AC9TDE8K06 Years 7 to 8 Technologies

Content descriptor analyse how characteristics and properties of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment can be combined to create designed solutions

Elaborations

• • Elaboration investigating the significance of hafting in First Nations Australians’ traditional toolkit, including how the characteristics and properties of materials are combined to create a designed solution, for example modern hatchets have seen little innovation since the hafted stone hatchet that combines the benefits of a lever and a wedge to create durable tools that reduce effort
• • Elaboration investigating aspects of technologies specialisations, for example in architecture, critiquing the design of an existing building to identify features of passive design or, in fashion, evaluating the sustainability of different fibres
• • Elaboration investigating a broad range of technologies – tools, equipment, processes, materials, systems and components − when designing for a range of technologies contexts, for example analysing the benefits and disadvantages of building an animal shelter such as a dog kennel with wood, metal and synthetic fabric in terms of function, tools and equipment needed to produce it and expected durability
• • Elaboration considering the ways in which the characteristics and properties of technologies will impact on designed solutions, for example the choice of building materials and housing design in Australia and a country in Asia; the properties of textile fibres and fabrics that determine end use in a range of settings such as architecture, medicine, sport and automotive
• • Elaboration explaining safe work practices for using specific equipment or materials, for example producing a safety information video that details risk management practices for using tools or equipment including considering how the properties of some materials suit certain designs and may cause harm if manipulated in an unsafe way in the classroom or within a community such as ventilation when sanding timber
• • Elaboration testing and selecting the most appropriate hand tools, equipment, processes and materials to produce a product, for example a stool or smartphone stand that can be assembled from bending and interlocking cardboard pieces or from wood using a laser cutter or other digital tools
• • Elaboration investigating carbon fibres (reinforced polymers) and graphite fibres which are strong, stiff, lightweight material used in specialised high-performance products, for example on the design of sporting equipment