The STEM Academy is a course designed for all eighth grade students. Throughout the academic year, students engage in a series of five classes. Each class promotes the studies of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. 

Rotation Cycle 

Course Descriptions

Graphic Design 

Graphic Design is a foundation course that develops a student’s ability to analyze design using basic principles and theory applicable to all forms of art.  The course is based on the application of the fundamental elements of art through the use of technology. Units of study focus on Digital Photography, Career Research and Awareness, Propaganda and Advertising, and Coding and Video Game Design.

Students are introduced to tools and techniques used in today’s communication industry.  This course lays the foundation for more advanced design courses offered at Hamden High School.

Engineering-- Transportation 

Engineering is a hands-on, action-based curriculum where students role play as engineers and learn by doing. The focus of the course is to demonstrate science is the search for verifiable knowledge and technology is the application of knowledge to solve problems. Like engineers, the students will predict the performance of systems and materials in a given environment. The students will use the problem solving process as the protocol to organize their effort to research, design, build, test, evaluate and modify models of some of the following: rubber band powered planes, all-terrain vehicles, truss bridges and/or CO2 powered dragsters. After analyzing the environmental variables that impact their solution, students create all of the mechanical drawings of their original prototypes using CADD and are guided safely in the technology lab where they fabricate, test and improve.

Forensic Science 

Forensics is a science that involves finding clues, piecing together a puzzle, and solving the mysteries left behind at a crime scene.  In this rotation of STEM Academy, students will be introduced to the application of science to law enforcement and investigation.  Students will encompass many aspects of STEM, including biology, chemistry, material science, physics and technology.  Topics to be discussed will include chemical and physical analysis of evidence, fingerprint analysis, handwriting analysis, blood splatter, forensic photography and illustration, and the use of deductive reasoning and logic.  In addition, this portion of STEM Academy is designed to provide students with the theoretical and philosophical understanding of the investigatory process.