This resource is an activity that can be used within a Technology unit or lesson sequence. There is a scaffolding booklet provided below to support the activity.
The activity focuses on choosing the best materials, design and systems to safely land an egg from a drop of 3 metres (or a distance that suits the buildings at your school). The task is open-ended and very hands-on. It requires students to create a design portfolio and follow the design cycle to create a suitable landing craft. To add a real-life aspect to the challenge you may choose to present the task as trying to drop critical cargo from a plane in an area where the plane cannot land.
Links to Descriptors - conduct research and tests to understand the properties of materials, for example strength, durability, warmth, elasticity (ACTDEK013) - investigating the suitability of technologies − materials, systems, components, tools and equipment (ACTDEK013) - comparing how different components interrelate and complement each other in a finished designed solution (ACTDEK013) - selecting appropriate joining techniques for materials to produce working models (ACTDEP014) - exploring and testing a range of materials under different conditions for suitability including (ACTDEP014) - exploring the properties of materials to determine suitability (ACTDEP014)
Key Ideas of Technology - Project management - Design thinking
General Capabilities - Literacy (developing and communicating ideas, analysing research) - Numeracy (measuring distance for height drop, data collection of experiment) - Creative and critical thinking (entire design process)
Assessment - An assessment rubric is included below to conduct an interview with the students. This could be conducted with each student during the creation lessons. - Completed student booklet
Differentiation - Using two different modes of assessment (interview and booklet) increases the opportunities for all students to show their learning - Open-ended nature of the task scaffolds for many levels of student understanding