This term the Year 7/8 students have focused on understanding the technological design process.

This term we have worked hard to understand the Technological Design Thinking Process. We use this to help our brains understand how we can look at solving problems in many different ways. 

Our first challenge was using Newtons Law of Physics. Understanding how Force = Mass X Acceleration, our challenge was to build a car that could move 50cm. We worked hard to imagine how this could be done using simple materials. We planned how this would look and thought about what materials we would need to be able to create our cars. We tested them but found very little were successful, so we went back to the drawing board and thought about what doesn't work and how we could improve them. 

On our second round of testing we had much more success and lots of cars moved more than 50cm. We found many different ways to make the cars move with a range of different designs. We realised we needed wheels, an engine, and a body to make our car work. 

Our next challenge using the engineering and design process is our 'Build a bridge and get over it' Challenge. In pairs we researched different bridges around the world looking at their shapes, sizes, purposes and angles. We then imagined and designed our own bridges. Our criteria is that the students have to code a Sphero to drive over their bridge. We are currently building our bridges with great discussions around height, length, stability, understanding how ramps work and many other great discussions. Next week we will code our Spheros to see if they can get over our bridges. 

In Digital Technology this term we have been learning how to work with 'Google'. Our first task was to create a Google Doc about ourselves. I now have over 80 fantastic Google Doc Bio's in the Tech Class, come and learn about our Year 7/8's! We learnt about adding pictures, using formatting skills and learning how to make our work look presentable. 

Our second digital tech task was on Google Slides. We researched our dream holiday and organised a slide show of our holiday. We learnt a lot about how to create a presentation that had pictures, video, sound and transitions on our slides. We learnt a lot about our holidays too, where these places are, how much a holiday costs, what different types of accommodation are out there and the many activities that we could do when we are on holiday, It was a very enjoyable digital technology task. 

What a great first term we have had with lots of discussion around problem solving, teamwork and persevering when things get tough or it's not exactly who you wanted to work with. All of these skills help us to develop who we are and help us in the future. 

Mrs Marshall