Skilled Trades Sampler: Math, Code & Field Simulations

Most trade training splits into two camps. You either get pure theory with no feel for what it looks like in the field, or you get hands-on work with no explanation of the math and code behind it. This course does both at once, in four short units that cover ground across plumbing, electrical, medical gas, and hydronic systems.

Unit 1 starts with the math that trips people up before they ever touch a tool: reading a tape measure correctly, converting between fractions and decimals, doing feet-and-inch arithmetic without falling into the decimal-feet trap, and counting spacing intervals the right way so your layout doesn't come up one member short. Unit 2 gives you a real slice of three different code books, not summaries or overviews, but actual requirements you'd look up on the job: drainage slope from the IPC, box fill from the NEC, and pipe material and pressure testing from NFPA 99. Unit 3 teaches you to read and build single-line pipe isometrics, the 30-degree axis drawings that every pipefitter and plumber reads in the field. Unit 4 puts you on a boiler loop with a digital manometer and walks you through reading static, pump-on, and differential pressure, coached by an AI foreman.

By the end, you'll have touched real trade math, real code language, real drawing conventions, and a real field measurement procedure. That's not enough to replace an apprenticeship, but it's a solid foundation for someone deciding whether to pursue a trade, preparing for an interview, or trying to fill in gaps they never had formally explained.