In grades 4-6 at the Intermediate Building, students in STEM(a) participate in seven of the WozEd Career Pathways. These pathways are spread throughout the grades.

In Engineering Design Process Level 2 Unit, students will embark on the study of 3D printing by examining an object print and exploring the printer’s movement. Using small toys, they will investigate the various shapes that comprise an object and break those shapes down into a 3D model. Given two separate engineering challenges, students will first create an object and promote it to the class in a class challenge, and then work in groups to create a class biome with both 3D prints and other materials. This jam-packed unit culminates by asking students to pitch their own project for printing.

Mobile devices are a common means of accessing technology. The Mobile Development Level 2 unit exposes students to the basic skills needed for mobile development and culminates by providing the satisfaction of developing a functioning program within the timeframe of a class period. Students will explore a coordinate plane and how it may change in computer programming systems. Using Bitsbox, students will practice testing and debugging a program. Bloxels will allow students to not only familiarize themselves with the elements of a functioning mobile application, but also practice planning the development of a program by including others’ perspectives and considering user preference. Upon completion of the Mobile Development Kit, students will create multiple functioning mobile applications that can be shared with family and peers.

The digital environment is a place where people can share any type of information they wish – pictures, personal anecdotes, credit card information, names of family members, favorite places to visit, etc. The more information is shared, the more important it becomes to protect this information from unauthorized access. This unit will help students explore why codes are important, how they function, and ways to make them as effective as possible. Students will practice writing their own codes using multiple strategies, from handwritten notes, to mazes designed to keep robots out, to a two-step authentication scavenger hunt. Upon completion of the Cybersecurity Level 2 Unit, students will identify multiple strategies that are important when protecting devices and information from unauthorized access.

Throughout the Robotics Level II unit, students will explore robots as machines. Each module begins with a student inquiry, focused on how robotic machines require a source of input to achieve a desired output. With the students leading the discussion, they will explore the attributes of robots and how scientists, engineers, and technologists design robots to behave a certain way, accomplish a specific task, and/or solve a problem. Through engaging, hands-on activities using Cubelets blocks, students will manipulate inputs to achieve desired outputs and explore how to program robots that can sense, think, and act. They will look to nature for robotic design ideas. Later, they’ll use a combination of design thinking and the engineering design process to create a robot using Cubelets and Legos that contributes in a positive way to either home, school, or community. Students will brainstorm, design, test, and iterate to create an innovative robot of their choice.

The Coding with Color unit teaches students about programming. They learn that, in addition to different spoken and written languages existing, there are also many different programming languages being used. Programmers choose to learn specific programming languages based on what they will be creating. In this unit, students will become a programmer and learn the Ozobot’s color language. They will then create color codes to move an Ozobot and teach science concepts. These codes will tell the robot how to dance and move down a catwalk, as well as how to engineer rescue plans.

In the Drones Level II Unit, students will gain valuable experience while piloting small, aerial vehicles. They will use a simple UAV to learn important vocabulary surrounding the use of personal drones. Every student will take turns piloting the drone and also acting as the Visual Observer to develop good habits for safe flying. Each module is designed to progressively build on the previous, challenging students to increase knowledge and experience from piloting missions and challenges. At the end of the course, students will verbalize important basic features of drones as well as vocabulary of movement in space. Students will gain hands-on experience piloting and spotting for drone missions.

In addition to the WozEd career pathway units, Mr. Christman also completes units he has created for the students at NTI.

In 4th grade, students do Ozobot Coding with Color (O)- Students use Color Codes and Colored lines to control their Ozobot through paths and mazes. There is a Stem Challenge Unit where students are challenged with various events that require critical thinking and experimentation. Finally, there is a create your own character unit where students use Bloxels to create characters for their own video game.

In 5th grade, students complete an Ozobot City Project (O). In it, students use Ozoblockly to navigate their Ozobot through a series of obstacles. Students also build an index card tower. In this unit, students are introduced to the engineering design process by designing and building a self-standing tower with index cards. Students also complete a robotic design unit. Here, students use Cubelets to design robots to complete various tasks. 

Sixth graders continue to learn about the engineering design process by constructing a structure using index cards to hold as many books as possible. Students also learn about simple machines. In this unit, they create presentations and then participate in real life examples of the 6 simple machines. This leads into the next unit where students design and build a device to launch a mini-marshmallow at targets throughout the room. Mr. Christman expands the WozEd drone pathway by instructing the students on the basics of drone maintenance and drone flying. This unit culminates in students designing their own obstacles for the drones to fly through. Finally, students create designs using 3D modeling software and then learn the basics of 3D printing. The students must design something that solves a problem for them or someone they know.

Just like at the primary level, the 5th graders at NTI learn their final career pathway in art class. The study of animation continues with the Animation Level II unit. This unit introduces students to video editing through Stop Motion Studio. Students will deepen their understanding of animation using 3D animation tools provided by anim8:3D. Students will become producers, directors, and voice actors after creating a dancing 3D character and telling an original story with 3D animation. These final products will be enhanced by the skill of summarizing and critical thinking when comparing stop motion, 2D animation, and 3D animation.