Project Lead the Way STEM Curriculum

St. Joseph Hill Academy Elementary School is proud to offer a formal Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (aka STEM) curriculum - Project Lead the Way - to our students from Grades Pre-K 3 to 8. We are thrilled to announce that SJHA has been recognized as a 2024-2025 Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Distinguished School.

This is the second year that our Pre-K 3 to 5th Grade STEM Program has been recognized by PLTW as a Distinguished Launch School. This honor is given to a select number of elementary schools across the U.S. for providing broad access to transformative learning experiences for students through PLTW Launch, an elementary STEM curriculum. PLTW Launch students engage in critical and creative thinking, build teamwork skills, and develop a passion for and confidence in STEM subjects.
This is the fourth consecutive year that our Junior High STEM Program has been recognized by PLTW as a Distinguished Gateway School for our commitment to increasing student access, engagement, and achievement in the PLTW modules we offer: Automation and Robotics; Medical Detectives; Science of Technology; Magic of Electrons; and Flight & Space.

PLTW is a national nonprofit organization that serves millions of PreK-12 students and teachers in schools across the U.S., aiming to make every child in every grade STEM successful. They create an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. Their professional development for teachers provides training, resources, and support to engage students in real-world learning.

Their pathways in computer science, engineering, and biomedical science engage students in hands-on activities, projects, and problems; empower them to solve real-world challenges; and inspire them to reimagine how they see themselves. The concept of applying their knowledge and skill is not something that has to be limited to Science classroom. Being able to work in a cooperative learning environment that encourages project based learning and performance based assessments is something that is universal.

Watch and Learn More About SJHA's Project Lead the Way Distinguished Launch and Gateway Programs

PLTW Distinguished Launch Program Course Description (Grades Pre-K 3 to 5)

Kindergarten — Healthy Habits

Core focus: Understanding how food, personal habits, and daily routines impact growth, motor skills (muscles), the heart, teeth, and eyes.
Activities & Projects:
- Investigate germ spread and explore ways to prevent it.
- Discover wellness checkups at the pediatrician, dentist, and optometrist.
- Use multimedia tools to create and share a presentation about healthy habits.
  PLTW

First Grade

Animal Adaptations

Core focus: How animals adapt for protection, camouflage, food gathering, and movement.
Activities & Projects:
- Research adaptations across species and categorize them.
- Solve a design challenge by creating an ideal shoe for travelers in extreme environments, inspired by animal and plant adaptations.
  PLTW

Light: Observing the Sun, Moon, and Stars

Core focus: Observational patterns of the sun, moon, and stars.
Activities & Projects:
- Observe and record patterns; describe them using recorded data.
- Use this knowledge to design and build a playground structure that offers protection from ultraviolet radiation.
  PLTW

Second Grade

Materials Science: Form and Function

Core focus: How the form of materials influences their function in nature—particularly in seed dispersal and pollination.
Activities & Projects:
- Investigate seeds and pollination strategies in various plants and animals.
- Design, build, test, and reflect on a device that mimics natural methods of seed dispersal or pollination.
  PLTW

Materials Science: Properties of Matter

Core focus: Classification of materials by properties like color, texture, heat conduction, and states of matter.
Activities & Projects:
- Test which materials are good conductors or insulators.
- Apply findings to design a prototype that keeps an ice pop frozen for at least 30 minutes.
  PLTW

Third Grade

Variation of Traits

Core focus: Distinguishing inherited traits from those influenced by environment; understanding how traits are passed down.
Activities & Projects:
- Explore dominant vs. recessive alleles and how traits manifest in offspring.
- Design an offspring of two fictional parent animals suited to survive in a particular environment, using data to justify trait selection.
  PLTW

Stability and Motion: (Science of Flight + Forces and Interactions)

Science of Flight:
- Core focus: How forces affect flight and aerodynamics.
- Activities & Projects:
  - Design, build, and test a model glider to understand lift, drag, and air resistance.
  - Apply design thinking to solve a scenario—like delivering aid via air drop.
    PLTW
Forces and Interactions:
- Core focus: Simple machines, balanced/unbalanced forces, and mechanical advantage.
- Activities & Projects:
  - Investigate various simple machines through hands-on exploration.
  - Tackle a real-world inspired rescue design challenge—e.g., rescuing a trapped tiger using compound machines.
    PLTW

Fourth Grade

Input/Output: Human Brain

Core focus: Understanding how our nervous system processes stimuli and prompts bodily responses.
Activities & Projects:
- Learn about neural signaling post stimuli to prompt a response.
- Create a video or podcast educating peers about concussion—its identification and prevention—using design thinking and collaboration.
  PLTW

