1 Gordon East Public School Design and make a toy boat for a Kindergarten buddy to use in a boat challenge. Students will engage in the designing and making

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Gordon East Public School

• Design and make a toy boat for a Kindergarten buddy to use in a boat challenge. Students will engage in the designing and making process to produce a boat that floats and moves with the wind.

• Syllabus links: INV S1.7; DM S 1.8; PP S 1.4; PS S 1.5• Teaching and learning sequence: On the Water

Stage 1: Year 2

Design project

Exploring and defining the taskStudents will:• identify the purpose for designing and making a toy boat by discussing the Kindergarten Buddy Boat

Challenge race.• view a range of toy boats and /or pictures of different types of boats.• discuss the different parts of the boats, e.g. hull, topsides, gunnel, tiller, sails, motor, mast• assess prior knowledge by asking students to draw and label a sailboat.

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

Samples of students’ initial drawings: Assessing prior knowledge

Note the 2D aspect of the drawings and limited use of technical language when labelling their drawings.



Exploring and defining the task• Provide stimulus for discussion using a book about boats,• Focus on task relevant vocabulary development, design features and purpose of materials used.


• Discuss limitations for the design such as access to motors, certain materials, cost etc.• Establish a class criteria of requirements the boats need to have to assist in fair competition, for

example:- must float- be small enough for them to manipulate- moves across the water using the wind- can be identified easily, for example, a number, a name or sail decoration.


Drawing and deconstructionHow boats moveMaking the hull

Students:• deconstruct a toy boat to closely examine its design (teacher supplied).• investigate in pairs a deconstructed toy boat, observing materials used, purposes and features of its

design, such as sails, mast location, rudders, hull shape, keels etc. Students make accurate drawings of what they observe and label each feature.

• compare their initial sketch with their deconstruction sketch and evaluate any similarities and differences between the sketches. Discussion should focus on: - the importance of accurate drawings to guide in construction of the boat. - ability for transference of the plans (can someone else accurately build the boat using the plans?).- what information could be added to improve the initial design.

Gordon East Public SchoolGenerating and developing ideas

Students are given some toy boats to deconstruct and draw. The emphasis is on making accurate drawings and using appropriate language for labels. The students brainstorm appropriate language and write on the board.


Generating and developing ideasStudents:• evaluate the difference between their ‘free

sketches’ and their deconstructed drawings• discuss why it is important to make accurate

drawings? That is, the design can be replicated and appropriate materials used.

• design their boats.


In these video clips, students try to match materials with their designs. Use of materials is discussed, e.g. is paper or fabric better for the sails? Why?

Click on the image to view the video.


Generating and developing ideas: Sample design drawingsStudents have been shown a a range of the materials available for construction and have been asked to make accurate drawings of their design. They needed to imagine a friend would be building their boat.

Note the difference in their ability to make accurate drawings and use technical language for their labels, compared to their initial sketches.



Students:• use materials collected at home and from the school to construct their boat design• use specific materials in their designs, such as 500ml Coke bottle, bamboo skewer, plasticine, and a range of materials for the sail, to maintain fair testing in the project• are reminded that the objective is to construct the boat as closely to the design as possible. (Construction should be limited to two lessons).• test stages of the design and make modifications• evaluate the design and make final adjustments.• compare and evaluate their boats to their original design. • test their boats for sea worthiness.• discuss and evaluate the performances of their boats and give an explanation for their strengths and weaknesses.• evaluate their designs using the success criteria and make suggestions for modifications to improve their design.

Gordon East Public SchoolProducing solutions


Producing solutionsGordon East Public School


Testing the model.Click on the image to view the video.

Testing the modifications.Click on the image to view the video.

This students’ initial drawing demonstrates quite good prior knowledge of some of the main parts of a sail boat. He has used the terms sail and hull correctly, but does not have the language for mast and rudder. Instead he uses the words pole and fins.

In his second drawing of the deconstructed toy sail boat his drawing accuracy has improved. He has chosen to focus on the sail and hull separately in the smaller sketch to the right. His use of technical language has improved after lessons which introduced the topic through the reading of books and discussion and brainstorming of key words. A word bank was placed on the back display board .

