Supporting Learning Environment Level 2

To support students to develop understanding of characteristics of technology at level 2, teachers could:

• provide opportunities for students to discuss the made, natural, and social world and guide them to explore how technology relates to each of these
• provide students with examples of different technologist’s practice and guide them to identify any social and/or environmental issues that might have influenced their practice and the nature of the outcomes they produce. For example; social attitudes to the environment has resulted in some technologists choosing to only use renewable materials, cold and windy environmental considerations requiring clothing outcomes that have insulating and close-fitting attributes
• provide students with examples of technological outcomes and guide them to explore how these have changed over time and identify any changes that have resulted in terms of people’s capability to do things. Examples should allow students to recognize that increasing capability to do things may result in both positive and negative impacts on the person, society and/or the environment
• provide students with the opportunity to explore a range of technologies and guide them to identify examples of positive and negative impacts on people, society and/or the environment.

Describe the relationship between technology and the made, natural and social world

Discuss differences between products, naturally occurring objects and social systems (e.g school timetable)

Have students categorise objects (products, natural objects, and social systems). Discuss relationships and what defines them as belonging to these categories.

Identify social and/or environmental issues that may have influenced particular technological practices and/or the attributes of outcomes produced

Identify what influenced the attributes of familiar products.

Use familiar products (e.g. convenience food, breakfast food, school bag, sports boots)

• identify their attributes
• identify why these attributes are important to the function of the product
• ask why these attributes are important.

Compare “old” and “new” versions of technological outcomes (products) e.g. domestic phone versus cell phone, games (board games versus electronic).

Using pictures of old telephones (timeline of photos) discuss with students how people have expanded their lives through communication. Ask students:

• what do you use phones for today?
• who uses them?
• what were the older phones able to do?
• to explain what limits the ability of older phones to be useful today?

Explore examples of technological developments in history and discuss how they have changed how people do things.

Technology student website - technological developments in history

Using a Venn diagram, compare old and new technological outcomes e.g. fax machine and texting.

Ask questions such as:

• what kind of technological outcomes are referred to as ‘old’ and ‘new’ ?
• what functions do they perform that are the same/different
• what technologies do they posses that are the same/different

Describe examples to illustrate when technology has had a positive impact on society and/or the environment

De Bono’s Thinking Hats = Yellow hat

Choose a technological outcome (e.g. car, TV, soft drink… ) discuss:

• how the technological outcome has helped people
• how the technological outcome has impacted on the environment

PMI (Positive, Minus, Interesting)

Chose technological developments that are both obviously positively or negatively impact on society ( or ones that can be both ) e.g. plastic drink bottle – positive on people health but negative for the environment

Describe examples to illustrate when technology has had a negative impact on society and/or the environment.

De Bono’s Thinking Hats = Black hat

As above but discuss how they have harmed people and the environment.