STEM Talents
STEM Science
3D Printing - Our design lab features 4 brand new Ultimaker 3-D printers as well as a state-of-the-art Stratasys commercial-grade 3-D printer. Students design and create their own models and get to take them home!
Robotics - Students will build and program LEGO EV3 robots and successfully complete a challenging obstacle course as well as build a mechanical arm that will be able to pick objects up! Cav Tech Toads are a formidable team when entering the First Lego League competitions!
Vertical Hydroponics - Our Vertical Hydroponics Lab has 2 NFT tables, 3 Tower Gardens and a Vine Crop zone. Students become Urban Farmers and plant their own seeds, maintain the systems, and harvest the delicious fruits and vegetables! We can grow several hundred crops simultaneously and have multiple harvests!
Woodworking - Pick up your hammers, nails, and saws! Learn the awesome skills of Woodworking! Students will build fantastic projects with their own hands! Carpentry is a tremendously useful trade that students will be able to carry with them for their entire lives!
Flight Simulators - At Cavallaro’s ‘Flight Central’ students use hi-tech and ultra realistic Flight Simulators to learn all of the aspects of flight. They will master take-offs and landings, high speed maneuvers, banks and turns, and perform missions using state-of-the-art graphics and maps. All simulators feature hand and foot controls, full instrumentation and access to accurate representations of every airport on the planets. Student Pilots will be able to fly all different types of aircraft ranging from small prop planes, to jumbo jets, and even Military fighters!
STEM Technology
The Cavallaro STEM program with a concentration in Technology will focus on several major concepts relating to STEM and building 21st Century skills. The format of the class will center on PBL (Project-Based Learning) and students playing the role of creators. The content of the program will be rigorous, innovative and will cover, but may not be limited to, some of following topics:
· Digital Citizenship
· Technology Education
· Computer Science
· Programming
· Engineering Design Process
· Architecture / 3-D modeling
· Multimedia Communication
· Video Game / App Creation
· STEM Careers
· City Planning /Design
STEM Engineering
STEM ENGINEERING at IS 281 is all about preparing you for the Challenges of the Future. Students learn and implement the Engineering Design Process in their everyday lives. We strive to have our students work independently and in small groups to solve real world problems by applying today’s most advanced technological solutions. We are preparing you today for tomorrow!
Engineering is Everywhere - 6th/7th/8th Graders use the EIE Curriculum to solve real world problems using simple household products to create modern day technological solutions to problems facing our society, from Runoff Water, to Vertical Gardening, to Zombies: WE Cover It All!
3D Printing: 6th/7th/8th Grades: Our STEM LAB features 4 brand new Ultimaker 3D printers as well as a state-of-the-art Stratsys F270 commercial-grade 3D printer. These printers allow our students to cultivate designs that are both practical and astonishing. Students manipulate the TINKERCAD program to learn the basis of 3D printing and later use these skills to strengthen and cultivate their designs to build models that show real life applications such as solar power & alternative energy.
Trout in the Classroom 6th Grade: From tiny eggs, to new born Trout, to fingerlings, to Adulthood, our 6th grade classes take ownership of our Brown Trout. Our 55 gallon chilled tank is the home to some of the coolest fry in town. Children monitor and adjust water conditions to regulate Ph, Dissolved Oxygen, Phosphates, and Nitrogen levels to assure that the trout can survive and thrive in our class. Each Spring the class embarks to upstate NY to release our friends back into a natural spring or lake.
Billion Oyster Project: 7th Grade: Put on your waders and get hip deep into Coney Island Sound as we cultivate Oysters and monitor their growth and reproduction in a man made reef. This Environmental Engineering class is a modern day marvel, employing the latest in reef technology & 3D Printing.
Flight Simulators: 7th & 8th Grades: The Districts most exciting program, our “Flight Central” houses 10 state of the art EDUSTATION Flight Simulators running the Lockheed Martin Prepared 3D Flight Sim program. This is the same software that our Air Force cadets train on at the US Air Force Academy. The theories of aviation, its history, and the application to flight using gauges and flight plans allow our students to become modern day Earhart’s and Lindberg’s.
STEM Math
Students will have the opportunity to play the “Stock Market Game” where they will learn the ins and outs of the investment world. We also teach a curriculum called “Virtual Enterprise” where our 7th and 8th graders develop technology, entrepreneurial, and work-based learning skills by starting and managing business ventures. In 7th grade, they learn about the five different departments that we offer: Accounting & Finance, Administration, Graphic Design, Human Resources and Marketing. In 8th grade the students actually start their own virtual company. This is a great opportunity for our students to get immersed in an entrepreneurial and corporate environment well before they become working adults.
