Project Lead The Way
Project Lead the Way offers research-supported, age-appropriate lessons and full-year courses in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science. The program is at all four Port Jervis school buildings, with students at every level exploring, discovering, creating, and building 21st century skills.
Elementary School
Students in grades K-5 complete two Project Lead the Way launch modules at each grade level.
- Pushes & Pulls
- Sunlight & Weather
- Living Things: Needs & Impacts
- Light & Sound
- Light: Observing the Sun, Moon, & Stars
- Animal Adaptations
- Materials Science: Properties of Matter
- The Changing Earth
- Living Things: Diversity of Life
- Stability & Motion: Forces & Interactions
- Weather: Factors & Hazards
- Life Cycles & Survival
- Input/Output: Human Brain
- Waves & Properties of Light
- Energy Exploration
- Matter: Properties & Reactions
- Patterns in the Universe
- Earth’s Water & Interconnected Systems
Middle School
Sixth-graders will complete a Project Lead the Way gateway module in computer science for innovators and makers. This module will allow students to discover computer science concepts and skills by creating personally relevant, tangible, and shareable projects.
Seventh-graders will complete a Project Lead the Way gateway module in app creators/automation & robotics. The app creators module will expose students to computer science by computationally analyzing and developing solutions to authentic problems through mobile app development, and will convey the positive impact of the application of computer science to other disciplines and to society. In the automation & robotics module, students are given the opportunity to combine mechanisms with input and output devices to automate the mechanisms.
Eighth-graders at Port Jervis Middle School complete a Project Lead the Way gateway module in medical detectives/flight & space. In the medical detectives module, students play the role of real-life medical detectives as they collect and analyze medical data to diagnose disease. The exciting world of aerospace comes alive through the Flight and Space (FS) modile. Students become engineers as they design, prototype, and test models to learn about the science of flight and what it takes to travel and live in space.
- Computer Science for Innovators
- App Creators/ Automation & Robotics
- Medical Detectives/Flight & Space
High School
Port Jervis High School offers courses from the Project Lead the Way engineering pre-engineering program.
In PLTW, a comprehensive science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) curriculum emphasizes critical thinking, creativity, innovation and real-world problem solving. Its goal is to increase the number of students who pursue engineering and engineering technology programs in college. The hands-on, project-based program engages students on multiple levels, exposes them to subjects they typically would not pursue, provides them with a strong foundation for achieving their academic goals, and establishes a proven path to college and career success in STEM-related industries.
At PJHS, the PLTW program includes:
- Computer Science Principles
- Computer Science Principles (CSP) is a PLTW course (full year 162 days) to implement the College Board’s new AP CS Principles framework. Students work in teams to develop computational thinking and solve problems. The course aims to build students’ awareness of the tremendous demand for computer specialists and for professionals in all fields who have computational skills. Each unit focuses on one or more computationally intensive career paths. This course also aims to engage students to consider issues raised by the present and future societal impact of computing. Students practice problem solving with structured activities and progress to open-ended projects and problems that require them to develop planning, documentation, communication, and other professional skills. Problems aim for ground-level entry with no ceiling so that all students can successfully engage the problems. Students with greater motivation, ability, or background knowledge will be challenged to work further.