Digital technologies / Year 5 and 6 / Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills

Curriculum content descriptions

Define problems in terms of data and functional requirements drawing on previously solved problems (ACTDIP017)

Elaborations
  • checking existing solutions to identify features that are transferable to new but similar digital solutions, for example identifying if there are any similarities (such as user age and special requirements) between an existing game and a new game to be created – in terms of the types of data and the needs of the users
  • investigating characteristics of user interfaces that are common for particular types of problems, for example, touch screens – many people respond more intuitively than when using a keyboard or stylus; and the consistent placement of symbols helps with performing actions that require speed, for example in games
  • using and interpreting data, establishing the root cause of a problem, for example using an annotated diagram to identify omissions, duplications or mismatches of data
  • describing in simple terms the nature of a problem and what a solution needs to achieve, for example what need the problem is associated with, who the solution is needed for, what data are needed and what features the solution would need to include
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Problem solving,  Functionality

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Is it going to rain today?

In this lesson sequence students understand the importance of data in effective decision-making, and are able to find, sort and interpret Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) rainfall data, and to collect their own data and analyse the resulting datasets.

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Computational thinking poster

This infographic provides an overview overview of the concepts related to computational thinking.

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Data knowledge and skills tutorial: part 4 - analysing and visualising data

This video demonstrates ways in which data can be analysed and visualised. It is the final in a series of four.

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Programming for Water Management

This unit of work introduces students to the potential of digital technologies to manage and conserve water resources in Australian agriculture. It assumes that students and teachers have little or no prior programming experience and provides a series of introductory activities to build students' understanding of the basic ...

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Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies Years F-6 achievement standards and aligned content descriptions on a page

This PDF presents content descriptions and achievement standards for the Digital Technologies subject in the Australian Curriculum

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Telling robots what to do

If you were programming a robot to play a competitive game of soccer, what are some of the things you would consider? Think about some of the most basic functions of a robot, like walking, stopping and turning, to more complicated functions like recognising objects and reacting to them in a specific way.

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What skills are important for programming robots?

Listen as David McKinnon from UNSW describes some of the skills that are useful to have if you want to program robots. David explains an activity that exercises problem solving skills. Why don't you try doing it? Look at a map and find some towns that are close to yours. Use the scale on the map to work out the distances ...

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Sydney Metro – a 3D design focused inquiry – Stage 3

This inquiry-based unit of work was created, trialled and peer reviewed as part of a professional learning program in inquiry-based learning for school teachers. The professional learning courses were part of a pilot partnership between the NSW Government’s Sydney Metro transport agency and Western Sydney University.

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Home energy use

Reducing carbon dioxide emissions and sustainable energy use and are two of the major issues facing the world today. This project explores energy use in homes, and compares individual energy use with the class average and calculate and graph CO2 emissions.

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Micro:bit missions: Take a chance on me (Integrating Mathematics): years 6-8

This resource comprises two activities that allow students to explore the concept of chance in Mathematics. Students use computational thinking while using a micro:bit as a digital system to generate and collect data. Students implement programs involving branching and iteration in visual and general-purpose programming languages.

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Makey Makey boards

In this sequence of lessons students explore how electrical energy can be transferred and transformed in electrical circuits, using Makey Makey boards as the basis for experimentation and recoding of data.

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Computational thinking cut out cards

This set of printable cards provides definitions of six aspects of computational thinking.

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DIY micro:bit metal detector: years 5-6

This PDF outlines a way in which students can use micro:bits and magnets to create and program metal detectors.

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Home automation with AI

Home automation is all the rage. You talk to your mobile phone to control the lights, the fan, the air conditioner, or your pool pump. But how does it work? In this lesson, we explore the AI that could power a home automation system.

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Visual programming with Scratch: years 3-6

This comprises a collection of sample activities that incorporate visual programming (Scratch) into teaching and learning programs. They show the possibilities Scratch offers for integration. The projects are incomplete and are designed to be used as samples for inspiration or modification by teachers.

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Teaching and supporting project management in the F-6 classroom

This PDF gives educators an overview of what project management is and ideas on how they can implement project management skills in the F-6 classroom.

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Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies: years 5-6

This PDF provides a line of sight from content descriptions to achievement standards.

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Voskoglou & Buckley review: Problem solving and computational thinking

This article explores the relationship between computational and critical thinking as it applies to solving technological problems. Research evidence derived from classroom experiments strongly suggests that using computers to solve problems enhances students’ abilities in solving real-world problems involving mathematical ...

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Green Hill Public School – Progress report 2

This video explains the progress that Bethany Christian School has made in the Digital Technologies in Focus project. It is the second in a series of three.

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Green Hill Public School – Timeline

This document presents the milestones in Green Hill Public School's participation in the Digital Technologies in Focus project.