Florida Department of Education
Curriculum Framework 

Course Title:	Exploring Technology and Career Planning
Course Type:	Orientation/Exploratory and Career Planning
Career Cluster:	Engineering & Technology Education

Secondary – Middle School	
Course Number	8600220	
CIP Number	08210122CP	
Grade Level	6 – 8 	
Course Length	Semester	
Teacher Certification	Refer to the Course Structure section	
CTSO	FL-TSA	
CTE Program Resources 	http://www.fldoe.org/academics/career-adult-edu/career-tech-edu/program-resources.stml	

Purpose 

The purpose of this course is to give students an opportunity to explore the area of production technology and its associated careers.  Course requirements are consistent with 8600020 Exploring Technology with the addition of the career and education planning course requirements.  Students will be given the opportunity to solve technological problems using a variety of tools, materials, processes and systems while gaining an understanding of the effects of production technology on our everyday lives. 

The purpose of this course is to assist students in making informed decisions regarding their future academic and occupational goals and to provide information regarding careers in the Engineering and Technology Education career cluster. The content includes but is not limited to providing the opportunity to solve technological problems using a variety of tools, materials, processes and systems while gaining an understanding of the effects of production technology on our everyday lives. Instruction and learning activities are provided in a laboratory setting using hands-on experiences with the equipment, materials and technology appropriate to the course content and in accordance with current practices.

Additional Information relevant to this Career and Technical Education (CTE) program is provided at the end of this document.

Course Structure 

The length of this course is one semester. It may be offered for two semesters when appropriate. When offered for one semester, it is recommended that it be at the exploratory level and more in-depth when offered for two semesters. 

To teach the course(s) listed below, instructors must hold at least one of the teacher certifications indicated for that course.

The following table illustrates the course structure:

Course Number	Course Title	Teacher Certification	Length	
8600220	Exploring Technology and Career Planning	ENG 7G
ENG TEC 7G
PLTW PTE 7G
TEC ED 1 @2
ENG&TEC ED1@2	Semester	

Standards

After successfully completing this program, the student will be able to perform the following:

01.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology. 
02.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the core concepts of technology. 
03.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among technologies and the connection between technology and other fields of study.
04.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and political effects of technology. 
05.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the effects of technology on the environment. 
06.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the role of society in the development and use of technology. 
07.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the influence of history on technology. 
08.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the attributes of design. 
09.0	Demonstrate an understanding of engineering design. 
10.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving. 
11.0	Demonstrate the abilities to apply the design process.
12.0	Demonstrate the abilities to use and maintain technological products and systems. 
13.0	Demonstrate the abilities to assess the impact of products and systems. 
14.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use medical technologies. 
15.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use agricultural and related biotechnologies. 
16.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use energy and power technologies.
17.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use information and communication technologies. 
18.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use transportation technologies. 
19.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use manufacturing technologies.
20.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use construction technologies.
21.0	Demonstrate proper and safe procedures while working with technological tools, apparatus, equipment, systems, and materials. 
22.0	Exhibit positive human relations and leadership skills. 
23.0	Discuss individual interests, aptitudes, and opportunities as they relate to a career. 
 
Listed below are the standards that must be met to satisfy the requirements of Section 1003.4156 Florida Statutes.
24.0	Describe the influences that societal, economic, and technological changes have on employment trends and future training. 
25.0	Develop skills to locate, evaluate, and interpret career information. 
26.0	Identify and demonstrate processes for making short and long term goals. 
27.0	Demonstrate employability skills such as working in a group, problem-solving and organizational skills, and the importance of entrepreneurship. 
28.0	Understand the relationship between educational achievement and career choices/postsecondary options.  
29.0	Identify a career cluster and related pathways that match career and education goals. 
30.0	Develop a career and education plan that includes short and long-term goals, high school program of study, and postsecondary/career goals. 
31.0	Demonstrate knowledge of technology and its application in career fields/clusters. 

Florida Department of Education
Student Performance Standards

Course Title: 	Exploring Technology and Career Planning 
Course Number: 	8600220
Course Length:	Semester

