Northwest School District

Project Lead The Way provides transformative learning experiences for students and teachers in grades 6-12 through an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. 

Empower Tomorrow's Biomedical Science Professionals Today

Whether discovering new cancer treatments or teaching healthy lifestyle choices to their communities, today’s biomedical science professionals are tackling big challenges to make the world a better place.  

PLTW Biomedical Science students are taking on these same real-world challenges – and they’re doing it before they even graduate from high school. Working with the same tools used by professionals in hospitals and labs, students engage in compelling, hands-on activities and work together to find solutions to problems. Students take from the courses in-demand knowledge and skills they will use in high school and for the rest of their lives, on any career path they take.

High School Biomedical Courses

• Principles of Biomedical Science (PBS)

  • By engaging in activities like dissecting a sheep heart, students explore concepts of biology and medicine to determine factors that led to the death of a fictional person. 

• Human Body Systems (HBS)

  • Through projects such as determining the identity of a skeleton using both forensic anthropology and DNA analysis, students examine the interactions of human body systems and apply what they know to solve real-world medical cases.

• Medical Interventions (MI)

  • Students delve into activities like designing a prosthetic arm as they follow the life of a fictitious family and investigate how to prevent, diagnose, and treat disease.

• Biomedical Innovation (BI)

• Students build on the knowledge and skills gained from previous courses to design their own innovative solutions for the most pressing health challenges of the 21st century.

High School PLTW Engineering Students Become Tomorrow's Problem Solvers Today

From launching space explorations to delivering safe, clean water to communities, engineers find solutions to pressing problems and turn their ideas into reality. PLTW Engineering empowers students to step into the role of an engineer, adopt a problem-solving mindset, and make the leap from dreamers to doers. The program’ s courses engage students in compelling, real-world challenges that help them become better collaborators and thinkers. Students take from the courses in-demand knowledge and skills they will use in high school and for the rest of their lives, on any career path they take.  

High School Engineering Courses

• Introduction to Engineering Design (IED)

  • Students dig deep into the engineering design process, applying math, science, and engineering standards to hands-on projects like designing a new toy or improving an existing product.

• Principals of Engineering (POE)

  • Students explore a broad range of engineering topics including mechanisms, strength of structure and materials, and automation, and then they apply what they know to take on challenges like designing a self-powered car.

• Digital Electronics (DE)

  • Students explore the foundations of computing by engaging in circuit design processes to create combinational logic and sequential logic (memory) as electrical engineers do in industry.

• Engineering Design and Development (EDD)

  • Students identify a real-world challenge and then research, design, and test a solution, ultimately presenting their unique solutions to a panel of engineers.