Takaka Primary school technology unit
The juniors worked on a fire unit. Photos: Maria Polglase.
Takaka Primary has been running a school-wide technology unit this term, and last week the students invited their families to come and view and taste their projects and creations.
Visiting parents were invited to comment on biscuit samples, and the classroom floors were full of working models and experiments.
Deputy principal Tre Sylvawood said that each class had studied different aspects of technology as part of the school’s Rich Topic for term two.
“The juniors have enjoyed working on a unit about fire and safety around it. They have been constructing engines and appliances and looking at how they put out fires.
“The seniors in room three have got together as groups of designers and creators to make biscuits – working through the processes of manufacturing, advertising and selling. A lot of work went into canvassing children to identify their favourite biscuits.
“Room one’s topic was rebuilding Christchurch. They have been looking at the structures of buildings and why some withstood the test of the earthquake and some collapsed. They have been talking about what makes buildings earthquake-proof and discussing rebuilding.
Room two had looked at natural dyes as opposed to synthetic dyes, making dyes from natural materials and the difference between the two results, said Tre.
“Room four students have been working with a partner on a couple of technology problems to solve. They’ve made baby rattles and kites, looking at design factors and what criteria they need to make a successful product. For example, with the baby rattles, they needed to consider whether they were too heavy, and safety issues over whether the materials used were suitable for babies. They decided that none of them were in fact safe enough and that they were all prototypes.
Tre said that the emphasis in many rooms was on the design and creation of something, taking it through to production and then modifying the design. “They go off and fly them in the case of the kites, but it doesn’t stop there. If it didn’t fly then they try and find out why and modify it.”
The technology topic aims to develop children’s ability and confidence in finding solutions in lots of different ways, said Tre. She also commented on the extent of students’ technological understanding as compared to their parents’ generation age for age – a case in point being a robot that can be programmed for movement and sound.
“The room four boys who built the robot just started it today. The Robotics Lego is a brand new technology tool in the school, purchased from Pub Charity grant funds. I took it home in the holidays and tried twice to make what they made, and twice I gave up, yet the boys I gave it to had put it together within an hour! They are still coming to grips with its capabilities and various functions. I was laboriously looking at the instructions, but the boys were adapting and working it out as they went.”
Some other working models were of familiar contraptions, such as conveyor belts, though others were as yet unnamed. Joe Ogle (10), a committed science-lover, constructed a crane.
“It was hard, and I made it more challenging by putting my own stuff on it.”
Tama Solly and Tom Bassett-Eason (both 10) constructed a rotating windmill out of Technic Lego.
“It was quite a challenge,” said Tama, “but I like technology. I’d like to do more of it.”
Maria Polglase
