FREE technology curriculum for your middle grade classroom

Spark student interest in tech and build confidence that will last a lifetime.

 

Technology is all around us. Regardless of what path your students choose to pursue, tech skills will be vital.

CompTIA Spark curriculum was created in collaboration with educators and tech industry experts to ensure that as many middle school students as possible can get access to fun, high quality tech education curriculum.

Build your students’ digital fluency, confidence and 21st Century skills, explore emerging technologies and spark their interest in exciting, rewarding careers pathways.

Why is CompTIA Spark curriculum a game changer?

 

  • FREE (and always will be)
  • Easy for teachers to implement
  • Fun and engaging for students
  • Backed by the tech industry
  • High-quality, project-based curriculum
  • Designed for middle grades

EXPLORE THE CURRICULUM

Inspired by real-world workplaces and today's most exciting tech careers, our project-based units make technology education fun and approachable for all students while building confidence and 21st century skills. Everything you’ll need is included — lesson plans, instructional videos and interactive activities, assessments, standards alignment documentation and more. Bring high quality tech education to your classroom, no matter your previous tech teaching experience, all for FREE.

TECH EXPLORATION UNITS

Learn how tech skills are a vital part of modern workplaces – from engineering to HR, marketing and manufacturing. Build confidence, comfort with common applications and an understanding of exciting career possibilities.

Lunar Cruise Lines

Ideal grades: 5-8

The moon has just opened to visitors and your class will launch a new company to take tourists there! Design the rocket, select a pilot, market your new tourism business, and more.

Lunar Cruise Lines

The moon has just opened to visitors and your class will launch a company to take tourists there! Design the rocket, select a pilot, market your new tourism business, and more.

Ideal grades: 5-8

Length: 10-15 hours (Lessons: 8, Extension lessons: 12)

Students will build skills and confidence using:

  • Microsoft One Drive/Google Drive
  • Tinkercad (3D modelling)
  • Scratch (basic coding concepts)
  • PowerPoint/ Google Slides
  • Excel/Google Sheets
  • Canva (graphic design basics)
Learn more about this unit

3D School Store

Ideal grades: 5-8

Your class will design every aspect of a hypothetical school store that sells 3D printed products — from conducting market research, and designing fun items to sell, to figuring out pricing and profits after production.

3D School Store

Your class will design every aspect of a hypothetical school store that sells 3D printed products — from conducting market research, and designing fun items to sell, to figuring out pricing and profits after production.

*A 3D printer is optional for this unit.

Ideal grades: 5-8

Length: 10-15 hours (Lessons: 9, Extension lessons: 9)

Students will build skills and confidence using:

  • Microsoft/Google Forms
  • Excel/Google Sheets
  • Makecode Arcade (basic coding principles)
  • Tinkercad (3D modelling)
  • Canva (graphic design basics)
  • Kiri:moto (online slicer to help with 3D printed design)
  • Picsvg website (image conversion)
Learn more about this unit

Beat Builders

Ideal grades: 5-6

Music is the connecting theme to help students explore concepts of digital citizenship, coding, app design and a range of common applications. Students will also create and share an original song.

Beat Builders

Music is the connecting theme to help students explore concepts of digital citizenship, coding, app design, and gain skills with a range of common applications. Students will also create and share an original song.

Ideal grades: 5-6

Length: 10-15 hours (Lessons: 7, Extension lessons: 5)

Students will build skills and confidence using:

  • Word/Google Docs
  • Excel/Google Sheets
  • PowerPoint/Google Slides
  • Scratch (basic coding concepts)
  • Chrome Music Labs
Learn more about this unit

EMERGING TECH UNITS

Explore today’s most exciting technology fields in a fun and accessible way. Hands-on activities build foundational skills and student confidence to pursue further tech education or spark an interest in tech careers.

Cybersecurity

Ideal grades: 7-8

A hands-on, collaborative game builds student understanding of how networks operate and what makes them vulnerable to attacks in a fun, engaging and accessible way.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is vital to the operations of every business and organization, and to our national and global security. A hands-on, collaborative game builds student understanding of how networks operate and what makes them vulnerable to attacks in a fun, engaging and accessible way.

