Three Famous New Zealanders
World Class Technology
Resource Review
Description
This is a 24-page booklet written by engineer Joanne Macgregor and made available free of charge by Christchurch based building company C. Lund and Son Ltd. Published in 2007, it profiles three famous New Zealand innovators – Richard Pearce, Bill Hamilton and John Britton – and is targeted at Year 7-10 students, teachers and parents.
Curriculum Links
The material presented would be of interest to students working across a number of curriculum areas including Technology, Science and Social Studies.
Content
The booklet has sections providing short biographical details of each of the three featured inventors and the story of their development processes.
The section on Richard Pearce details the design of his two-stroke engine and the construction of the framework of his aeroplane, which is thought to have made short flights on his South Canterbury farm in 1903. Comparison is made between this and the plane used by Orville and Wilbur Wright for their one-minute flight in the USA that same year. This is followed by a two-page colour spread explaining the principles of flight.
The section on Bill Hamilton focuses on the development of the water jet, an explanation of how it works and a feature on Hamilton Jet Boat production in Christchurch.
John Britten's story features the development of the world record setting V1000 Superbike, largely hand-constructed by him and his small team in their Christchurch workshop. The importance of their use of composite materials in the construction is emphasised and comparisons are made between the Britten Superbike and conventional 1000cc production sports bikes.
The booklet finishes with short features on the working of the four-stroke engine, biodiesel fuel, hybrid vehicles, electric motors, hydrogen power and fuel cells.
Ease of use
The material is attractively and succinctly presented with liberal use of photographs and diagrams to break down the text and illustrate the historical period and the technical content. The glossary of terms is a useful inclusion.
Rating
The focus of the booklet on the world-class technological achievements of three famous New Zealanders gives it obvious relevance to New Zealand students and makes it worthy of consideration as a classroom resource for use in Technology and Science programmes. The style of presentation used is well suited to its target Year 7-10 audience – coverage of technical details is enhanced by the inclusion of clear diagrams and potentially unfamiliar terms are highlighted and explained. The text is challenging and the material would provide an excellent literacy development resource, particularly for boys.
Availability
Year 7-10 class sets of 10 to 15 booklets are available until current stocks are used up. Orders are processed every three months. Contact Joanne Macgregor at: [email protected].
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