CTE Standards and Benchmarks	
01.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology.  The student will be able to:	
01.01	Develop new products and systems to solve problems or to help do things that could not be done without the help of technology.  	
01.02	Describe the development of technology as a human activity that is the result of individual or collective needs and the ability to be creative.  	
01.03	Explain how technology is closely linked with creativity, which has resulted in innovation.  	
01.04	Demonstrate how corporations can often create demand for a product by bringing it onto the market and advertising it.  	
02.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the core concepts of technology.  The student will be able to:	
02.01	Describe technological systems including input, processes, output, and, at times, feedback.  	
02.02	Apply systems thinking, involving considering how every part relates to others.  	
02.03	Identify control systems having no feedback path and requiring human intervention, and control systems using feedback.  	
02.04	Explain how technological systems can be connected to one another.  	
02.05	Repair malfunctions of any part of a system that may affect the function and quality of the system.  	
02.06	Compare and contrast requirements or parameters placed on the development of a product or system.  	
02.07	Compare and contrast trade-offs as a decision process recognizing the need for careful compromises among competing factors.  	
02.08	Describe different technologies that involve different sets of processes.  	
02.09	Perform basic maintenance as the process of inspecting and servicing a product or system on a regular basis in order for it to continue functioning properly, to extend its life, or to upgrade its capability.  	
02.10	Utilize controls and mechanisms or particular steps that people perform using information about the system that causes systems to change.  	
03.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the relationships among technologies and the connection between technology and other fields of study.  The student will be able to:	
03.01	Modify the way technological systems interact with one another.  	
03.02	Apply a product, system, or environment developed for one setting in another setting.  	
03.03	Explain how knowledge gained from other fields of study has a direct effect on the development of technological products and systems.  	
04.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and political effects of technology.  The student will be able to:	
04.01	Identify the ways that use of technology affects humans, including their safety, comfort, choices, and attitudes about technology’s development and use.  	
04.02	Explain that technology, by itself, is neither good nor bad; but decisions about the use of products and systems can result in desirable or undesirable consequences.  	
04.03	Identify ethical issues associated with the development and use of technology.  	
04.04	Identify the economic, political, and cultural issues that are influenced by the development and use of technology.  	
05.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the effects of technology on the environment.  The student will be able to:	
05.01	Describe the management of waste produced by technological systems as an important societal issue.  	
05.02	Describe how technologies can be used to repair damage caused by natural disasters and to break down waste from the use of various products and systems.  	
05.03	Make decisions about the development and use of technologies that put environmental and economic concerns in direct competition with one another.  	
06.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the role of society in the development and use of technology.  The student will be able to:	
06.01	Describe the development of technologies that has resulted from the demands, values, and interests of individuals, businesses, industries, and societies.  	
06.02	Describe changes in society and the creation of new needs and wants caused by the use of inventions and innovations.  	
06.03	Understand social and cultural priorities and values that are reflected in technological devices.  	
06.04	Explain how meeting societal expectations is the driving force behind the acceptance and use of products and systems.  	
07.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the influence of history on technology.  The student will be able to:	
07.01	Identify inventions and innovations that have evolved by using slow and methodical processes of tests and refinements.  	
07.02	Explain how the specialization of function has been at the heart of many technological improvements.  	
07.03	Identify the design and construction of structures for service or convenience evolving from the development of techniques for measurement, controlling systems, and the understanding of spatial relationships.  	
07.04	Investigate how, that in the past, an invention or innovation was not usually developed with the knowledge of science.	
08.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the attributes of design.  The student will be able to:	
08.01	Use design as a creative planning process that leads to useful products and systems.  	
08.02	Explain why there is no perfect design.  	
08.03	Evaluate criteria and constraints that are requirements for a design.  	
08.04	Demonstrate the ability to properly identify different resources used in projects.	
09.0	Demonstrate an understanding of engineering design.  The student will be able to:	
09.01	Utilize the design process involving a set of steps, which can be performed in different sequences and repeated as needed.  	
09.02	Employ brainstorming as a group problem-solving design process in which each person in the group presents his or her ideas in an open forum.  	
09.03	Model, test, evaluate and modify designs to transform ideas into practical solutions.  	
10.0	Demonstrate an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving.  The student will be able to:	
10.01	Use troubleshooting as a problem-solving method used to identify the cause of a malfunction in a technological system.  	
10.02	Describe invention as a process of turning ideas and imagination into devices and systems and innovation as the process of modifying an existing product or system to improve it.  	
10.03	Identify technological problems that are best solved through experimentation.  	
11.0	Demonstrate the abilities to apply the design process.  The student will be able to:	
11.01	Apply a design process to solve problems in and beyond the laboratory-classroom.  	
11.02	Specify criteria and constraints for the design.  	
11.03	Make two-dimensional and three-dimensional representations of the designed solution.  	
11.04	Test and evaluate the design in relation to pre-established requirements, such as criteria and constraints, and refine as needed.  	
11.05	Make a product or system and document the solution.  	
12.0	Demonstrate the abilities to use and maintain technological products and systems.  The student will be able to:	
12.01	Use information provided in manuals, protocols, or by experienced people to see and understand how things work.  	
12.02	Use tools, materials, and machines safely to diagnose, adjust, and repair systems.  	
