Digital technologies / Year 3 and 4 / Digital Technologies Processes and Production Skills

Curriculum content descriptions

Define simple problems, and describe and follow a sequence of steps and decisions (algorithms) needed to solve them (ACTDIP010)

Elaborations
  • explaining what the problem is and some features of the problem, such as what need is associated with the problem, who has the problem and why
  • describing, using drawings, pictures and text, the sequence of steps and decisions in a solution, for example to show the order of events in a game and the decisions that a player must make
  • experimenting with different ways of describing a set of instructions, for example writing two versions of the same simple set of instructions for a programmable robotic device
  • explaining to others how to follow technical instructions, for example how to capture and download images from a mobile device
  • defining and describing the sequence of steps needed to incorporate multiple types of data in a solution, for example sequencing the steps in selecting and downloading images and audio to create a book trailer
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
  • ICT capability Information and Communication Technology (ICT) capability
ScOT terms

Algorithms

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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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Collecting data about litter in the community: years 3-4

This PDF provides activities for collecting, analysing and representing data about litter in the local community. It prompts students to consider the implications of rubbish in the local environment, and suggests actions students can take in order to reduce litter.

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ACARA sample assessment task: years 3-4: Classifying living or non-living things

This resource provides strategies for assessing aspects of the Digital Technologies subject in the Australian Curriculum that relate to data using contexts from other learning areas and General Capabilities, including Science, Mathematics, Numeracy and Literacy. The resource includes an assessment planner and rubric, as ...

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Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies years 3-4 Digital Systems sample assessment task: Cooling the school

This document provides a scaffold to teach and assess students’ understanding of how digital systems can be used to monitor and collect information used for mapping and making judgements about the environment. Students record information using digital systems to investigate a school need, then design solutions to improve ...

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Computer Science Fundamentals

This curriculum provides a teacher guidebook for implementing lessons, with learning and teaching activities, content, printable worksheets and some assessment lessons.

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Create a board game that uses an Ozobot

Create a game board where the player is provided with a number of decisions. Using Scratch and Makey Makey, students add multimodal elements to the story. These elements are activated using an Ozobot.

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Ciphering a sentence

A cipher is a message that has been written in such a way (encoded) that it is unreadable by others. In this lesson, students will use mapping to encode a sentence. Students will work with a partner to create an algorithm that describes the encryption process. They will also examine encoded and decoded messages to recognize ...

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Water Water everywhere!

In this lesson, students are presented with the challenging problem of measuring a volume of water using containers that are not the exact measurement size. Students will decompose a complex problem into discrete steps, design an algorithm for solving the problem, and evaluate solution efficiencies and optimization in a ...

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The wizard of Ozo

Using OzoBots students move an Ozobot about a map with coordinates. This lesson idea was created by Ben Jucius.

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Bee Bot Balloon Pop

During this lesson, students will be required to consider the functions of the Bee-Bot and how a user can interact with this device. Students are asked to design a course challenge for another user which will result in the Bee-Bot, with a pin attached, reversing into a balloon to pop it. This lesson idea was created by ...

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Have fun with flowcharts

Create a flowchart to represent a sequence of (branching) steps and decisions needed to solve a mathematical problem.

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Scratch 3.0 tutorial

This tutorial provides step-by-step instructions to support the learning of Scratch, a visual programming language. The tutorial is designed for educators who would like to learn how to use Scratch.

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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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Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies key concepts mapping: years 3-4

This PDF uses colour coding to provide a line of sight between key concepts, content descriptions and achievement standards in the Digital Technologies subject in the Australian Curriculum.

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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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Classroom ideas: exploring digital technologies through shopping: years 3-6

This PDF demonstrates how using concepts derived from age-appropriate content, combined with multiple points of entry to and exit from a shopping-related task might remove barriers to learning. Students engage in purposeful and authentic open-ended explorations that require critical and creative thinking and incorporate ...

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Robots, data and computational thinking: years 2-4

This PDF comprises four worksheets that allow students to observe, investigate, manipulate and program simple line-following robots (Ozobots), engaging in the computational thinking process while working with data.

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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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Makey Makey interactive poster: years 3-4

This PDF provides instructions for students to create an interactive poster using a Makey Makey and the visual programming language Scratch. A Makey Makey is an electronic circuit board, which, when connected to a computer, allows everyday objects to function as keyboards.

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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.