Pole

The sails

Hull

Fins

Bow

The star

Stern

Bow

Deck

Headsail

Mast

Boom

Sail

Stern

Hull

Gordon East Public SchoolStudent 1 work samples


In the students’ final drawing, he demonstrates appropriate use of materials for his design, making accurate drawings and labelling appropriate materials used. The student then constructs his boat according to his design drawing.

Gordon East Public SchoolStudent 1 work samples cont.

In this video clip the student is shown testing his design, evaluating its performance and then making changes to his design.


In this final photo the student is shown holding his completed sailing boat.



Student 2’s initial drawing demonstrates average prior knowledge of some of the main parts of a sail boat. She has used the term mast correctly, but does not have the language for sail, life buoy, cabin and portholes. Instead she uses the words ‘flag, floaty, door and waterholes.

In her second drawing of the deconstructed toy sail boat her drawing accuracy has improved and become more three dimensional. She has chosen to focus on the sail and hull separately in the smaller sketch to the right. Her use of technical language has improved after lessons which introduced the topic through the reading of books and discussion and brainstorming of key words. A word bank was placed on the back display board.

Mast

Flag

Floaty

Door

Waterholes

Bow

Stern

Sail

Deck

Hull

Mast



In the students’ final drawing, she demonstrates appropriate use of materials used for her design, making accurate drawings and labelling the design indicating the materials used. The student then constructs her boat according to her design drawing.


In this final photo the student is shown holding her completed sailing boat.


This student’s initial drawing demonstrates limited prior knowledge of some of the main parts of a sail boat. He has used the term sail correctly, but does not have the language for mast, porthole and hull. Instead he uses the words pole, window and boat.

In his second drawing of the deconstructed toy sail boat his drawing accuracy has improved and his drawing looks more realistic and three dimensional. He has chosen to focus on the sail, deck and hull separately in the smaller sketch to the right. His use of technical language has improved after lessons which introduced the topic through the reading of books and discussion and brainstorming of key words. A word bank was placed on the back display board.

Sail

Post

Window

Door

Boat

Sail

Mast

Deck

Stern

Bow



In the students’ final drawing, he demonstrates appropriate use of materials used for his design, making accurate drawings and labelling the design indicating the materials used.


This is the student’s final product.


• Students are asked to reflect at regular intervals throughout the design process.• Firstly they compare their initial drawings to their deconstruction. They then compare their designs to what they have constructed and evaluate their product to

determine if it needs adjustment.• Students were asked to write an evaluation about what they learnt.• Many of the children’s responses recognised the importance of making accurate drawings and using labels so the product can be constructed the way the

designer intends.

Gordon East Public SchoolStudent reflection


Student learning

I wanted the students to learn about how toy boats are made and what processes need to be addressed before they can be constructed. I think the students learnt how important it is to make accurate design drawings so that their product can be reproduced. It is also important in Stage 1 for the students to begin to develop the skills of making accurate drawings and learning to label them using subject specific language. This task enabled the students to broaden their nautical vocabulary and demonstrated to them what a difference the use of technical language and accurate drawings make. It was also important for the students to recognise the importance of evaluating their designs to make improvements.

I found that this project linked well to the Stage 1 Products and Services Connected Outcome Group (COG) which made it easier to incorporate into the curriculum. The task was also enriched by an excursion to the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, which provided an excellent context in which to make the concept of innovation and design more relevant to the children.

Gordon East Public SchoolTeacher reflection


Teacher reflection

What would I do differently?TimingNext time I would teach this unit in Term 4 when the weather is more suited to this theme. Unfortunately many of our lessons were delayed or modified due to torrential rain.

Lesson sequenceThe drawing and construction processes were the parts of the unit the students enjoyed the most. The evaluation aspect was difficult and needs to be more explicitly taught in a range of contexts for the students to make more relevant and detailed evaluations of the design process. They could have done a whole unit just on learning how to make suitable evaluations.

MaterialsThe use of the Coke bottle as a hull created a whole new problem solving experience which drew the students away from the initial focus, which was the sail and it’s materials. Instead the students had to design ways to keep the boat upright by weighting their keels. In hindsight and after further problem solving with some colleagues we found that using a rectangular margarine/ butter tub helped keep the boats much more stable and redirected the focus to the sail.



Documents

1 Gordon East Public School Design and make a toy boat for a Kindergarten buddy to use in a boat challenge. Students will engage in the designing and making