Year 8 D&T
Brief summary of specification:
The Lower School Key Stage 3 Curriculum (Years 7 - 9) is organised around the National Curriculum Attainment Targets in Technology, and is structured progressively, with differentiated targets, to enable the most able pupils to reach level 8 or above by the end of Year 9, with the majority of pupils reaching level 6 or 7. Levels are not allocated to pupils until the end of Year 9, as the content of the curriculum is cumulative, and it is not relevant to give an interim level beforehand.
Timetable breakdown:
The allocated timetable time for Design in Year 8 is four periods per week. This is divided between Technology and Art, with groups working on five separate projects during each year - two Art projects and three Technology. This equates to 6% of Timetable time. Pupils are taught on a seven - eight week 'circus' and rotate through five separate members of staff.
Lower School Syllabus - structured by projects:
Projects are heavily structured, to enable the full range of National Curriculum Technology attainment targets to be taught. In addition, a substantial proportion of Information Technology National Curriculum requirements are covered. A brief description of the projects follows. Pupils will not necessarily study projects in this order, so within each year, the projects have to be self-contained, and not dependent on knowledge from other projects. There are however, a number of core skills, such as presentation, drawing skills, research etc. which pupils would be expected to build on and improve throughout the course. Areas listed as Knowledge will be those covered by departmental tests, and pupils' notes on these will be kept in their revision files. Projects should be collected by pupils within two weeks of their completion and marking - after this time they may be disposed of. The department cannot accept responsibility for any additional materials added to project work beyond those supplied by the School. A small number of projects may be retained by the department for display purposes, or to maintain benchmark records.
Year 8 Technology Projects:
All Year 8 projects build on the skills and knowledge acquired in Year 7 - testing may include reference back to these basics.
Product Holder: This is a skills-based project which introduces joint-cutting in wood and forming of plastics. It involves construction of a product which will hold a product, as chosen by the pupil.
- Knowledge - Mortise and tenon joints, forming of plastics, designing for a chosen product.
- Skills - Analysis, research, formal working drawing, evaluation.
Balancing Toy Project: This builds on the experience of the skills-based projects in Years 7 and 8. It provides students with a basic design for the base of a balancing executive toy, construction of which will involve the accurate use of engineering machinery and joining techniques. Students will then design and construct the rest of the toy. This project relates to skills required in the Resistant Materials GCSE course.
- Knowledge - basic engineering hand tool/assembly skills, centre lathe, milling machine, internal threading.
- Skills - research, design, reading formal drawings, assembly drawing.
Computer Aided Design (CAD) Project: This project involves the use of Pro-Desktop 3D CAD Software, which is distributed under licence to pupils for home use to enable them to build on and develop the skills taught during the project. The project is to assemble and create a mechanical toy. The automaton will utilise Pro-Desktop's assembly tools and will be a working prototype of a product.
- Knowledge - Application of 3D & 2D CAD Software, constructing products through assembly of components; using Mate, Align and Centre-Axis to produce moving prototypes.
- Skills - analysis, research, design development, 3D CAD drawing, perspective drawing, evaluation.
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Homework:
Two Homeworks are set each week, which should take 30-45 minutes each to complete. Homework will not necessarily be set on the day it is to be done; generally pupils will have a week to complete the work set. Homeworks involving research information gathering may be given some time in advance. It is important that pupils devote a full allocation of time to homeworks which involve creative thinking, and show a range of ideas and concepts.
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National Curriculum Levels:
National Curriculum Levels in Technology are determined by a single teacher-awarded level for designing and making. A guide to the required performance for levels 8 is given below. As the levels are holistic, and covacaer the full range of topics taught over Years 7 - 9, they are not reported on until the end of Year 9.
Level 8 - Designing:
- Plan research to collect data appropriate to your design and investigate all avenues available to gather information on products, processes and peoples preferences. Analyse the information and show how it is applied to the design process.
- Determine working and physical characteristics of materials and techniques, and apply them to your design.
- Use a range of appropriate modelling techniques
- And materials to help focus your design.
- Identify conflicting demands and us a process of analysis to resolve them. Investigate production processes and techniques and apply them to your design.
Making:
- Produce a plan for production that identifies particular stages and where key decisions have to be made. Suggest alternative methods of manufacture.
- Select materials, tools and techniques to suit the products' specified requirements and work to standard sizes.
- Make component parts accurately and consistently as specified in plans. Test tools for accuracy size and the quality of finish they will give.
- Adjust your plan of manufacture as you proceed and explain changes. Check the final product against its specification, test with users and comment on all aspects in order to improve the design.
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Testing and project marks:
A total of six test marks are given each year. Testing is based around projects and is arranged as follows. Pupils are given two percentage marks based on each project - the breakdown of this mark is shown on the project sheet given to pupils at the start of each project. This provides the six half-termly test marks. A final test based on knowledge acquired throughout the year is taken by all pupils towards the end of the Summer Term.
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Setting:
Setting is carried out at the start of the year. The year group is split into two halves (BHL, PSU) and each half is set on the basis of the Year 7 mark, comprising the first two projects and the final test. Due to the modular nature of the circus system, it is not possible to re-set after the start of the year. Pupils are grouped into higher and middle-ability sets.
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Tests:
During each project, pupils are required to produce a range of theory notes, covering the new areas of knowledge contained in that project. These notes are kept with the project, and may be used to prepare for all tests and examinations in the subject. Testing will be based on those topics listed as Knowledge under each project. Pupils should retain all theory notes as an appendix to each project. When returned, projects should be kept together in a suitable ring binder, and used for revision.
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Structure of project reports & theory notes:
When projects are complete, the practical work is presented for marking, with a report, which is generally made up as follows:
- Front cover
- Contents
- Introduction/brief
- Planning & reviews of progress
- Analysis & research
- Specification
- Initial design ideas
- Development of selected design
- Working drawings
- Evaluation
- Appendix containing theory notes
This should only be seen as a guide to the structure and it may vary from project to project. The list is not exclusive, nor necessarily chronological - additional research may be needed during projects, and evaluation should take place throughout. It does however provide a basic structure for all project work. During the project, all pupils keep their work in a wallet file. All work is on A4 paper, and projects should be presented either strip-bound, or in a soft cover, not in a hard-backed ring binder. After assessment, all elements of projects are returned to students, with the exception of one or two examples per group, retained centrally for any audit of assessment standards. Any theory notes retained will be copied so that pupils maintain a complete set of theory notes.
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Target-setting and evaluation:
Evaluation is an integral part of all projects, with an interim review linked to planning the completion of work to a deadline, and a final evaluation which incorporates target-setting for future work in design.
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Test Structure
Test questions are multiple-choice questions, with one mark for a correct answer.
Examples of questions:
(The correct answer is in bold italics)
- You are joining together two pieces of mild steel. Which of these would be the best method to use?
a) PVA glue b) brazing c) wooden dowel d) nails - Read the following statements.
I] Acrylic may be bent when heated.
ii] Acrylic sheet is always transparent.
How would you describe the accuracy of these statements?
a) false, true b) false, false c) true, false d) true, true
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