Design and Technologies / Foundation / Processes and production skills / Designing and making

Curriculum content descriptions

generate, communicate and evaluate design ideas, and use materials, equipment and steps to safely make a solution for a purpose (AC9TDEFP01)

Elaborations
  • identifying a purpose for designing and making a solution, for example the sand keeps blowing out of the sandpit, the birds keep flying into the waste bin and taking food scraps or people with disability need to know where they can park at school
  • exploring ideas by drawing or modelling and choosing the most suitable idea, for example drawing or modelling designs for bee hotels to attract native bees to the school garden and choosing one to make, and changing perspectives from front view to plan view
  • evaluating what they have made using personal preferences, for example using a smiley face Likert scale
  • exploring how available materials can be used or re-used in construction play, for example using blocks and rain gutters or cardboard to make a ramp to roll a ball or toy car down
  • practising a range of technical skills safely using equipment, for example joining techniques when making a product from materials, such as a greenhouse to keep a seedling warm or a trellis for holding up tomato plants
  • assembling components of systems and checking they function as planned, for example making and testing a bowling, stacking or obstacle game with discarded food containers or packaging
General capabilities
  • Literacy Literacy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and Creative Thinking
ScOT terms

Design thinking,  Materials,  Design briefs,  Work health and safety

Online

Education - Return to 1616 Ecological Restoration Project

This is a comprehensive education package based on of the world's most exciting ecological restoration projects that is happening right now in Western Australia! It features interactive virtual tours, 3D skulls, videos, real-action inquiry projects, research projects, native animal educational card games and activities, ...

Interactive

Chicken farming in the living world: Stage 1

Chickens are fascinating animals and provide students with an interesting subject matter to discuss the many aspects of our living world. This interactive course for students explores the question 'How do humans use plants and animals?' and comprises a series of modules and supporting videos. Students will plan, design ...

Video

Use your creative thinking skills!

Ashwini Ranjithabalan from Women in Engineering and IT at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) sees engineering as the business of solving future problems. What are some of the challenges we (and our societies) might face in the future? Get some friends together and see if you can brainstorm a list. Now choose one ...

Video

Thinking about the design process

Watch as UNSW student and Blusat member William Frohlich talks about the design process. What are some of the important things to consider before you start to make a project? Why does William say it's important to be flexible with your designs? Design your own obstacle course for your family using objects from around your ...

Video

Hour of Code: Mark Zuckerberg teaches Repeat Loops

The Hour of Code is a one-hour introduction to computer science, designed to demystify code and show that anybody can learn the basics. In this instructional video, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg explains what a Repeat Loop is and how to use the repeat block. This is the second of seven clips in the Hour of Code tutorial. To ...

Online

Planting fruit and vegetables

In this sequence of lessons students grow a plant from seed, capturing each step and decision as an algorithmic process and recording data for future learning.

Online

Farm Diaries

This resource is a 48 page pdf integrated inquiry unit, for junior primary students, exploring farm life and farm produce. Activities are sequenced using the five inquiry model. Topics examined include: how do farm families care for the animals and crops they farm?; how are these animals and crops processed for food or ...

Text

Computational thinking cut out cards

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

Text

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

Text

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 ...

Video

Expert webinar video: Dr Michelle Ellis: Learning resources for using micro:bits

Dr Michelle Ellis gives a demonstration of the Edith Cowan University Makerspace visual and general-purpose programming environment. She also shows a range of materials to support the implementation of the Australian Curriculum: Digital Technologies. This includes teaching resources and lesson plans.

Video

Activities that promote Digital Technologies concepts and incorporate Numeracy: part 6: Using literature as a springboard to Numeracy and Digital Technologies

This video provides suggestions for ways in which Digital Technologies can be used to develop students' learning in the Literacy and Numeracy Learning Progressions.

Audio

Casino West Public School reflects on learning during the DTiF project

In this audio file teachers from Casino West PS share their experiences in developing a Digital Technologies program in the school, They chose to focus on creative and critical thinking.

Text

Faith Lutheran College – Timeline

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

Text

Mossman State School – Project proposal

This PDF outlines Mossman State School's proposal to participate in the Digital Technologies in Focus project.

Text

Computational thinking poster

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

Text

Bethany Christian School

Bethany Christian School is an independent school just north of Adelaide located in Paralowie, South Australia on the Traditional Lands of the Kaurna People. It is an F-6 school, with 543 students, and of those, approximately 48% are EAL/D. Steve Grant is the curriculum officer who works with the school to support implementation ...

Video

Bethany Christian School – Progress report 3

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

Text

Bethany Christian School – PL ecosystem

This document illustrates the network of people and resources that make up Bethany Christian School's Professional Learning ecosystem.

Text

Bethany Christian School – Final report

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