Da Vinci is in its fifth year of operation and became a PLTW certified school in its fourth year. Da Vinci is one of only 16 PLTW certified schools in the state of California. Next year Da Vinci will offer all PLTW classes. These classes include: Computer Science and Software Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Engineering Design and Development and much more.
At Da Vinci all freshmen and sophomores are required to take engineering classes. Freshmen take IED (Intro to Engineering Design). This class introduced students in to the engineering field. In this class, students learn to master the CAD software Autodesk Inventor. There are many diverse projects in this class, each project introduces students do a different kind of engineering. Sophomores take POE (Principals of Engineering) in this class students learn how to make structurally sound machines that can perform a specific task by running pieces of “student-made” code. Students learn about the different forces that are acting upon their machines. In addition, they also learn about simple and complex machines and how to manipulate them so they can be more useful.
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