Supporting Learning Environment Level 4

To support students to develop understanding of characteristics of technology at level 4, teachers could:

• provide students with opportunities to examine a range of technologies that have and/or could expand human possibilities by changing people’s sensory perception and/or physical abilities. Examination of technologies should allow students to gain insight into how decisions are based on both what could and what should happen
• guide students to understand that ‘expanding human possibilities’ can result in positive and negative impacts on societies and natural environments and may be experienced differently by particular groups of people
• provide students with opportunities to examine and debate examples of innovative technologies that resulted in new possibilities. Examples should draw from the past and present and allow students to identify the creative and critical thinking that underpinned the developments.
• provide students opportunity to explore the wide range of knowledge and skills from diverse disciplines that support technology
• provide students opportunity to explore differences between technological knowledge and knowledge from other disciplines
• guide students to analyse a range of examples of technological practices and to identify the knowledge and skills that informed initial design decisions and ongoing manufacturing decisions. Examples should be drawn from within their own and others’ technological practice and allow students to gain insight into how technological knowledge and skills, and knowledge and skills from other disciplines, can support technology practice and allow students to gain insight into the range of disciplines that can support technological developments

Identify examples where technology has changed people’s sensory perception and/or physical abilities and discuss the potential short and long term impacts of these

Have students pick a decade of New Zealand’s history and find a significant technological development that occurred during this time. Identify how this technological development has expanded human possibilities

Examples of technological developments include:

• Hamilton jet boat
• Buzzy bee
• Pavlova
• Electric Fence
• Baby Formula
• Bungy Jump

Review Visa Evolution ad and identify how technological developments have expanded human possibilities

Visa evolution ad Watch the ad (1:03) - identify the opportunities that are provided through the use of the current versions of the technologies mentioned in the clip

• cellphone
• video
• i-phones
• computers (word processing)
• eftpos and credit cards (and the new one, debit cards)

Discuss current impacts and potential future impacts

Identify examples of creative and critical thinking in technological practice

Have students Google: ‘tomorrows technology’ and find a New Zealand technological outcome which they can research and discuss

Discuss a specific technology and the innovations that have allowed/need to occur to enable these technologies to be realised (developed through to implemented products)
Discuss questions such as:

• what is ‘creative’ about the technology (e.g. design features – functions and/or its appearance) and/or its development (e.g. the reason why it was developed, how it was developed)
• what ‘critical thinking’ may have been needed to enable the technology to developed through to implemented products

Identify and categorise knowledge and skills from technology and other disciplines that have informed decisions in technological development and manufacture

Analyse the technological development used to develop a technological outcome. For ideas on New Zealand developed technological outcomes google: NZ Inventions

Contexts that could be explore include:

Top 10 New Zealand Inventions

Maungatautari Reserve Vermin-proof fence

Mountain Buggy
Have students discuss questions such as:

• what was the main issue(s)/problem(s) that needed resolution?
• what knowledge (specific and generic) did the technologists need to resolve the issue/problem (s)
• what skills did the technologist need to resolve the issue/problem?