INQUIRY - Technology Production and Process

Term Three 2014 - TECHNOLOGY: 

PRODUCTION AND PROCESS  

Inquiry Question: MADE IN NZ!

How do we get ........?........ 

and why is it important 

to my life?

Key Understandings:

·         Technology is a man-made process.

·         Technology takes something that is natural and processes it into a product.

·         Technology makes life easier and provides more choice.

·         Technology provides greater convenience for daily living or job performance.

Core Knowledge:

·         Something natural becomes processed as soon as an aspect of it is changed by humans.

·         Processed items often don’t look like they originally were.

·         Some products are highly-processed, others are lightly processed.

·         The process of production can be shown by a flow-chart.

·         Technology involves inputs, outputs and controls.

http://technology.tki.org.nz

Key Competency:
Me as a COLLABORATOR

Key Strategy/Skill:
Thinking/Reflecting            

Key Value: Innovation

Focus: for pupils to create their own flow-chart (using Explain Everything app) of the production process of a product that is important in their life (which could be one of the products we investigate as a class, or a product that the pupil has chosen to investigate for themselves).

Assessment: (Level Three): 
Knowledge: Identify the steps and use appropriate language
to explain the process when producing a product.
Skill: Reflecting: Discusses and analyses, in discussions and
reflection logs, what he/she has learnt
and why it is important.

STAGES ONE-FIVE: EXCITING INFORMATION - DECIDING ON QUESTIONS - EMERGING IDEAS - NOW I'M SORTING - DISPLAYING MY IDEAS

http://www.redband.co.nz/

As a schol we share the same inquiry objectives but each teacher has flexibility to choose their own context to follow this, according to the needs and interests of the pupils in their class.

I have given the inquiry a ' Made in NZ!' focus to get the children to look at and appreciate the innovation that has occurred in our very own country where we as a people are known for our 'number 8 wire' thinking!

I intend to start the inquiry with a whole class investigation into Redband gumboots - almost every rural household in NZ will have at least one pair, if not multiple pairs of Redbands - a true Kiwi icon!

 (Gumboots = 'Wellingtons' in some countries)

The Redband website has a plethora of fantastic information about the history of the brand, and the manufacturing of the product!

It is a familiar product for my pupils and has a full and interesting production process, beginning with the harvest of the rubber and ending with the promotion of the product. I think they will enjoy finding how it all happens...

fibreglass innovations

After working as a class on the gumboots, I intend to take the children a little wider in their thinking by investigating the production and processes involved in a very modern product...fibreglass.

Local Invercargill firm Fibreglass Innovations makes a huge range of products with fibreglass, from lining swimming pools, to car parts, boats, all manner of items! They really  - I am hoping to make a visit there to see and discuss the process...

I might try to combine the trip with a visit to a clothing manufacturer - I have discovered Stormline Gear --NZ is an Invercargill-based firm that produces another product that will be familiar to many of the farming pupils.

Here is the video the company has made to share some insights into their products. I think it will be good for the pupils to view to learn about why materials have been chosen and how the product has been adapted to suit different purposes.


STAGES SEVEN-NINE: ASKING FURTHER - LET'S ACT! - EVALUATE IT ALL