12.03	Use computers and calculators in various applications.  	
12.04	Operate and maintain systems in order to achieve a given purpose.  	
13.0	Demonstrate the abilities to assess the impact of products and systems.  The student will be able to:	
13.01	Design and use instruments to gather data.  	
13.02	Use data collected to analyze and interpret trends in order to identify the positive or negative effects of a technology.  	
13.03	Identify trends and monitor potential consequences of technological development.  	
13.04	Interpret and evaluate the accuracy of the information obtained and determine if it is useful.  	
14.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use medical technologies.  The student will be able to:	
14.01	Describe how advances and innovations in medical technologies are used to improve healthcare.  	
14.02	Describe how sanitation processes used in the disposal of medical products help to protect people from harmful organisms and disease and shape the ethics of medical safety.  	
14.03	Explain how the vaccines developed for use in immunization require specialized technologies to support environments in which a sufficient amount of vaccines are produced.  	
14.04	Describe genetic engineering involving modifying the structure of DNA to produce novel genetic make-ups.  	
15.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use agricultural and related biotechnologies.  The student will be able to:	
15.01	Describe technological advances in agriculture directly affecting the time and number of people required to produce food for a large population.  	
15.02	Describe how a wide range of specialized equipment and practices is used to improve the production of food, fiber, fuel, and other useful products and in the care of animals.  	
15.03	Explain how biotechnology applies the principles of biology to create commercial products or processes.  	
15.04	Create artificial ecosystems that are human-made complexes that replicate some aspects of natural environments.  	
15.05	Explain how the development of refrigeration, freezing, dehydration, preservation, and irradiation provide long-term storage of food and reduce the health risks caused by tainted food.  	
16.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use energy and power technologies.  The student will be able to:	
16.01	Define energy as the capacity to do work.  	
16.02	Explain how energy can be used to do work, using many processes.  	
16.03	Define power as the rate at which energy is converted from one form to another or transferred from one place to another, or the rate at which work is done.  	
16.04	Describe power systems used to drive and provide propulsion to other technological products and systems.  	
16.05	Explain how much of the energy used in our environment is not used efficiently.  	
17.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use information and communication technologies.  The student will be able to:	
17.01	Create information and communication systems that allow information to be transferred from human to human, human to machine, machine to machine, and machine to human.  	
17.02	Describe communication systems made up of a source, encoder, transmitter, receiver, decoder, and destination.  	
17.03	Consider factors that influence the design of a message, such as the intended audience, medium, purpose, and nature of the message.  	
17.04	Use symbols, measurements, and drawings to promote clear communication by providing a common language to express ideas.  	
18.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use transportation technologies.  The student will be able to:	
18.01	Describe how transporting people and goods involve a combination of individuals and vehicles.  	
18.02	Describe subsystems of transportation vehicles, such as structural, propulsion, suspension, guidance, control, and support that must function together for a system to work effectively.  	
18.03	Summarize processes, such as receiving, holding, storing, loading, moving, unloading, delivering, evaluating, marketing, managing, communicating, and using conventions are necessary for the entire transportation system to operate efficiently.   	
18.04	Describe how governmental regulations often influence the design and operation of transportation systems.  	
19.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use manufacturing technologies.  The student will be able to:	
19.01	Describe manufacturing systems using mechanical processes that change the form of materials through processes of separating, forming, combining, and conditioning them.  	
19.02	Classify manufactured goods as durable and non-durable.  	
19.03	Employ the manufacturing process including the designing, development, making, and servicing of products and systems.  	
19.04	Describe manufacturing technologies that are used to modify or alter manufactured products.  	
19.05	Explain that materials must first be located before they can be extracted from the earth through processes such as harvesting, drilling, and mining.  	
20.0	Demonstrate an understanding of and be able to select and use construction technologies.  The student will be able to:	
20.01	Research building laws and codes. 	
20.02	Identify factors such as style, convenience, cost, climate, and function in the selection of designs for structures.  	
20.03	Explain that structures rest on a foundation.  	
20.04	Classify structures as temporary or permanent.  	
20.05	Describe subsystems of a building.  	
21.0	Demonstrate proper and safe procedures while working with technological tools, apparatus, equipment, systems, and materials.  The student will be able to:	
21.01	Follow classroom/laboratory safety rules and procedures.	
21.02	Demonstrate good housekeeping at workstations within a total laboratory.	
21.03	Conduct classroom/laboratory activities and equipment operations in a safe manner.	
21.04	Exercise care and respect for all tools, equipment, and materials.	
21.05	Select appropriate tools, machines, and equipment to accomplish a given task.	
21.06	Identify color-coding safety standards.	
21.07	Safely use hand tools and power equipment.	
21.08	Explain fire prevention and safety precautions and practices for extinguishing fires.	
21.09	Identify harmful effects/potential dangers of familiar hazardous substances/devices to people and the environment.	
22.0	Exhibit positive human relations and leadership skills.  The student will be able to:	
22.01	Perform roles in a student personnel system or in the Florida Technology Student Association (FL-TSA).	
22.02	Work cooperatively with others.	
23.0	Discuss individual interests, aptitudes, and opportunities as they relate to a career.  The student will be able to:	
23.01	Identify individual strengths and weaknesses.	
23.02	Discuss individual interests related to a career.	
23.03	Identify careers within specific areas of technology.	
23.04	Explore careers within specific areas of interest.	
23.05	Form an understanding and appreciation for work after listening to or observing technology workers.	
23.06	Form an understanding and appreciation for work after participating in a simulated technology group project in the laboratory.	
23.07	Form an understanding and appreciation for the roles and work of co-workers.	

