by AJHS

Talking Tech - Year 8

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Our Year 8’s get to experience two Technology disciplines throughout the year, where they undertake project-based learning. This term marks the end of their first semester of learning, and they have had a great time building skills and developing their outcomes. Below are some photos and a bit more information about some of the experiences they have had.

Fabric:

Students had the task of designing a bag that they could use in their everyday life, and then learning the necessary sewing machine skills to develop and produce the bag they had designed. As part of learning sewing machine skills, they learned how to thread up their machines and use a variety of sewing techniques to be ready to make their bag. One skill was how to insert a zip, and they used this skill to make a pencil case before they moved on to making their ‘real’ bag.

Hard Materials:

In Hard Materials students have linked their environmental Earth Shot integrated learning, to design and build a resource that takes care of our environment, using recycled materials.

Throughout the semester they modify basic plans to create and develop their own design, convert measurements from inches to centimetres, deconstruct pallets, and plan for materials needed to construct a birdhouse or bird feeder. In the process, students develop skills in problem-solving and using more specialised equipment. 

Design and Visual Communication (DVC):

In DVC students have undertaken two projects throughout the semester. They developed their rendering skills to communicate texture and form, and then developed concepts for a food truck design using 3D drawing methods. For their second design brief, students investigated influential designers, and used them to inform original designs for a pair of novelty glasses, for which they developed functional models.

Food Technology:

In Food Technology students have been developing a signature pizza recipe for their pizza delivery business. For weeks they have been testing a range of possible design ideas, receiving feedback and making key developments to ensure they have a fantastic tasting pizza that is original and unique. They have learnt how to make their own dough, and explored many different strange and wonderful topping options to ensure they have that winning combination. To present their final products, each group needed to design branding for their restaurant and their signature pizza, and present the final product in a branded takeaway pizza box. It was amazing to see how professional their products looked at the end. Well done year 8’s, it’s been a great semester seeing how your ideas developed and how quickly your confidence and practical skills improved each week, you are all pizza making professionals.

Digital Technologies:

We have just finished the Y8 semester rotation. Students learned how computers work, basic coding skills in code.org and using the BBC Micro:bit. We then completed the course creating and coding in Minecraft.