Design and Technologies

Foundation to Year 2 Band Description

Learning in Design and Technologies builds on concepts, skills and processes developed in the Early Years Learning Framework, revisiting, strengthening and extending these as needed.

By the end of Year 2 students will have had the opportunity to create designed solutions at least once in each of the following technologies contexts: Engineering principles and systems; Food and fibre production and Food specialisations; and Materials and technologies specialisations. Students should have opportunities to experience designing and producing products, services and environments. This may occur through integrated learning.

In Foundation to Year 2 students explore and investigate technologies − materials, systems, components, tools and equipment − including their purpose and how they meet personal and social needs within local settings. Students develop an understanding of how society and environmental sustainability factors influence design and technologies decisions. Students evaluate designed solutions using questions such as ‘How does it work?’, ‘What purpose does it meet?’, ‘Who will use it?’, ‘What do I like about it?’ or ‘How can it be improved?’ They begin to consider the impact of their decisions and of technologies on others and the environment including in relation to preferred futures. They reflect on their participation in a design process. This involves students developing new perspectives, and engaging in different forms of evaluating and critiquing products, services and environments based on personal preferences.

Using a range of technologies including a variety of graphical representation techniques to communicate, students draw, model and explain design ideas; label drawings; draw objects as two-dimensional images from different views; draw products and simple environments and verbalise design ideas.

They plan (with teacher support) simple steps and follow directions to complete their own or group design ideas or projects, and manage their own role within team projects. Students are aware of others around them and the need to work safely and collaboratively when making designed solutions

Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptors

Explore the characteristics and properties of materials and components that are used to produce designed solutions (ACTDEK004).

• exploring designed solutions to meet individual, family and community needs with a focus on materials, for example fabrics used for sports clothing, soft fall for play spaces

• developing new meanings for objects and action during play, for example exploring how household packaging can be used to represent other objects

• exploring systems used in the classroom or community for creatively dealing with problems and needs, for example storage systems for equipment, traffic system flow for drop and go zones, the use of hoists and ramps to facilitate access

• exploring facilities in local environments for accessibility and environmental impact, for example location of bike tracks and sporting fields using digital maps to view local area

  • Sustainability

• exploring materials, components, tools and equipment through play to discover potential uses when making products or modelling services and environments, for example when designing and making clothes, toys and shelters

• experimenting with techniques to combine or alter materials to satisfy a function

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Foundation to Year 2 Content Descriptors

Generate, develop and record design ideas through describing, drawing and modelling (ACTDEP006).

• comparing and contrasting features of existing products to provide new ideas, for example exploring toys with several movable parts with the view to designing and making a simple puppet with one movable part

• communicating design ideas by modelling, and producing and labelling two-dimensional drawings using a range of technologies to show different views (top view and side view), for example a new environment such as a cubby house or animal shelter

• recording a judgement about design ideas with teacher guidance, for example expressing own likes and dislikes about a design idea

• identifying one common testing method, and recording results, for example taste-testing comparisons of a food product and recording results in a digital form

• describing how design ideas meet the needs of those who will use the solution