macquarie fields public school september 2007technology education k-8: design in practice © state...

Macquarie Fields Public School

September 2007 Technology education K-8: Design in practice© State of New South Wales through the NSW Department of Education and Training, 2007.

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Stages 3: Year 5

Overview of design project

The KDC NRMA Technopush challenge encourages students, teachers and local communities to work together to design and construct a vehicle to detailed specifications. It requires a team effort and promotes a connected outcomes approach.

Pushcarts have provided many hours of enjoyment for kids of all ages. A pushcart is a billycart that is designed to be pushed by one person and steered by another person seated in it. As with many products, science and technology have contributed to the evolution of the pushcart. Today pushcarts are built using a variety of materials, in all sorts of shapes, with a focus on safety.

Design brief: Design and construct a pushcart and participate in a series of performance challenges.



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Syllabus links

Physical phenomena (PP S2.4; PP S3.4); Designing and making (DM S2.8; DM S3.8); Investigating (INV S2.7; INV S3.7); Using technology (UT S2.9; UT S3.9).

Products and Services (PS S3.5): Creates and evaluates products and services, demonstrating consideration of sustainability, aesthetic, cultural, safety and functional issues.

• Uses a variety of strategies, e.g. observation, drawing, comparing and contrasting to explore and generate ideas.

• Identifies criteria and uses fair testing when devising a means of evaluating the merits of competing products.

• Identifies specialised skills and techniques that are used to manufacture products.• Uses annotated drawings to convey meaning.• Works collaboratively to evaluate the process used to design and construct a pushcart.• Explains to others how to assemble components of a pushcart.• Writes ongoing reflections which record the stages of the design process and justifies design

modifications.

Teaching and Learning sequence



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Exploring and defining the task

Students used a simple retrieval chart to undertake a task analysis in order to understand the various components of the design brief. This articulated identifying WHAT was involved in the task and HOW it would be achieved.

Your task is to design and construct a pushcart and participate in a series of performance challenges. The project will involve teams producing a class fitness program, safety guidelines and promotional materials to be presented at the KDC NRMA Technopush challenge event.



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Jointly constructed analysis of the design brief



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Exploring and defining the task

Additional criteria was added to the design brief: the criteria of success and students began learning about the safe use of tools.

My design brief

Our push cart will:•meet all specifications•be fast•travel smoothly •handle well – be easy to steer•be light weight•be strong and stable•be safe•look good.

Learning about tools

Using tools



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Students: • observed a variety of pushcarts and billycarts• compared features and components of both• drew Venn diagrams• compared and evaluated existing carts to design criteria.

Observing to discover. Students formed expert groups to observe and investigate component parts of pushcarts.

Uses a variety of strategies, e.g., observation, drawing, comparing and contrasting to explore and generate ideas



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Identifies criteria and uses fair testing when devising a means of evaluating the merits of competing products

Scientific investigations on steering and braking were undertaken to inform design ideas.

Criteria for teams was discussed and written as ‘Positions Vacant’ texts using a Y-chart.



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Generating and developing ideas

Teams: Selecting Teams

As a class we deconstructed team design briefs to analyse the tasks involved in being a member of that team and identified the necessary skills required and how they may be demonstrated in class.

Application for a position on the Fitness team



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Uses a variety of strategies, e.g. observation, drawing, comparing and contrasting to explore and generate ideas



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Annotated drawings of agreed design – ready for production.

Uses annotated drawings to convey meaning



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The foot-hold design was eventually modified when the task became bigger than ‘Ben-Hur’.



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• Producing solutions

• Building

• Problems

Limited materials had been brought into class which made construction often difficult. A decision was made early in the task to outsource the welding of the frame. This met aspects of the criteria (lightweight/fast). A student’s father had volunteered to supply the alloy and weld the frame. Once returned, the students then drilled and attached the seat and attempted to fit the wheels (lawnmower wheels), but the diameter of the axle we were using was too wide to fit the wheel. Wheels were finally purchased from Supa-Cheap Auto (spares for a trolley). The seat-belt was attached and the push-bar (kindly donated by Penshurst West) was bolted into place. The pushcart was finally ready for scrutineering.



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The damaged brake system

The finished product

Block screwed into frame to prevent over-steering



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RACING !!! The pushcart is put through its paces. This braking trial proved too tough for the hand brake design selected.



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The Media group’s summary of the design process.



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Student 1 work samples

Uses annotated drawings to convey meaning

Writes ongoing reflections which record the stages of the design process and justifies design modifications.

Today my teacher explained what a design brief is. I thought I would be able to do it. I felt happy. Then we brainstormed and discussed.