Listed below are the standards that must be met to satisfy the requirements of Section 1003.4156 Florida Statutes.

The student will be able to:
	
24.0	Describe the influences that societal, economic, and technological changes have on employment trends and future training. 	
25.0	Develop skills to locate, evaluate, and interpret career information. 	
26.0	Identify and demonstrate processes for making short and long term goals. 	
27.0	Demonstrate employability skills such as working in a group, problem-solving and organizational skills, and the importance of entrepreneurship. 	
28.0	Understand the relationship between educational achievement and career choices/postsecondary options. 	
29.0	Identify a career cluster and related pathways through an interest assessment that match career and education goals. 	
30.0	Develop a career and education plan that includes short and long-term goals, high school program of study, and postsecondary/career goals. 	
31.0	Demonstrate knowledge of technology and its application in career fields/clusters. 	

Additional Information

Laboratory Activities

Laboratory investigations that include scientific inquiry, research, measurement, problem solving, emerging technologies, tools and equipment, as well as, experimental, quality, and safety procedures are an integral part of this career and technical program/course. Laboratory investigations benefit all students by developing an understanding of the complexity and ambiguity of empirical work, as well as the skills required to manage, operate, calibrate and troubleshoot equipment/tools used to make observations. Students understand measurement error; and have the skills to aggregate, interpret, and present the resulting data. Equipment and supplies should be provided to enhance hands-on experiences for students. 

Florida Standards for English Language Development (ELD)
English language learners communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting. ELD.K12.ELL.SI.1

English Language Development (ELD) Standards Special Notes:
Teachers are required to provide listening, speaking, reading, and writing instruction that allows English language learners (ELL) to communicate for social and instructional purposes within the school setting.  For the given level of English language proficiency and with visual, graphic, or interactive support, students will interact with grade level words, expressions, sentences, and discourse to process or produce language necessary for academic success. The ELD standard should specify a relevant content area concept or topic of study chosen by curriculum developers and teachers which maximizes an ELL’s need for communication and social skills. For additional information on the development and implementation of the ELD standards, please contact the Bureau of Student Achievement through Language Acquisition at SALA@fldoe.org. 

Career Planning

Effective July 1, 2019, per Section 1003.4156, Florida Statutes (F.S.), for students to meet middle grades promotion requirements, a Career and Education Planning course must be completed in either sixth, seventh, or eighth grade. These courses should be taught integrating the eight career and education planning course standards. 

Career and Technical Student Organization (CTSO)

The Florida Technology Student Association (FL-TSA) is the co-curricular career and technical student organization for providing leadership training and reinforcing specific career and technical skills.  Career and Technical Student Organizations provide activities for students as an integral part of the instruction offered.  

Accommodations

Federal and state legislation requires the provision of accommodations for students with disabilities as identified on the secondary student’s Individual Educational Plan (IEP) or 504 plan or postsecondary student’s accommodations’ plan to meet individual needs and ensure equal access. Accommodations change the way the student is instructed. Students with disabilities may need accommodations in such areas as instructional methods and materials, assignments and assessments, time demands and schedules, learning environment, assistive technology, and special communication systems. Documentation of the accommodations requested and provided should be maintained in a confidential file.

In addition to accommodations, some secondary students with disabilities (students with an IEP served in Exceptional Student Education (ESE)) will need modifications to meet their needs. Modifications change the outcomes or what the student is expected to learn, e.g., modifying the curriculum of a secondary career and technical education course. Note: postsecondary curriculum and regulated secondary programs cannot be modified.