Year 1 Learning Statements Technology Essential Learnings by the end of Year 3 Investigating technology Children build knowledge, understanding and skills to: investigate appropriate resources to meet design design and communicate ideas through play, drawings or concrete materials make products to respond to personal or group needs reflect on the use of technology in everyday life including the use of technology by Indigenous Australians and different cultural groups. Assessable elements Ways of working Investigating and designing Students are able to: identify the purpose for design ideas generate simple ideas for designs communicate major features of their designs, using 2D or 3D visual representations and words Producing select resources, simple techniques and tools to make products Reflecting reflect on the uses of technology and describe the impact in everyday situations. Knowledge and understanding Knowledge and understanding Technology as a human endeavour Technology is part of our everyday lives and activities. Information, materials and systems (resources) Resources are used to make products for particular purposes and contexts. Source: Studies Authority 2009, Year 1 Learning Statements, QSA, . Source: Studies Authority 2007, Technology Essential Learnings by the end of Year 3, QSA, .
Suggested implementation plan Suggested time Student activity Teacher role Resources Section 1. Investigating the built environment 15 minutes Investigate by collecting data about common shapes and materials used in the environment. Identify from the data about materials commonly used in building and how they meet the design needs. Identify from the data why these are most common shapes and how they meet design needs. Assist children to collect data using a chosen data collection strategy. Assist children to look at their data by asking questions such as: Which shape/material was most common? Why? Encourage children to discuss the characteristics of materials that might lend themselves to design needs. Encourage children to discuss the characteristics of shapes that might lend themselves to design needs. Data collection sheets Section 2. Identifying the purpose for designing 5 minutes Listen and respond to the questions by your teacher. Assist children to look at their data and ask questions such as: Are these the same results we find when we build with shapes? Do we use some shapes or materials more than others? Let’s find out! Section 3. Designing our building 15–20 minutes Recall the results of your data collection. Select a design challenge. Design a building by drawing a plan based on the design challenge. Label the shapes you have used in your design. List the materials you are going to use to produce your design, e.g. blocks, Lego, collage, etc. Identify different design challenges from which children can select. Ask children to recall the results of their data collection. Encourage the children to use actual shapes in their drawings. Remind children to think about which shapes will be best to use for their building to meet their selected design challenge. Appendix A: Design challenges Section 4. Producing our building 30–40 minutes Make your building by viewing your design (plan), collecting the identified building materials and constructing your building to match your design decisions. Encourage children to follow their plan so that it matches the design challenge. Take photographs of each child’s building. Variety of building materials Camera Section 5. Reflecting on our building — interview
5–10 minutes per child. View your photo and compare your plan with the actual building. Identify the key features of the building to match the design challenge. Identify the shapes (combinations) used in its construction and explain why these were used. Identify why you have used particular shapes by naming the characteristics of those shapes that suit the building, e.g. rectangles have flat sides. I selected a triangle-shaped door so other animals could not get into my possum’s home. Focus children’s reflection using the following questions: Is your building like your plan? What will you do differently next time? Which shapes did you use the most often? Why? Which materials did you choose and why? How did you meet the design challenge? Were they the same shapes that we identified in our outside data collection? Can you see your design ideas and shapes used in buildings around you? Observation record to write children’s comments Using the Observation record