Today we wrote our own design brief. Then we brainstormed our ideas and had a discussion. We looked at other models of pushcarts. Some didn’t meet specifications.

Today Miss gave us a mission to complete about the KDC, like doing our flow chart and doing our designs for different parts of the pushcart. I thought at the very start it would be boring, but it wasn’t. I felt happy about designing different parts. I didn’t quite finish the work, but I’m still going. The problems were that I didn’t really know anything because I’m new to it.



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Identifies specialised skills and techniques that are used to manufacture products

Explains to others how to assemble components of a pushcart



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Persistence in solving problems

Students worked collaboratively when problem-solving and posing solutions. Here groups are modeling different solutions for the footrest (foot-hold) using newspaper to demonstrate their possible solution.

Explains to others how to assemble components of a pushcart



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Student reflectionBy James and Abram

What did you produce as a result of the design process?We produced a pushcart that was light weight, fast, handled well and met all specifications as a result of the design process.

In what ways did your design solution achieve each success criteria?We made our frame out of aluminium so it would be light weight, fast and easy to push. We bought pump-up wheels, so it could travel smoothly and handle well. Brittanie’s dad made a triangular frame so our pushcart could be secure and strong. We spray painted our pushcart yellow, orange and green so our pushcart could look good.

What aspects of your documentation process did you find most useful? Why?We found the ‘Exploring and Defining’ the task’ the most helpful because we knew what we had to do before we could race. It was also helpful because we knew what to do on the day. We also knew what to change for this year’s pushcart, for example, last year the pushcart was very heavy, so we made our pushcart out of aluminium. We investigated where the best place for the ropes would be.



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How would you approach this task differently next time?Next year I would separate friends and put them in different groups so more work could be done. Also it could be done quicker. I would get a lighter pushbar so it would be easier to assemble in the 30 minute challenge. Next year I would have more races so we weren’t bored and I would start the races quicker. We took photos of other pushcarts to get ideas for next year. I would get the stronger people to push uphill and the smaller ones could push downhill (if they do the same events).

What skills did you gain or do you need to further develop?I learnt how to put a wheel on.I learnt that aluminium is the lightest metal. I learnt how to do different views for drawing.I learnt how to build a pushcart.Lance Green taught us drawing skills to show our designs.



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Kids’ Design Challengeby Stacey

This year our class is taking part in the Kids’ Design Challenge. To take part we had to design and build our own pushcart and race it against other schools in our area.

First our class needed to collect materials to build the pushcart. We brought in wood and metal for the frame, nuts, bolts and screws to hold it all together. Our teacher also helped by bringing in second hand wheels and an old seat belt. When we had collected the materials for the pushcart the next step was to think of a design. Some of the things we had to think about were the specifications and safety, how to make the cart, including brakes, steering and how to make the cart as fast as possible. We also needed to think of a great name for our cart and how to make our team stand out on race day.



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After lots of discussion we decided to build our cart of aluminum because it is very light and the cart would be easier to push and would go faster. At first we decided that we should have a foot brake because it means you don’t have to let go of the steering to work the brake. But there was a problem with the safety because when you use a foot brake all the weight comes forward and the cart might tip. So finally we decided on a hand brake that was positioned close to our hands. We also worked on the pushbar to make it easier for turning. We put a foot rest on the back of the cart so the pushers can use their feet to tip the cart up a little so the front wheels come up and turning is going to be easier. We also came up with a safety idea to stop the driver getting rope burns when steering. We decided to use bike cloves to solve the problem. Lastly we came up with a name we thought sounded catchy, which was Slick Sliders, and our colours, our school colours of green, white, orange and yellow and some of us made up a logo. With the design finished we then started on building our cart. We had some help from Jack’s uncle and Brittanie’s dad on the tricky parts like welding the frame, drilling holes for the pushbar and attaching the brake. We also had Mr. Darryl help drill the holes for the seatbelt. The building team also had to take off the seat belt from last year’s pushcart.

Our class also had to break into 4 groups, fitness team, media team, building team and marketing. The smallest, fastest people were placed in the fitness and they planned the exercised program. The people who are good with their hands became the building team; while the people who are good speakers went into the media team. Each team worked on their area of the challenge making sure that they were prepared for the race day.



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Teacher reflection

Teacher reflection document

In summary…

Limited experience – students had limited previous experience in Scitech and the design process.Motivation and group work – students had limited group work skills.Vocabulary/reflection – skills needed to be developed in this area.More time needed – in order to develop skills more time was required.Student learning – there were some positive changes in attitude to learning as a result of participating in the Kids Design Challenge.

macquarie fields public school september 2007technology education k-8: design in practice © state...

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