Fantastic Force: Make it Float
By Patrick Linnan
About this resource
The following website has been designed as a resource for classroom teachers within the Foundation to Year 2 teaching area to use when working within the Design and Technologies sub-strand of the Technologies curriculum. The goal of this particular unit of work is that students will generate, design and develop a boat from everyday products that will float and move. Throughout the process, students will engage in a series of activities that will assist them understanding how a product is developed to suit a purpose. In this case, they will use the understandings they have developed to ensure that the final product is able to float and move through water.
This particular unit of work is targeted towards students in Year 2 but has been designed with the intent that it can be adapted for use with students in the Foundation year or Year 1. Students will receive guidance from the teacher throughout the tasks to ensure that they have understood and are able to apply the principles of design and engineering to achieve the desired outcome. By the conclusion of the activity, students will have a full design plan for the final product which outlines choices made during the design and construction phase of the boat and describes how this matches the final product.
The unit plan provides detailed information and resources for a teacher using this particular resource within their classroom. For most effective use of this resource, it would be required that the teacher considers individual student ability levels. The Supportive Learning Environment document details suggestions for strategies and adjustments that can support student learning at the differentiated, focused and intensive levels of support.
Prior to students commencing work on the student pages, the class teacher will facilitate one whole class lesson that introduces the topic, links it to prior learning and establishes the foundation for the unit of work including looking at the design brief and project book. The tasks on the student pages within this resource are designed so that they can be completed by students with minimal guidance or so that they can be adapted to cater for the learning needs for a range of students including those who require teacher and peer support. For example, the teacher may consider the following adaptations depending upon student capability.
This particular unit of work is targeted towards students in Year 2 but has been designed with the intent that it can be adapted for use with students in the Foundation year or Year 1. Students will receive guidance from the teacher throughout the tasks to ensure that they have understood and are able to apply the principles of design and engineering to achieve the desired outcome. By the conclusion of the activity, students will have a full design plan for the final product which outlines choices made during the design and construction phase of the boat and describes how this matches the final product.
The unit plan provides detailed information and resources for a teacher using this particular resource within their classroom. For most effective use of this resource, it would be required that the teacher considers individual student ability levels. The Supportive Learning Environment document details suggestions for strategies and adjustments that can support student learning at the differentiated, focused and intensive levels of support.
Prior to students commencing work on the student pages, the class teacher will facilitate one whole class lesson that introduces the topic, links it to prior learning and establishes the foundation for the unit of work including looking at the design brief and project book. The tasks on the student pages within this resource are designed so that they can be completed by students with minimal guidance or so that they can be adapted to cater for the learning needs for a range of students including those who require teacher and peer support. For example, the teacher may consider the following adaptations depending upon student capability.
- Individual student progresses through activities with peers as well as some teacher guidance and support. Software options such as Text to Speech features and access to an online dictionary with student friendly definitions (e.g. Longman Online Dictionary) support student literacy.
- Teacher Aide or Teacher work through the student pages together with students in a small group activity (3 to 4 students)
- Teacher uses Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) to work through tasks with the whole class with a focus on differentiated instruction to meet the needs of all learners
- Combinations of any of the above
Curriculum references for teachers
Design and Technologies –
ACTDEP006: Generate, develop and record design ideas through describing, drawing and modelling
ACTDEP006: Generate, develop and record design ideas through describing, drawing and modelling
- communicating design ideas by modelling, and producing and labelling two-dimensional drawings using a range of technologies to show different views (top view and side view),
- describing how design ideas meet the needs of those who will use the solution
- exploring how the principles of push and pull are used in the design of toys
- selecting materials to demonstrate how material properties are appropriate for particular designed solutions, for example materials that enable sliding or floating
- exploring how to manipulate materials using a range of tools, equipment and techniques to create movement, for example when constructing a toy boat that floats and moves
Teacher resources:
design_and_technology_unit_plan.docx |
supportive_learning_environment.docx |
fantastic_force_-_student_project_book.docx |
Rubric
Here is a copy of the rubric required for this unit of work and the completed project.
rubric.docx |