Pre-planning
Sarah focusses on Graphics and Materials Technology with her Year 8 classes, as the students will take these subjects when they move to the senior school. She had been thinking about what she would do for Graphics in 2009 and also how she might incorporate the two new strands – Technological Knowledge and Nature of Technology in her Year 8 programme. She decided that the upcoming junior school production provided an ideal opportunity for her students to work on developing a logo for a client. Integrating Technology with an activity involving all students and staff, and emphasising teamwork in the unit, would fit in well with the Key Competencies 'participating and contributing' and 'relating to others'.
The Technological Knowledge strand was easily incorporated, as the unit would involve the students in technological modelling – as they sketched, photographed, or laid out paper shapes, and prototyped final designs to show how various ideas might look. Nature of Technology would engage students in considering the characteristics of technological outcomes when they analysed existing outcomes and considered the design elements used in them.
The Dilworth Performing Arts specialist was enthusiastic, particularly as the musical, Little Stars, was new to New Zealand and had no legal requirement that a particular logo be used, and agreed to be the client for the three Year 8 classes.
Each class of 24 students would work on the same unit during term 1, although, as the boys are involved in many activities, in some cases this would mean having less than a term to complete all the work. As the unit would involve students more in collaborative rather than individual development, Sarah introduced a competitive element to retain their interest. Each class would vote on the best logo and then the whole class would develop that logo and present it to their client, who would select the winning logo from the three classes.
