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

Curriculum content descriptions

Investigate and make judgments, within a range of technologies specialisations, on how technologies can be combined to create designed solutions (ACTDEK047)

Elaborations
  • examining factors influencing the design of a product that has an explicit environmental emphasis, for example the low-flush toilet
  • critiquing product manufacturing processes in relation to society, ethics, and sustainability factors, for example a mechanised entertainment system; an interactive multimedia product to teach a concept to a student in a country in Asia
  • critiquing the social nature of services, for example a signage system to manage students and community members during a school function (signs may include words, pictures and/or braille); organisational system for an aged-care facility
  • critiquing environments in relation to preferred futures in relation to society, ethics and sustainability practices, for example the refurbishment of a local playground; the re-design of a local wetland
General capabilities
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Design,  Engineering,  Deductive reasoning

Video

How to design and build a robot in six weeks!

Evan, a mechanical mentor for FIRST Robotic Competition's 3132 'Thunder Down Under', outlines the processes involved in designing, building and testing a robot in six weeks. What influences the team in their design and building processes? Can you think of anything else that might influence the design and build of the robot ...

Video

Biofuels – From Sorghum to Ethanol (video)

This is a video [6:05 min] about the production of ethanol from sorghum at the Dalby Bio-Refinery in Queensland. The video describes and illustrates the stages in the production process including milling the sorghum into ‘flour’; mixing the flour with water to hydrolyse the starch; adding enzymes to liquefy the starch (the ...

Interactive

Thermal comfort – sustainability action process (Years 7–10)

This thermal comfort learning resource will guide students through an extended school based investigation. Students will develop and implement a chosen sustainability action and then evaluate and reflect on their success and their learning.

Video

Smart Water - Precision Irrigation: video

This is a video (5:08 min) about the importance of water to a fully-irrigated 1600ha farming and wine-producing enterprise on the banks of the Murray River and the effectiveness of its fully automated irrigation system. The enterprise is Andrew Peace Wines and the system was developed by WiSA. The video iillustrates viticulture ...

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; ...

Text

PRIMED Technologies - Year 9

This set of two units of work challenge students to consider waste in timber production and use, and explore the design and operation of an agritourism business. The resource includes a teacher guide, supporting videos, slide shows and student worksheets and is part of the PRIMED series of resources.

Text

PRIMED Technologies - Year 10

This set of two units of work challenge students to consider waste in timber production and use, and explore emerging technologies in food and fibre production. The resource includes a teacher guide, supporting videos, slide shows and student worksheets and is part of the PRIMED series of resources.

Text

Amp up the volume

This set of learning activities challenges students to build a portable amplifier that passively amplifies the sound produced by a smartphone. The module includes a comprehensive teacher guide, curriculum links, materials lists, design process guides and printable student resource sheets. The resource also provides an editable ...

Text

Communication Technology

In this activity, students identify and evaluate the communication technologies used during the war. They then apply their understanding of the physical sciences to construct a telegraph machine and develop and use a cipher to send a coded message. This resource is part of a suite of activities from Queensland Museum focused ...

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The One That Didn't Get Away

In this activity, students investigate the refraction of light. They explore what happens to a beam of light when it passes through transparent materials, and how refraction can affect the appearance of objects. The ways in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people use scientific knowledge to accurately spear fish ...

Text

Costumes of the Performing Arts Collection

Explore some of the costumes curated from the Adelaide Festival Centre’s performing arts collection. Find supporting information and discussion questions to inform conversations about design, and the ways in which performances are conceptualised.

Text

Thermoregulation in spacesuits

Space exploration demands technological advances that enable survival in extremely harsh environments. In this lesson, students will explore contemporary spacesuit design and create their own representation of the suit’s thermoregulation system.

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Contemporary fire management

In this resource, students learn about ways that groups are combining traditional indigenous knowledge of fire management with satellite imagery, fuel load mapping, and aerial incendiary technology. Students will investigate the interaction between traditional knowledge of fire management and new technologies. Using case ...

Text

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 ...