Earth: Human Impact and Natural Disasters

Core focus: The balance between human activity and Earth’s systems; preparing for natural disasters.
Activities & Projects:
- Learn about natural resources and their sustainable use.
- Design emergency preparedness kits and create plans to reduce human impact or mitigate disaster effects.
  PLTW

Fifth Grade

Infection: Detection

Core focus: Understanding disease transmission, infection, and prevention.
Activities & Projects:
- Simulate communicable vs. non-communicable diseases.
- Conduct investigative tasks to identify the infection source, transmission path in a school scenario.
- Design and test methods to limit germ spread and propose prevention methods.
  PLTW

Ecosystems: Flow of Matter and Energy

Core focus: Energy flow in ecosystems—from sunlight to producers to consumers; impacts of imbalance.
Activities & Projects:
- Model photosynthesis and the flow of energy through ecosystems.
- Use evidence to defend claims about plant growth sources.
- Run simulations of ecosystem imbalance and apply design process to craft an action plan that protects ecosystems under human-induced stress.
  PLTW

Teacher: Ms. Teresa Maresca

PLTW Distinguished Gateway Program Course Description (Grades 6-8)

St. Joseph Hill Academy Elementary School is incredibly proud to announce we are a 2024-2025 Project Lead the Way Distinguished Gateway School. This recognition is due to our commitment to helping our students own their education by increasing student access, engagement, and achievement in our Project Lead the Way Gateway program (6th-8th Grades).

Research shows that the middle grades play a pivotal role in influencing high school, college, and career success. During this transitional time, it’s crucial to provide students with access to relevant, engaging, and real-world learning experiences that expose the range of career paths and possibilities available to them. Whether designing an automated robotics system or exploring aerospace by creating designs and prototypes, PLTW Gateway students engage in critical and creative thinking, build teamwork skills, and develop confidence in STEM subjects.

6th Grade

All Year - AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS

Automation and Robotics

Students trace the history, development, and influence of automation and robotics as they learn about mechanical systems, energy transfer, machine automation, and computer control systems. Students use the VEX Robotics® platform to design, build, and program real-world objects such as traffic lights, toll booths, and robotic arms.

Teacher: Mr. JP Pablo

7th Grade

Fall - MEDICAL DETECTIVES

Students play the role of real-life medical detectives as they analyze genetic testing results to diagnose disease and study DNA evidence found at a “crime scene.” They solve medical mysteries through hands-on projects and labs, investigate how to measure and interpret vital signs, and learn how the systems of the human body work together to maintain health.

Teacher: Ms. Teresa Maresca

Spring - SCIENCE OF TECHNOLOGY

Science impacts the technology of yesterday, today, and the future. Students apply the concepts of physics, chemistry, and nanotechnology to STEM activities and projects, including making ice cream, cleaning up an oil spill, and discovering the properties of nano-materials.

Teacher: Ms. Amanda McPolin

8th Grade

Fall - MAGIC OF ELECTRONS

Through hands-on projects, students explore electricity, the behavior and parts of atoms, and sensing devices. They learn knowledge and skills in basic circuitry design and examine the impact of electricity on the world around them.

Teacher: Ms. Teresa Maresca

Spring- FLIGHT AND SPACE

The exciting world of aerospace comes alive through the Flight and Space (FS) unit. 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. They solve real-world aviation and space challenges and plan a mission to Mars.

Teacher: Ms. Amanda McPolin

Mr. Jan Paul Pablo Wins the Outstanding Project Lead the Way Teacher Award!

Mr. Jan Paul Pablo, Dean of Science and Technology as well as a Junior High Science Teacher, received the 2022-23 Outstanding PLTW Teacher award! He is one of 59 PLTW teachers across the U.S. to earn this achievement. Mr. Pablo and the teachers across the PLTW network – stand-up, show-up, and step-up every day for our students, colleagues, and communities.

About PLTW

Project Lead The Way (PLTW) equips PreK-12 students for a STEM-driven world with teacher-empowered curriculum in computer science, engineering, biomedical science, and more. For over 25 years, PLTW’s curriculum coupled with its best-in-class professional development has supported teachers in creating an environment to make every student STEM successful. As a national nonprofit organization, PLTW is proud to reach 2.5 million students in elementary, middle and high schools in all 50 states. With over 100,000 trained teachers nationwide, PLTW brings relevant, hands-on learning to classrooms across the country. For more information on Project Lead The Way, visit pltw.org.