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Using the PrimaryConnections Science Program to Teach Technology
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Using the PrimaryConnections Science Program to Teach Technology

Learning Area

Design and Technology

Year Level

Four

Strand

Technologies Contexts

Sub-Strand

Engineering principles and systems

Forces, and the properties of materials, affect the behaviour of a product or system (ACTDEK011)

This is from the School Curriculum and Standards Authority (SCSA) however the equivalent for the Australian curriculum can be found online.

Link to the Resource

Hard Copy ($42):

https://www.primaryconnections.org.au/shop/2PC405-BK

Online resource available on Scootle for free; however, you will need to create an account:

http://www.scootle.edu.au/ec/viewing/S7161/Package-it-better-2012/index.html

To watch PrimaryConnections in action within the classroom click here and it will take you to their YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmx-UK7n-78qwCi4tnJYdDQ

Cross Curricular Priorities

Critical and creative thinking (CCT), Personal and social capability (PSC)

Links to Other Learning Areas

Science, Literacy, Mathematics

Some Background on the Creators

The Australian Academy of Science has linked science with literacy through the innovative program that is PrimaryConnections. The many lesson ideas and units created through PrimaryConnections use an inquiry-based approach to develop students’ knowledge, understanding and skills in both science and literacy; however, many of the lessons can be adapted to suit teaching different aspects of the curriculum. To find out more, please visit the PrimaryConnections website at https://primaryconnections.org.au/about.

Using this Resource

Whilst this resource is set to a quite specific year level and section of the curriculum, it is very easy to implement in the classroom. The program is an eight week course that is designed to cover an entire section of the year four chemistry curriculum. However; looking deeper into the content and tasks required of the students, it is actually a program that coincides very closely with the technologies curriculum. The program is essential lesson plans that include diagnostic, formative and summative assessments; with sequential lessons that build on each other with every activity. The entire program is extremely hands on, with each child being placed into groups and assigned a role, which is linked to improving personal and social capabilities. It caters for visual, audible and kinaesthetic learners. Much of the work is already done for you, it just needs to be adapted to have more of a technology focus if you so desire. If year four is not your year, PrimaryConnections offer science programs for every year level K-12, all of which have ideas on how to teach lessons based on technology. It is just up to you to adapt the program accordingly!

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Step into Wonderopolis!

Ways to Wonder – Wonderopolis.org from Wonderopolis on Vimeo.
Wonderopolis is a great online, fun and engaging learning environment that enables children to delve deeper and further explore their untouched imagination. This app provides answers for all wonders (no matter how small, BIG or ExTRrAOrdinAry they may be!) whilst allowing them to make countless discoveries along the way! The best part is… it is FREE!

Subject:  Digital Technologies

Year Level: Foundation to Year 2

Strand: Digital Technologies Knowledge and Understanding

Sub strand: Exploring digital systems for a purpose and recognising how these digital systems represent a range of visual and hearing aids. 

2.1 Identify and use digital systems (hardware and software components) for a purpose.
2.2 Recognise and explore patterns in data and represent data as pictures, symbols and diagrams.

 Link to the resource:
http://wonderopolis.org/

Screen shot 2014-08-11 at 3.02.40 PM

Cross curriculum priorities and general capabilities:

Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT)

  • Pose factual and exploratory questions based on personal interests and experiences.
  • Asking how and why specific action and/or events occur.
  • Pose questions to identify and clarify issues, and compare information in their world.

Personal and Social Capabilities (PSC)

  • Identify and describe personal interests, skills and achievements and explain how these contribute to family and school life.
  • Reflect on what they have learnt about themselves from a range of experiences at home and school.
  • Work independently on routine tasks and experiment with strategies to complete other tasks where appropriate.
  • Identify cooperative behaviours in a range of group activities.
  • Practise individual and group decision making in situations such as class meetings and when working in pairs and small groups.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT)

  • Identify how ICT is used in learning environments.
  • Use ICT to identify record and classify textual and graphic information to show what is known and what needs to be investigated.
  • Locate a range of information from digital resources and explain the usefulness of located data and information.
  • Experiment with ICT as a creative tool to generate simple solutions/ answers to questions, modifications or data representations for particular audiences or purposes.
  • Identify the main components of common consumer ICT systems, their fundamental functions, and describe them using basic ICT terminology.
  • Saving and retrieving data; providing unique names for files; applying basic functions such as opening and dragging-and dropping files

Literacy (LIT)

Numeracy

Links to other learning areas:
English, Mathematics, Science, History, Geography, The Arts

A classroom activity using this resource:
From using this fun and engaging app, children not only develop their knowledge and understanding of digital technology, but they also develop their knowledge and understanding of the world in which they live in. A great way to apply this into a classroom setting is to have the students work with iPads or computers either individually, in small groups or as a whole class on the Interactive Whiteboard and come up with a range of ‘Wonders’. To find solutions to these ‘Wonders’ children work with digital technology to find the answers to their questions. Once answered,  they can record it on a worksheet which can be used to track their level of understanding or as something they refer back to if they are to represent their discoveries to share with others. Some of the topics may be too ‘detailed’ for the  younger years, so starting of with the ‘Zoo track’ or the ‘Amusement track’ would be a better option, as these topics would build on previous  knowledge. However, if they do want to explore some of the other tracks, there are some really great audio videos linked that cover the text in an easy-to-understand way.

How to use this resource

1. Go to the home page >  http://wonderopolis.org/ to find out the Wonder of the day and more!

2. Explore the App!

After finding answers to your Wonder and those of others, children can explore the App and complete interactive activities along the way such as; spin the wheel, quizzes, voting polls and join discussion boards to share your journey.

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3. Sign up to Camp Wonderopolis for free to start the journey to answers today!

4. After signing in begin the journey and pick a track. Watch the videos and read the text about each topic to help complete the activities provided.

5.  Track children’s progress with the topics Wonder Cards which are granted as they complete each level. These can be accessed in your individual profile.

6. Have fun!