The Technological Practice Strand Explanatory Papers Updated May 2010
Brief Development
Senior Primary/Intermediate (Years 5-8)
Learning experiences
The following learning experiences have been provided to support teachers as they develop their understandings of the Brief Development component of the Technological Practice strand. There is no expectation that these would form the basis of any specific unit of work in technology. The learning experiences have been summarised from classrooms across New Zealand, and provide examples of student achievement across a range of levels. This stance reflects the majority of classrooms within which it is expected that students will demonstrate a range of levels of achievement.
Year 7 students identified a common personal need created by their attendance at the Technology Centre. As they attended another school for their technology programmes they had to bring food for lunch, and during the winter they liked this to be hot. In the past this hot food was mostly pies. Together the classes looked at other possibilities for quick meal-snack ideas that would be both appealing and nutritious. For details of this unit please see the Hot Bread Snacks case study.
Students achieving at level 2 could:
- explain what they had chosen to develop as a snack; and
- describe the attributes required for their snack in terms of taste, appearance, texture, time to cook, ease of making, and nutritional value, in ways that allowed them and their teacher to evaluate their progress and final outcome.
Students achieving at level 3 could:
- describe what they had decided to develop in terms of what they wanted it to be like and what they wanted it to provide and explain how this particular type of snack reflected the need in terms of personal likes and health choices;
- describe the key attributes required for their snack in terms of taste, appearance, texture, time to cook, ease of making, and nutritional value in ways that allowed them and their teacher to evaluate their progress and final outcome; and
- refine their conceptual statement and key attributes as they experimented with different ingredients and methods of making their snack, and personally evaluated their snacks for taste, appearance and texture.
Students achieving at level 4 could:
- justify what they had decided to develop and why they had chosen this particular type of snack, in terms of personal likes and health choices, and feedback from others about appropriate health choices for their age and body type, and the resources (time, equipment, ingredients, level of skill) required to cook such a snack successfully;
- establish key attributes for their particular snack as a starting point for development work;
- refine their conceptual statement and key attributes as they undertook further research, experimented with different ingredients and methods of making their snack, and carried out testing of their snacks personally and with others in the class, to gain feedback on its taste, appearance and texture in line with key attributes; and
- describe the key attributes required for their snack in terms of taste, appearance, texture, time to cook, ease of making, and nutritional value in ways that allowed them, their teacher and others in the class to provide feedback on their progress and final outcome.
