The advanced Engineering Program at Farragut offers students an opportunity to explore and experience engineering through a comprehensive curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation, and real-world problem solving.
STEM. Science. Technology. Engineering. Mathematics.
The hands-on, project-based program, based off Project Lead The Way (PTLW), engages students on multiple levels, exposes them to subjects that they typically would not pursue, provides them with a strong foundation for achieving their academic goals in any chosen field of study and, if pursued, establishes a proven path to college and career success in STEM-related industries.
Students engage in real-world, hands-on projects. They explore concepts that they will see again in college and develop a breadth of the hard and soft skills that form a strong foundation for success in college and the workplace. The curriculum is designed to mirror the first two years of collegiate engineering, in order to prepare students for the rigor of undergraduate engineering degree programs and provide them with the knowledge, training, and tools to excel as undergraduate engineering students.
Upper School Engineering
Our Upper School Engineering program uses Project Lead the Way (PLTW), a hands-on, Activities-, Project-, Problem-Based (APPB) comprehensive curriculum. PLTW ‘s Pathway To Engineering Program emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem solving. Students are engaged on multiple levels and exposes them to areas of study they may not otherwise pursue. This provides them with a foundation and proven path to post-secondary training and career success in STEM-related fields.
Upper School Engineering Courses include:
- Introduction to Engineering Design (IED)
- Principles of Engineering (POE)
- Aerospace Engineering (AE)
- Civil Engineering & Architecture (CEA)
- Computer Science Principles
The Upper School STEM Lab has a new MakerBot 3D printer (pictured above). 3D printing or additive manufacturing is a process of making three dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The creation of a 3D printed object is achieved using additive processes. In an additive process an object is created by laying down successive layers of material until the entire object is created. Each of these layers can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object. This virtual design is made in a CAD (Computer Aided Design) file using a 3D modeling program. All engineering classes, including the Lower School and after school Robotics Clubs, will have access to the machine to make their 3D designs come to life!
Lower School Engineering
PreK, Kindergarten, and 1st grade all do Science, Technology, and Math based from our STEM curriculum and specific Engineering classes are introduced in 2nd grade. Engineering is Elementary® (EiE) curriculum fosters engineering and technological literacy by integrating engineering and technology concepts and skills with elementary science topics as well as literacy and social studies. National usage of STEM curriculum: Students: 1,833,755, Teachers: 26,744, States: 50 + Washington, D.C.
The Lower School STEM Lab includes 16 robust computers and 4 large collaborative work stations for group activities and projects. The computers come equipped with Autocad Inventor, RobotC, and Alice Computer Programming software on each one.
Here’s what the Lower School 2nd-7th Grade STEM Curriculum covers:
- 2nd grade designs and creates hand pollinators and sturdy walls.
- 3rd grade designs their own play-dough, bridges, and alarm circuits.
- 4th grade creates a solar oven, designs windmills, lighting systems, and a frog habitat.
- 5th grade designs simple machines, parachutes, submersibles, and Maglev trains.
- 6th grade Engineering students create 3D models of objects using the Autocad Inventor software program.
- 7th grade Engineering students build Vex Robotics race cars and race them against each other!
Robotics Club
Admiral Farragut Academy’s Robotics Club participates in the FIRST® Robotics Program. FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a worldwide program and is used in all 50 U.S. states and in 55 countries.
- FIRST® LEGO® League is used in Lower School and divides students into teams. The year-long project is to design, as a team, their own solution to a scientific question or problem and build an autonomous LEGO® robot that performs a series of missions.
- FIRST® Tech Challenge is used in Upper School and divides students into teams of up to 10 students. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programing a TETRIX platform robot to compete against other robotic teams regionally and nationally. Each year a new challenge game is developed by FIRST®.
