Project Lead the Way

Project Lead the Way(PLTW) is a United States based Not-for-Profit Career and Technology Education curriculum development organization that promotes engineering and engineering technology courses in K-12 schools. PLTW implements an idea that was originally developed by Richard Blais in the 1980’s while he was the chairman of the Technology Department of an upstate New York school district. PLTW provides course material to middle and secondary schools in the United States. The organization is focused on a curriculum of Mathematics, Science, Biotechnology and Engineering. The Courses include IED (Introduction to Engineering Design) and POE (Principles of Engineering)..

Courses

High School

* "Engineering courses"
** Principles of Engineering: This course offers students the ability to participate in many hands-on experiences for the purpose of learning more about many fields of engineering. Projects may include building a ping-pong ball launching device, an egg crash vehicle, water bottle rockets, SMET² (a simple machines project, similar to Rube Goldberg devices), and tabletop balloon-popping robots.
** Introduction to Engineering Design: An introductory course, this is usually the first taken in the PLTW sequence of courses in High School. It familiarizes students with CAD software such as Autodesk Inventor and the many fields of engineering.
** Digital Electronics: Usually the second course (and purposely the most difficult) in the PLTW sequence, this provides students with computer lab and hands-on experience applicable to the profession of an electrical engineer. Students use computers to simulate digital circuits, analyzing binary expressions, and learning the basics of oscilloscope function.
** Computer Integrated Manufacturing: Usually taken the Junior year of High School along with Principles of Engineering, this provides students with the ability to mill out designs drawn on Autodesk Inventor and programmed using software such as EdgeCAM on a CNC machine. Students are also taught in the different types of programmable robots used in the manufacturing industry, learning to program them for specific tasks.
** Civil Engineering & Architecture
** Aerospace Engineering
** Biotechnical Engineering
** Engineering Design & Development

* "Biomedical Sciences"
** Principles of Biomedical Sciences
** Human Body Systems
** Medical Intervention
** Science Research

Middle School

* Gateway To Technology Curriculum Sampler
* Design and Modeling
* The Magic of Electrons
* The Science of Technology
* Automation and Robotics

Some schools may have different courses integrating with PLTW

External links

* [http://www.pltw.org Official website]