Montague Township School District
STEM: Engineering & Robotics Curriculum Guide
Grade 7
2025-2026
Kayte Snyder
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Description
This trimester STEM course introduces middle school students to critical thinking, collaborative problem solving, and the Engineering Design Process through hands-on projects. Students learn basic physics concepts including gravity, load, structure, beams, force, tension, and compression as applied to engineering design. The course incorporates Computer Aided Drafting (CAD) as a tool for accurate design and creation. All instruction uses a student-centered, active learning approach where students build projects that address real constraints and limitations. The course covers three main units: lab safety and engineering fundamentals, the engineering design process with CAD introduction, and applied design challenges in civil engineering. Assessment occurs throughout via formative, summative, alternative, and benchmark measures to gauge progress and inform instruction.
Big Ideas
- Engineering is a practical application of science and mathematics to solve real-world problems with constraints.
- The Engineering Design Process provides a systematic method for approaching problems and iterating solutions.
- Structures must be designed with consideration for function, constraints, materials, and external forces like gravity and load.
- Collaboration and communication are essential skills for engineers working in teams to develop and test solutions.
- Technology tools like CAD allow engineers to design accurately and test concepts before physical construction.
Essential Questions
- What safety precautions are critical to follow in an engineering lab?
- What is engineering and how does it fit into STEM education?
- What are the necessary steps to efficiently solve a design problem?
- How does the solution get influenced by design constraints?
- What is structure and how does structure relate to function?
- How can decisions be made collaboratively and fairly in team-based design?
Engineering Design
Engineering, Technology, and Applications of Science
Geometry
Standards for Mathematical Practice
Students engage in collaborative discussions with diverse partners, build on others' ideas, and express their own thinking clearly and persuasively during design challenges and project presentations.
Students make sense of problems and persevere in solving them, use appropriate tools strategically, attend to precision in measurements, and apply geometric concepts including scale drawings and spatial relationships when designing and constructing engineering solutions.
Students follow precisely multistep procedures when carrying out investigations and technical tasks, and apply engineering design processes to define criteria and constraints, evaluate competing solutions, and test modifications to optimize designs.
This course employs a balanced assessment approach combining formative, summative, alternative, and benchmark assessments. Projects account for 50% of the grade and include in-class work on group planning, problem solving, addressing constraints, and creating solutions. Classwork and homework represent 25% and assess completion of daily tasks addressing foundational skills needed for unit understanding. Assessments and quizzes comprise the final 25% and evaluate student understanding of lessons through mini-projects, challenges, presentations, digital forms, and exit tickets. Benchmark assessments for grades 6-8 are administered throughout the trimester to measure progress. Alternative assessments include design challenges, multimedia presentations, TinkerCAD models, and portfolio documentation of iterative design processes.
| Unit | Formative | Summative | Benchmark | Alternative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Lab Safety/What is Engineering? | ✓ | ✓ | — | ✓ |
| 02The Engineering Design Process | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 03Design Challenges and Problem Solving: Civil Engineering | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | 3/3 | 3/3 | 2/2 | 3/3 |
This course provides comprehensive accommodations for five student populations. Students with IEPs receive graphic organizers, visual step-by-step references, alternative output modes, extended time, strategic pairing, and structured templates to access engineering content and design tasks. Students with 504 plans receive extended time on projects and assessments, preferential seating during demonstrations, printed reference materials, and distraction-reduced workspaces during focused design and building phases. Multilingual learners receive visual glossaries, labeled diagrams, picture-supported word walls, short clear directions, opportunities to use home language as a bridge, and peer discussion supports. At-risk students receive hands-on entry points, simplified structured templates, pre-teaching of core vocabulary, reduced-scope initial tasks, and frequent check-ins with specific positive feedback. Gifted and talented students receive extended research opportunities, cross-disciplinary analysis tasks, multiple design iteration challenges with documented hypotheses, and connections to real-world engineering ethics and emerging fields.
| Unit | IEP | 504 | MLL | At-Risk | Gifted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01Lab Safety/What is Engineering? | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 02The Engineering Design Process | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 03Design Challenges and Problem Solving: Civil Engineering | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coverage | 3/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 | 3/3 |