Exploring Technology Course Overview Table of Contents Course Overview......................................................................................................1
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Units of Instruction/Big Ideas..................................................................................1 Course Goals.............................................................................................................2 Course Assessment Criteria......................................................................................2 Summative Course Assessment................................................................................3 Course Structure.......................................................................................................6
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Engineering byDesign™ A National Model for Standards-Based Programs International Technology Education Association 2008
Exploring Technology, Second Edition
Exploring Technology – Course Overview Name of Course
Exploring Technology
Standards Addressed
See Responsibility Matrix for Technology, Mathematics, and Science in Appendix A
Intended Audience
Grade 6 students (no prerequisite)
Course Overview
In Exploring Technology students develop an understanding of the progression and scope of technology through exploratory experiences. In group and individual activities, students experience ways in which technological knowledge and processes contribute to effective designs, abilities, and skills to create solutions to technological problems. Students participate in design activities to understand how criteria, constraints, and processes affect designs. Brainstorming, visualizing, modeling, constructing, testing, and refining designs provide firsthand opportunities for students to understand the uses and impacts of innovations. Students develop skills in communicating design information and reporting results. This course is a cornerstone for a middle school technology education program.
Course Length
18 Weeks
Connections
Exploring Technology builds on K–5 experiences and develops student understanding of the scope of technology and the iterative nature of technological design and problem-solving processes. Likewise, students will be able to communicate their ideas verbally and visually and document the development of their plans through visual representation, journals, and portfolios. Teaming, peer mentoring, and individual actions contribute to student achievements. Similarly, Exploring Technology provides the foundation for future studies in the EbD™ sequence. Students learn how technology, innovation, design, and engineering interrelate and are interdependent. This background provides the basis for more focused high school studies.
1 Exploring Technology Course Overview
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Table of Contents
Units of Instruction/Big Ideas 1. Technology in Motion: Over time, technological change has had a profound influence on individuals, society, careers, and the environment. These changes are neither good nor bad and can have far-reaching positive and negative impacts. 2. Design and Engineering: The engineering design process is a method that is used to solve technological challenges to change and improve products for the way we live. 3. Human Exploration: Humans have always had an innate desire to explore past the boundaries of earth to the moon and beyond. To that end, there are many technological, societal, and safety-related challenges that are associated with travel to and habitation of the lunar surface. 4. Greenhouse Design: The production and distribution of plant products grown in human-made ecological structures requires understandings from various fields of technology, science, and mathematics. ©International Technology Education Association 2008
Exploring Technology, Second Edition
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Course Goals At the end of this course, students will know and understand: 1. The characteristics and scope of technology (STL1) 2. The cultural, social, economic and political effects of technology (STL4) 3. The role of society in the development and use of technology (STL6) 4. The attributes of design (STL8) 5. Engineering design (STL9) At the end of this course, students will be able to: 1. Apply the design process (STL11) 2. Use and maintain technological products and systems (STL12) 3. Select and use information and communication technologies (STL17) 4. Select and use transportation technologies (STL18) 5. Select and use manufacturing technologies (STL19)
Exploring Technology Course Overview
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Course Assessment Criteria 1. Student Preassessment a. Structured Response Preassessment b. Constructed Response Preassessment c. Constructed Response Preassessment Rubric 2. Performance Assessments a. Design, construct, and test solutions to various technological challenges. b. Utilize the Internet to locate pertinent information. c. Deliver presentation(s). d. Completion of group tasks. e. Use software to organize and present information, using proper layout techniques. f. Work cooperatively to complete design activities. 3. Written Assessments a. Concept map that shows impacts of a technological product. b. Engineering journal that shows learning through sketched ideas with annotations. c. Pretest to measure student knowledge and abilities in order to appropriately deliver content. d. Authentic unit posttests to measure students’ ability to follow the design process. e. Printed brochure to document learning as capstone activity.
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©International Technology Education Association 2008
Exploring Technology, Second Edition
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Summative Course Assessment
Unit 1: Technology in Motion
Unit Title
Big Idea
Below Target
At Target
Above Target
Over time, technological change has had a profound influence on individuals, society, careers, and the environment. These changes are neither good nor bad and can have far-reaching positive and negative impacts.
The student has shallow grasp of the big idea; inaccurately describes the impact that technology has had on society; sees technology as either “good” or “bad”; poorly explains how technology influences change; provides few examples of technological impacts.
