Junior High (Grades 6-8)

 

The junior high technology curriculum continues to use the more advanced features of the Microsoft Office Suite including Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Students will continue to build proficiency in creating multimedia presentations using graphics, sound and creative writing. They will be able to effectively use the Internet for research and be able to evaluate information as to appropriateness and accuracy.

 

Create Your Own Company

 

Students will explore the many types of businesses that exist. They will reflect on and discuss the personal qualities that are needed to be successful in the workplace. Students will assess their own  strengths and weaknesses, talents, likes and dislikes. They will then decide upon a company of their own. Various aspects such as type of products, price, start up costs, etc. will be used to create a formal proposal. As the year goes on, projects revolving around various facets of running a business will be completed such as creating commercials, other forms of advertising and promotional materials, analyzing costs of running their business and creating business forms such as business cards, flyers and letters.

 

 

Green City Challenge

 

Students will be using LEGO Mindstorms kits to build robots. They will use the Mindstorms program to create sequences of instructions (programs) to have the robots complete various tasks. Students begin by completing structured Training Activities that focus on hands-on building, programming, experimenting and problem-solving. The Training Activities follow LEGO Education’s 4C approach: connect, construct, contemplate, and continue. After completing the Training Activities, the Green City Challenge allows the students to apply and adapt all their programming and problem-solving skills by making their robots solve Challenges and successfully complete “missions” related to renewable energy.

 

Technology Explorations

 

Students will complete a variety of assignments and projects throughout the year. They will produce documents such as calendars, flyers, brochures, newsletters and business letters. Students will analyze data they collected using spreadsheets and formulas and summarizing data using graphs. There  will be collaborative group projects using a variety of multimedia software to create such things as short informational presentations, commercials and promotional materials. They will also create some simple webpages. Students will use the Internet for online research to complete their projects.