Data Champions
Define dependent and independent variables
Using historical data, predict sales based on data
Observe patterns and associations in bivariate data to evaluate player performance
Determine the data to collect in order to analyze and draw conclusions on which players to recruit
Transportation Central
Understand STEM concepts through simulated experience of modern manufacturing, with a focus on transportation, distribution and logistics
Relate basic STEM concepts to distribution processes
Connect to the diverse opportunities and paths for careers in the manufacturing industry
Use STEM concepts to determine what careers in manufacturing might be of interest
Engineering Design Process
Students will be able to:
Define each step of the Engineering Design Process.
Arrange the steps of the Engineering Design Process in correct order.
Explain of how a real-world problem can be solved through engineering.
Apply the Engineering Design Process to iteratively improve a design.
Tinkercad Design Skills
Students will be able to:
Place shapes on the work plane.
Use the viewcube to rotate to each view of a shape.
Move shapes around the work plane.
Rotate shapes.
Copy and duplicate shapes.
Change a shapes scale by sizing it up or down.
Group two individual shapes into one combined shape.
Hide shapes and make them reappear upon clicking the light bulb icon.
Align shapes on the X,Y,Z planes.
Remove material from another shape using the hole feature.
Isometric & Orthographic Sketching
Students will be able to:
Draw a coded plan from an object made of cubes.
Use a coded plan to build an object made of cubes.
Define and explain the meaning of isometric.
Draw a shape on isometric triangle-dot paper.
Explain the concept of orthographic projection and why it is useful in engineering.
Draw the three principle orthographic views of an object.
VEX IQ
Students will be able to:
Follow building instructions to assemble the VEX IQ Testbed.
Students will be able to identify the correct output for each sensor.
Bumper Switch: tells the robot whether the bumper is pressed (value = 1) or released (value = 0).
Color Sensor: tells the robot whether there is a near object detected and if so, the color it is. Also, detects brightness levels.
Distance Sensor: tells the robot how far away the nearest object/surface is.
Gyro Sensor: tells the robot its heading and/or how much it has turned. When turned to the left (counterclockwise), its readings increase and decrease if turned clockwise.
Touch LED: tells the robot whether a user is pressing it (value = 1) or it is released (value = 0) it and can also display a colored light to indicate its status or different parts of a project.
Be able to identify the blocks associated with each sensor in the Sensing category.
Sensing blocks will not appear until the chosen sensor is configured.
Print sensor values to the Brain’s screen using the print block.
Identify programming behaviors.
Program the Autopilot to drive forward and in reverse.
Explore drivetrain programming blocks and test student created programs.
Explain what a robot behavior is and recognize the three types of behaviors.
Program the Autopilot to turn right and left.
Explore drivetrain programming blocks and test student created programs.
Build an Autopilot robot and attach the Bumper Switch and the Smart Sensors.
Program the Autopilot to change its velocity while driving forward, in reverse, and while turning.
Evaluate student projects to improve and enhance them.
Analyze building directions and create a robot to complete a specific task.
Analyze directions to configure and program a robot to complete a series of tasks.
Explain and use loops to create a project with repeated movements.
Create a project that follows specific student created pseudocode that will direct their robot to dance.
Decompose problems into smaller subproblems to facilitate the program development process
Program the Autopilot to follow a specific path
Compare and refine algorithms for the same task and determine which is the most appropriate
Use operator blocks to make the robot move a precise distance
Test and debug a program to make sure it runs accurately
Describe choices made during program development using comments and presentations