PLTW Biomedical Science (9-12)
Engage Students, One Medical Mystery at a Time
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.
PLTW Biomedical Science courses are part of the AP + PLTW biomedical science pathway.
Building a Strong Foundation for College and Career
By immersing students in activities like practicing suturing and constructing body structures from clay, PLTW Biomedical Science empowers students to build knowledge and skills in biomedical science, as well as in-demand, transportable skills like problem solving, critical and creative thinking, communication, and collaboration.
Principles of Biomedical Science
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
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
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
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.
A Transformative Professional Development Experience Centered on Student and Teacher Success
PLTW Biomedical Science Professional Development is a dynamic learning experience for teachers focused on robust and flexible instructional support, on-demand resources, and a close-knit community of collaboration with fellow educators.
PLTW Biomedical Science teachers begin their professional development tracks by completing pre-requisite courses that introduce educators to PLTW and provide them with essential foundational knowledge.
Then, through Core Training – delivered on-site and/or online – teachers are empowered to develop the skills and tools they need to inspire students. This training experience is focused on pedagogy and in-depth exploration of the PLTW Biomedical Science coursework teachers will lead in their classrooms.
Following Core Training, PLTW teachers have access to ongoing learning opportunities that help them progress and flourish through online continuing education.
Student-Centered, Balanced Assessment
Our assessment experts apply industry best practices and methods to design, test, and implement assessments for our network of schools.
PLTW supports a balanced approach to assessment for all programs, integrating both formative and summative assessments that allow teachers to monitor student progress and modify instruction as needed. Through a balanced assessment approach, assessment is an ongoing activity. Students demonstrate their knowledge throughout the course by completing activities, projects, and problems using a variety of assessment tools – such as such as performance rubrics, reflective questioning, and End-of-Course (EoC) assessments – to deepen and expand their knowledge and skills.