Design and technologies / Year 9 and 10 / Design and Technologies Knowledge and Understanding

Curriculum content descriptions

Critically analyse factors, including social, ethical and sustainability considerations, that impact on designed solutions for global preferred futures and the complex design and production processes involved (ACTDEK040)

Elaborations
  • evaluating design and technology professions and their contributions to society locally, nationally, regionally and globally, for example Aboriginal designers collaborating with international craftspeople for local enterprises
  • recognising the impact of past designed solutions and possible decisions when creating preferred futures, for example the design of public transport systems that use renewable energy and the design of rural communities to reduce fire risk
  • considering the factors that influence design and professional designers and technologists, including time, access to skills, knowledge, finance, expertise, for example Australian designers working with rapid prototyping manufacturers in China
  • explaining how product life cycle thinking can influence decision-making related to design and technologies, for example rethinking products to provide for re-use, selecting a material for a product that has a lower carbon footprint
  • critiquing mass production systems taking into account ethics and sustainability considerations, for example the mass production of food, clothing and shoes and why manufacturers produce different versions of the same product
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • Personal and social capability Personal and social capability
  • Ethical understanding Ethical understanding
ScOT terms

Human impact,  Designers,  Environmental sustainability,  Manufacturing processes,  Futures education,  Design

Video

Why become an engineer?

Are you interested in improving the way people live? What are some of the other reasons Ashwini Ranjithabalan gives for wanting to be an engineer?

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Green packaging lesson

This lesson plan engages students in finding ways to reduce plastic waste in food packaging. Students investigate problems created by plastic waste then observe ways these issues are being addressed. They design new packaging for food items that currently produce excessive waste then test their designs objectively. The ...

Video

Introduction to Food Security

This is a video that defines and explores the concept of food security using animated illustrations, spoken commentary, and pauses for discussion. Identifying the accelerating growth of population and the proportion of people who are chronically hungry, it provides the United Nation's definition of food security and its ...

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Spark: A better way to predict the spread of bushfires

In recent years, new technologies have helped us respond to natural disasters more quickly by providing up-to-date information as it becomes available. What if we could take this one step further with new technologies that can also predict disasters? Learn how Spark, which uses our existing knowledge of bushfire behaviours ...

Online

Sustainably and ethically produced and labelled eggs matter!

This is a teacher resource containing a sequence of inquiry relating to egg production, labelling and marketing in Australia. It contains material to assist planning, implementing and assessing a research task about production systems used to produce eggs, the claims associated with each production system and the labelling ...

Interactive

Invictus Games Sydney 2018 – Design and Technology – Stage 5

How can we make our contemporary world more inclusive? This Stage 5 Design and Technology module, Build a better world - investigating inclusive and accessible technologies and spaces, explores inventions and architectural designs that seek to improve access for those with disabilities throughout their everyday routines. ...

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Imagining other uses for robotics technology

It's cool to program robots to play football, but there are many more useful applications for programming robots to react to what they are seeing. What are some of the examples David McKinnon gives? Can you think of some more examples?

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Engineering is not just for maths geniuses!

You don't need to be a big maths brain to become an engineer. Listen as Ashwini Ranjithabalan from Women in Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) describes how her understanding of maths grew from her interest in engineering. Sometimes understanding how maths can provide solutions to problems in ...

Online

Salmon Growing in Tasmania

This is a unit of work on aquaculture with a particular focus on the Tasmanian salmon farming industry. The unit provides a series of structured investigations leading to a design challenge which asks students to create an improved salmon pen. Activities include: an introduction to aquaculture and sustainable farming methods; ...

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Food and fibre production: an Aboriginal perspective

This resource investigates historical Australian Aboriginal agricultural production. Chapters include: Aboriginal agriculture- Firestick farming, Cultivation and cropping and aquaculture, Farming and living to the calendar, and the environmental impacts of firestick farming. Suggested answers document also available. The ...

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Climate-resilient homes lesson

In this lesson, students explore how architects consider sustainability factors when designing innovative climate-resilient homes. Students then design their own climate-resilient home for a location of their choice. In their designs they are asked to consider many factors such as the climate of the location, orientation ...

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Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in Schools and Early Learning

The Narragunnawali website is a portal of rich content and professional resources for teachers and students in schools and early learning centres that promotes reconcilation between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The website includes curriculum- aligned resources and professional ...

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Supporting Implementation of Digital Technologies: Progress report – Focus on curriculum and pedagogy and learning outcomes (2019)

This PDF is an extensive report on the success of the Digital Technologies in Focus (DTiF) project, with a focus on curriculum and pedagogy and learning outcomes. The evaluation gathered qualitative data to create rich case study accounts of six schools' engagement in the project and its impacts and outcomes.

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Supporting the Implementation of Digital Technologies in Disadvantaged Schools: Case study of impact, outcomes and sustainability (2020)

This PDF is an extensive report on the success of the Digital Technologies in Focus (DTiF) project, with a focus on supporting the Implementation of Digital Technologies in disadvantaged schools. The evaluation gathered qualitative data to create rich case study accounts of six schools' engagement in the project and its ...

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Effective DTiF strategies

This PDF lists eight ways in which Digital Technologies in Focus (DTiF) supported the implementation of Digital Technologies in disadvantaged schools.

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Good teaching practice with Digital Technologies

This PDF lists seven characteristics of good teaching practice in the Digital Technologies curriculum.

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Faith Lutheran College – Timeline

This document presents the milestones in Faith Lutheran College's participation in the Digital Technologies in Focus project.

Audio

Faith Lutheran College – Podcast

This podcast includes information about the aims, challenges, insights and accomplishments of Faith Lutheran College's participation in the Digital Technologies in Focus project.

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Faith Lutheran College – – Final report

This report provides details of Faith Lutheran College's participation in the Digital Technologies in Focus project, including a Research question, criteria for success, data collection, resources, challenges, milestones and next steps.

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Faith Lutheran College – PL ecosystem

This document illustrates the network of people and resources that make up Faith Lutheran College's Professional Learning ecosystem.