Students designing in Stage 3 Science and Technology
The Foundation Statements and the Stage 3 outcome
for designing and making place an emphasis on
students:
 independently planning, implementing and
managing design processes
 evaluating using design criteria
 considering the implications of design and
production in relation to environmental, aesthetic,
cultural, ethical, safety and functional factors.
At Stage 3, students are better able to discuss processes
of designing and to anticipate the actions that might be
taken to ensure that products, systems and environments
meet the needs of users. They reflect on their actions and
suggest better ways of organising their project work.
Students use developing social skills when working
collaboratively on design projects. They have a broader
understanding of the world and give consideration to the
future and the implications of developments.
Following are two samples of classroom practice.
Sample Task A: Design a
more environmentally
sustainable town for a
gold mining community
Stage 3 Task A: Design a more environmentally sustainable town
for a gold mining community
“We discussed the
consequences of the gold rush
and the needs of miners.
And we looked at how the
environment was damaged by
gold miners.”
exploring needs
planning a design process
“We talked about the design process and how to manage our task.”
Stage 3 Task A: Design a more environmentally sustainable town for a gold mining community (cont.)
communicating design ideas
developing ideas
developing ideas
communicating design ideas
Stage 3 Task A: Design a more environmentally sustainable town for a gold mining community (cont.)
communicating design ideas
producing solutions
producing solutions
producing solutions
producing
Stage 3 Task A: Design a more environmentally sustainable town for a gold mining community (cont.)
producing solutions
producing solutions
using plans
producing solutions
Stage 3 Task A: Design a more environmentally sustainable town for a gold mining community (cont.)
evaluating solutions
“We think our town would be a much healthier
and less damaging environment”
evaluating solutions
“We really like the siphon shower to keep the miners clean.”
evaluating solutions
“We evaluated our
model to see
whether we had
satisfied our
design brief.”
evaluating solutions
Sample Task B: Design
and
and make
publish
a device
a cooking
that
uses
booksome
for a favourite
form of energy
food
Stage 3 Task B: Design and make a device that uses some form
of energy
Students designing
defining the
Design criteria
The device must:
• work efficiently and be easy to use
• be practical to make
• meet a real need
• include some form of electrical power
(batteries or solar).
task
Your portfolio must show:
• evidence of collaborative group work and
time management skills
• annotated design drawings showing
modifications where necessary
• reflective diary entries.
Design constraints
Your model must:
• be completed within the allocated timeframe
• be completed at school.
investigating circuits
“We talked about the design brief, the criteria and the constraints. We decided that we needed to investigate how
electrical circuit work. In our planning we divided our time between design and making our product and investigating
electrical circuits.” – see link to Stage 3 Investigating
Stage 3 Task B: Design and make a device that uses some form of energy (cont.)
The whole class thought about electrical products and why
they are needed. We came up with many ideas:
• a personal alarm – for safety – scare off attackers
• a bike light – for bike safety – to help show the way
• a light for the toilet door – to tell people when the loo is
occupied
• a reading light – to light a small reading area without
stopping others from sleeping
•an intercom system – to talk to a person in another room
• a personal fan – to keep cool in hot weather and not use
too much electricity
generating ideas
Reading light
A
works efficiently and is easy to use – a reading light
seems simple to use – you turn it off and on
B
C
*
practical to make – we have lots of materials to re-use
and the teacher said that we will learn how to make an
electrical circuit
*
meets a real need – we decided we like reading in bed
*
includes a form of electrical power
*
Batteries
researching resources
Dry Cell batteries are the small household batteries that power
flashlights, toys, cassette players, cameras, cell phones, hearing aids,
watches and many more other household things. Some batteries may or
may not be rechargeable. They can be round, square, button-shaped, or
in a pack. Although “dry cell” batteries less than 1% of municipal solid
waste weight, they account for 52% of all cadmium and 88% of all
mercury found in landfills.
Dry Cell batteries include:
AAA, AA, C, D cell
9 volt
Button (hearing aids, watches)
Ni-Cd (rechargeable batteries are found in cellular phones and power
tools).
Wet Cell batteries are the big batteries used in trucks, cars, motorcycles,
boats and industrial applications. Wet Cell batteries contain lead and
acid. Wet Cell batteries are band in landfills in Ohio because of their
potential to leash toxic chemicals as they break down. Neither you nor
trash hauler may dispose of wet cell batteries in the landfills.
Wet Cell batteries are used in:: cars, motorcycles and trucks.
We made a list of ideas and decided to evaluate each using the design criteria.
For each idea we placed an A,B or C against each point (criterion). In the end it
was clear that a small reading light was needed and practical to make.
We wanted to use the solar collectors that are in the kit but they didn’t
seem right. We needed sunlight for energy. When we want to use our light
there is no sunlight. If we collected solar energy we would have to store it.
Probably in a battery.
developing ideas
developing ideas for circuits
Stage 3 Task B: Design and make a device that uses some form of energy (cont.)
developing ideas for switches
developing ideas for circuits
“We started working out ideas by drawing
rough plans.”
developing ideas for shades
constructing circuits
Stage 3 Task B: Design and make a device that uses some form of energy (cont.)
producing solutions
constructing circuits
“We all thought that our lights are really useful. We
tested them at home by laying in bed and reading.
Mum thought the batteries will be a bit expensive.”
“In class we talked about our design process and how
hard it was to manage our time.”
producing solutions