Ideal grades: 7-8

Length: 10-15 hours (Lessons: 6, Extension lessons: 6 [one for each lesson])

Students will build skills and confidence using:

  • CompTIA Spark CyberSim game (proprietary program)
  • Word/Google Docs
  • PowerPoint/Google slides

Addresses key skills/concepts including:

  • Basic Networking including various software and hardware, such as routers, firewalls, and IP addresses
  • Transmission Control Protocol and how it prevents data loss along a network
  • Denial of Service Attacks and how they are mitigated.
  • Coding/iterative system design using pseudocode (as a precursor to real code)
  • Designing technology products to address real-world needs
  • The role of servers and the internet to enable smart technologies
Learn more about this unit

AI & Chatbots

Ideal grades: 7-8

Through engaging, interactive lessons, students will explore core AI concepts and apply them to real world situations – including creating their very own chatbot to help launch a new pizza shop.

AI & Chatbots

Artificial intelligence (AI) is all around us — from predictive text messages to ChatGPT. Through engaging, interactive lessons, students will explore core AI concepts and apply them to real world situations – including creating their very own chatbot to help launch a new pizza shop.

Ideal grades: 7-8

Length: 10-15 hours (Lessons: 8, Extension lessons: 8 [one for each lesson])

Students will build skills and confidence using:

  • Voiceflow
  • Teachable Machine

Addresses key skills/ concepts including:

  • Designing AI technology products to address real-world needs
  • The role of rule-based and Large Language Model chatbots in education and society
  • Natural Language Processing (NLP) and how it relates to AI
  • Machine Learning and how it is used to train AI
  • Sample data bias and the effect it has on AI models’ ability to generate accurate and reliable output responses
  • Ethical issues around use of AI
Learn more about this unit

Smart Home Technology

Ideal grades: 7-8

Your students are product designers for a home technology company creating automated and smart devices to solve your customers’ needs. Students will explore logic and coding concepts, plus the internet of things (IoT) — the networks and technology that support the internet and the systems that run on it.

Smart Home Technology

Your students are product designers for a home technology company creating automated and smart devices to solve your customers’ needs. Students will explore logic and coding concepts, plus the internet of things (IoT) — the networks and technology that support the internet and the systems that run on it.

Ideal grades: 7-8

Length: 10-15 hours (Lessons: 7, Extension lessons: 7 [one for each lesson])

Students will build skills and confidence using:

  • CompTIA Spark Smart Home Simulator (proprietary program)
  • TinkerCad Circuit
  • Word/Google Docs
  • PowerPoint/ Google Slides

Addresses foundational skills/ concepts including:

  • IoT (Internet of Things) — the networks and technology that support the internet and the systems that run on it
  • Input/Processing/Output (IPO) model
  • Designing systems that incorporate hardware and software
  • Coding/iterative system design using pseudocode (as a precursor to real code)
  • Designing technology products to address real-world needs
  • The role of servers and networks to the internet and smart home products
Learn more about this unit
This is one of the easiest decisions that an educator, principal, or teacher, can make. To bring CompTIA Spark curriculum into our schools allows our students to be collaborative and communicative in a way that's building critical thinking and problem-solving to change the future.
-Principal
I liked the fact that it's a complete package. The tutorials are there, student materials are nice, teacher directions are nicely done. It's ready to go!
-Teacher
You really nailed it in terms of the relevance of this content. I've not seen anything like it, especially not for free. I love that you have them exploring marketing and product design while simultaneously building technical skills. This is a really exciting product [CompTIA Spark] has built.
-State Department of Education Representative
It’s fun and engaging. I’m using all this new technology and we’re learning, and all these games [are] making it fun and colorful.
-Student
Having technology introduced in a structured environment is invaluable. As a parent, I think training them on how to use it, what's appropriate, and what it can actually be used for is productive and beneficial.
-Parent
The videos are perfectly designed. They are just enough for the students, where cognitive load stretches them but doesn't get too overwhelming.
-Teacher
The great partnership that we have with CompTIA Spark really helps to bring in a collaborative workforce nature. But it also brings in real-world skills and what's happening today that our kids should work on.
-District CTO

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