The STEM pathway includes Technology and Applied Studies (TAS) focus areas in Years 7 and 8 in Technology and Robotics. It leads to STEM electives in Years 9 and 10. It is contemporary and based on 21 st century skills and uses our state-of-the-art facilities.
The College also offers an annual learning expedition to Kennedy Space Centre (NASA) where the boys engage in an aeronautics program and visits to leading STEM schools in the Florida area.
The Edmund Rice College Excursion to NASA features:
- A five-day space camp at NASA
- Exclusive access to mission control and launch sites at the Apollo/Saturn V Centre.
- Learning about NASA astronaut training
- A tour of the history of space travel
- Face-to-face meeting with an astronaut to learn first-hand about being in space
- Experiencing a Mars simulator
- A visit to Mars base 1 to experience living and working on Mars, solving science and engineering challenges as a rookie astronaut, managing the base operations on Mars, harvesting plants in the botanic lab and programming robots to optimise solar energy.
- Experiencing space work training where students work with a team to perform a simulated EVA (extravehicular activity) and experience micro-gravity.
- Programming robots to perform movements and design patterns for collision free operations.
- A graduation certificate, a valuable asset for student portfolio’s
This excursion also features:
- Interactive visit to Orlando Science Centre
- Visit to Florida University Robotics Club at UCF
- Field trip at Daytona NASCAR Engineering Centre