The student shows evidence of grasping the big idea; adequately describes how technology has impacted society, individuals, and the environment; provides some broad examples of positive and negative impacts of technology; sometimes describes technology as neither good nor bad; reacts rather than researches technological change; generally indicates the pervasiveness of technology.
The student thoroughly grasps the big idea; accurately and proficiently analyzes how technology has impacted individuals, society, careers, and the environment; concepts are thoroughly developed in presentation; thoroughly researches both positive and negative examples of technology; provides specific examples of technological change; recognizes the potential impacts of technology in the future based on past evidence.
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©International Technology Education Association 2008
Exploring Technology, Second Edition
Unit 3: Human Exploration
Unit 2: Design and Engineering
Unit Title
Big Idea
Below Target
At Target
Above Target
The engineering design process is a method that is used to solve technological challenges to change and improve products for the way we live.
The student has shallow grasp of the big idea; works haphazardly to solve technological challenges; provides no documentation to verify design process; provides just a couple of alternative solutions; conducts no or poor tests to verify solution; sees no relationship between inquiry and design processes; rarely communicates final solutions.
The student shows evidence of grasping the big idea; works somewhat methodically; writes a few notes and makes some sketches; develops some alternative solutions; tests are conducted but are primarily superficial in nature; draws some relationships between inquiry and the design processes; gives presentation about final solution, but details are vague.
The student thoroughly grasps the big idea; creates a quality engineering design journal; researches and develops many alternative ideas; sketches are reinforced with notes; conducts quality tests; asks inquiry-type questions throughout design process; final presentation is polished and validated.
The student has shallow grasp of the big idea; cannot explain the need for human exploration beyond earth; perceives no relationship between agriculture and space travel.
The student shows evidence of grasping the big idea; gives basic explanation of the need for exploration beyond earth; recognizes that agriculture and space travel are related.
The student thoroughly grasps the big idea; can thoroughly defend the need for exploration beyond earth; explains and exemplifies the need for research in agriculture and space travel.
Humans have always had an innate desire to explore past the boundaries of Earth to the moon and beyond. To that end, there are many technological, societal, and safety-related challenges that are associated with travel to and habitation of the lunar surface.
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©International Technology Education Association 2008
Exploring Technology, Second Edition
Unit Title
Big Idea
Below Target
At Target
Above Target
Unit 4: Greenhouse Design
The production and distribution of plant products grown in human-made ecological structures requires understandings from various fields of technology, science, and mathematics. In addition, structures must follow various codes to be properly designed and constructed.
The student has shallow grasp of the big idea; cannot explain that the production and distribution of plant products grown in humanmade ecological structures requires understandings from various fields of technology, science, engineering, and mathematics.
The student shows evidence of grasping the big idea; gives basic explanation of need for understandings from various fields of technology, science, engineering, and mathematics.
The student thoroughly grasps the big idea; can thoroughly defend position that the production and distribution of plant products grown in human-made ecological structures requires understandings from various fields of technology, science, engineering, and mathematics.
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Course Structure
Unit 1: Technology in Motion
Over time, technological change has had a profound influence on individuals, society, careers, and the environment. These changes are neither good nor bad and can have far-reaching positive and negative impacts.
1. What is Technology? 2. Push-Pull Manufacturing 3. Automation: Good or Bad?
Unit 2: Design and Engineering
Unit Lessons
The engineering design process is a method that is used to solve technological challenges to change and improve products for the way we live.
1. Documenting Ideas 2. Engineering Design Process 3. Transportation Design Activity
Unit 3: Human Exploration
Big Idea
Humans have always had an innate desire to explore past the boundaries of Earth to the moon and beyond. To that end, there are many technological, societal, and safety related challenges that are associated with travel to and habitation of the lunar surface.
1. Understanding the Challenge 2. Experts Coming Together 3. Lunar Colony Design and Development 4. Going Public
Unit 4: Greenhouse Design
Units of Instruction
The production and distribution of plant products grown in humanmade ecological structures requires understandings from various fields of technology, science, engineering, and mathematics. In addition, structures must follow various codes to be properly designed and constructed.
1. 2. 3. 4.
Greenhouse Challenge Greenhouse Effects The Greenhouse Structure Greenhouse Construction and Testing
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Exploring Technology, Second Edition
