STEM in the Middle School

In the Classroom

All Chadwick Middle-Schoolers are required to take at least one STEM course in addition to their standard science and math curricula, with the goal to ignite their scientific imaginations and prepare them to pursue advanced classes in the Upper School.  

Students get to choose between engaging STEM electives as well as experimental, project-based options like Coding with Game Development, Textile & Design, Design & Engineering, Coding w/ Java, Culinary Chemistry, Exploring Electronics and Circuits, Digital Fabrication, Robotics and Woodshop. 

Broader Curriculum

• MS Web Coding Lab

Students use the Processing.js language to learn control flow, object-oriented principles and debugging techniques. By the end of the trimester, they’re able to devise their own game and deploy it to the Web.

• MS Electronics Lab

This elective educates students about circuits, programming and debugging techniques using the Arduino interface. By the end of the trimester, they’re able to combine their knowledge of physical technical components and programming skills to create their own projects.

• MS Coding Club

Students learn a variety of programming languages to get a solid understanding of computer science concepts. They then design and implement their own web or mobile app utilizing real-world programming, processes and tools.

• AstroGro

In this elective, students grow crops in self-sustained 3D-printed pods. They code an app to monitor their crops’ health and communicate with other students what care needs to be given and what chores have been done.

• SEAL

SEAL challenges students to devise novel ratios of metallic alloys to attempt to split water molecules. At the end of the spring semester students present their work at a Caltech conference.