Applications booklet series
Resource Review
Description
The Applications series of booklets is intended for use with students in Years 9 – 11. It presents scientific and technological information within the context of narratives that reflect real-life problems and experiences. This approach supports the development of language across the curriculum.
The Applications series is accompanied by Teacher Notes which are available on the TKI website at www.tki.org.nz/r/science/applications. These suggest reading approaches and classroom science and technology activities for the first 14 books in the series.
Curriculum Links
Links are given which clearly relate to The New Zealand Curriculum (2007) especially in the series from 2005 onwards. Some references are noted in relation to the then draft curriculum.
One of the booklets in the series Lips, Lipids and Locks includes explanations of concepts related to Technological Practice and the three components are provided with examples of application within the class environment.
Andrea Moore: On the cutting edge supports Technological Practice links and, although not clearly stated, this resource relates well to the Technological Knowledge strand – especially in reference to functional modelling and production systems.
Booklets such as The Gift of Rongoa and The History Makers link to the Nature of Technology strand.
These booklets, and others in the series, also support the Science curriculum with detailed teaching notes and suggested activities that could be readily used within a Technology programme.
Content
Most booklets follow a two-part structure – a main narrative interspersed with separate scientific and technological breakout sections that amplify and explain key ideas.
The notes begin with a brief section of background information, followed by a set of student activities presented under topic headings. The introductory section also includes a discussion of links between the booklet in question and other in the series, highlighting opportunities for students to approach a topic from different angles by accessing a range of Applicationstitles. The learning experiences in the notes combine hands-on, student-led outcome development with the exploration of important theoretical dimensions – all springing from the 'real-life' context presented in the students' booket.
The Application series is accompanied by Teacher Notes that are also available on the TKI website. These notes suggest reading approaches and classroom Science and Technology activities for the first 14 books in the series.
Ease of use
The booklets have:
- attractive and colourful covers;
- easy-to-read layout and fonts;
- diagrams presented in simple layouts;
- clearly titled sections and break-out activities; and
- accompanying Teacher Notes (also available at www.tki.org.nz/r/science/applications).
As these booklets are content-rich, literacy strategies are needed to guide and support student use – dependent on the year level and individual student literacy skills. Teacher Notes explain a variety of strategies to encourage a supportive learning environment.
Teacher Notes provide detail on cultural appropriateness related to suggested activities and address health and safety requirements.
Teachers in New Zealand are granted permission to reproduce and adapt this work in whole or in part for educational purposes, provided that copies are not sold, rented, or placed on an open website.
Rating
- Most titles can be easily explored within a broad technology programme to enhance students' technological literacy.
- Some titles are more relevant to specific categories of Technology and can be explored in depth to enhance students' own Technological Practice within a clearly defined context.
- Teacher Notes provide support for teachers' understanding of Technological Practice and delivery of quality technology teaching strategies by providing detailed activities that could be used or modified for use in the learning environment.
- These notes also provide teachers with support strategies for presentation of the content rich books to students.
- Although not all booklets in the series are specifically linked to The New Zealand Curriculum (2007), they all provide material that clearly supports the essence of technology literacy within all three strands: Technological Practice, Technological Knowledge and Nature of Technology.
- All resources relevant to Technology Teacher Notes have been reviewed.
Availability
Class sets of each newly published booklet are sent to all schools free of charge – so teachers should find out how to source these within their school environment.
Teacher notes accompany the booklets and are also available for download at www.tki.org.nz/r/science/applications.
To enable teachers to source relevant back copies, ISBN numbers, item numbers, and student book item numbers for each book in the series from 2004 to 2009 are available at www.tki.org.nz/r/science/applications.
RSS Feed
