Courses Offered
Please note that students can take any of the following courses for the first time in any grade that the course is offered. For example, you can take Drafting for the first time when you are in grade 12,without having taken Drafting in grades 9, 10, or 11.
Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies 8
During the Grade 8 year, students take a course called Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies 8. This course has students experience the three different strands of Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies: Technology Education, Business Education (Keyboarding-Computers) and Home Economics
This course runs for 1/3 of the year, and is one that all grade eight students must take. It is a project based, exploratory course that will allow students to become familiar with all areas of Technology Education. Students will learn the appropriate skills to be successful and safe in a shop environment. In addition to project work, evaluation will be based on the student’s ability to problem solve typical technical challenges, and work independently and safely.
Creative Wood/Metal Art 9 – 12
Creative Wood/Metal art is a project based course where the students are encouraged to develop their artistic creativity alongside their constructive skills. Throughout the course students will be taught a number of simple wood and metal working techniques, and then will be given the opportunity to use those techniques in a creative fashion to develop their own unique products. It is a fun course designed to challenge the students’ creativity while they learn to master a new media.
Drafting 11/12
Building on the skills learned in Skills Exploration: Technology, this course will introduce students to reading and understanding engineering drawings and the use of computers for drafting. Emphasis will be on creating accurate, clear drawings, as if they were to be directly translated into a project. Standards and conventions will be presented and their applications will be shown using CAD.
Electronics 9/10
In this course students learn about basic electrical theories, residential electrical wiring, electronic components, and basic circuit construction.
Through various breadboarding activities students learn the fundamentals of component function and interaction, circuit operation, and troubleshooting techniques. Possible projects include flashing LED displays, burglar alarms, digital clocks, music amplifiers, battery operated USB chargers, and wireless FM transmitter bugs. In developing these projects, students experience all steps of electronic device development: breadboarding, testing, PCB construction, component installation and soldering, enclosure construction and assembly.
Electronics 11
This course covers basic electronic concepts in both analog and digital circuits. Students will construct a variety of projects and will be encouraged to apply circuit design to a chosen application. Students will learn basic circuit architecture and how to produce PCBs, including the use of computer assisted drafting (CAD) software designed for this purpose.
Electronics 12
This course covers topics from Electronics 11 in a more involved fashion, such as circuit architecture using ICs, and PCB design using double sided boards. The course also includes working with programmable chips, and robotics. A feature of this course is self-direction with topic and project selection.
Robotics 9/10
This course introduces students to the design and construction of robots using the VEX Robotics System as a platform. Largely a hands on course, science concepts such as torque, gearing and leverage are taught throughout. The annual game for the VEX Robotics competitions drives the design component of this course. Students receive a basic introduction to computer programming (language is EasyC, a C derivative), and have various opportunities to work individually and in groups.
Robotics 11
This course sees an expansion of topics from Robotics 10, with the use of sensory feedback systems considerably more incorporated into their robot designs and computer programming. Students also have the opportunity to learn a new, more versatile programming language, RobotC. They also receive a basic introduction to Autodesk’s prototyping software, Inventor. Students have various opportunities to work individually and in groups.
Robotics 12
This course has students honing their programming skills in the language RobotC, and incorporating more advanced programming techniques and structures into their programs. They also learn to use the prototyping program Inventor as a design tool, to construct 3D virtual models of their designs before physical construction. Students have various opportunities to work individually and in groups.
Skills Exploration: Technology 10 – 11 *NEW COURSE FOR GRADE 9 AND 10 STUDENTS*
Designed for grade 9 and 10 students, this course will provide an overview of a variety of skills needed for trades in design/drafting, carpentry, and electrician. Hands on experiences in each trade will be provided. If you are interested in exploring a career in trades but aren’t sure which trade you prefer, this is the course for you! Please note: Grade 9 students will receive a Grade 10 credit for this course.
Technology 9/10 (Engineering)
This is a project based course which seeks to forge a connection between practical work and engineering principles. The hands-on work in the course requires the use of basic shop tools, with a strong focus on safety. Emphasis is placed on production methods and processes. There will be opportunities for students to work individually, in pairs, and in small groups. Possible projects include bridges, rockets, CO2 cars, trebuchets, and alternative power sourced vehicles.
Woodwork 9 – 12
In Wood Working we do not learn to think outside the box, we learn to think about the box. Wood Working is a project based course that is aimed at developing and refining skills in creation and manipulation of wood and wooden products. We explore the basic techniques and skills so students get a feel for different materials, processes, and ways to approach building a product. This includes learning how to safely use different machines in workshops, as well as simple techniques you can do by hand.