Mobile Nav

Wildcat Community

Wildcat Community

Events Calendar

Alumni

Summer at the E

Design Lab

Episcopal Collegiate School encourages innovative use of technology to support learning and to develop critical thinking skills and global connections.The faculty members accept, innovate, and persevere in the creative and responsible use of technology.

Lower School Design Labs and Exploratory Design

The Lower School science program is designed to show students that science encompasses all aspects of daily life all within a state-of-the-art design lab. Our hands-on, inquiry based activities allow students to progress in their knowledge and understanding of the big ideas of science as opposed to learning only facts. Students are encouraged to be curious, ask questions, make observations, think systematically, and draw conclusions which builds the foundation for scientific learning in the future. Some of the key features in the science labs from PreKindergarten through fifth grade include robotics engineering using VEX, monarch preservation through our Certified Monarch Waystation, and use of the Hydroponic Garden System to grow and harvest our own lettuce.

Lower School Exploratory Design offers an interdisciplinary experience for students incorporating science, technology, engineering and mathematics in a lab environment. This approach provides our students with essential skills in production, creative thinking, problem-solving, collaboration and critical thinking. Exploratory Design students investigate real-world situations using technology as an instrument of exploration. This dynamic course uses the Design Thinking model to help our students establish a systematic approach to problem solving and systems thinking where they empathize, define, prototype and test in a child-friendly environment.     

 

Lower School Discovery Lab

Lower School Exploratory Design

Middle and Upper School Exploratory Design

Imagine a class where you design and construct a garden that grows in the air. Our students are doing just that. Why? Because it’s the best way to teach them about real-world design and engineering challenges. Other Exploratory Design classes might create an educational online game, build an outdoor pollution detector or construct a model of an earthquake-proof structure. Working in teams, students develop skills in project planning, self-reflection and oral presentation. They also learn about programming, 3D design and fabrication, and video production and editing.

In this course, students tackle real-world design and engineering challenges linked to topics covered in their core classes. On project teams, they develop skills in design thinking, project planning, listening, self-reflection, and oral presentation. To complete hands-on projects, they get a taste of programming and electrical engineering with Arduino and Raspberry Pi, Minecraft using Java, Eclipse and Gimp, robotics, 3D design and animation, digital presentation tools, and video production and editing.