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Science and technology
Current Science Projects
Can you donate to our Smartboard Drive?
Smartboards are considered revolutionary teaching tools which help to keep children motivated and engaged in their learning. Children love the interactive nature of this technology and teachers enjoy having access to a plethora of interactive games, lessons, video clips and other resources. We already have smartboards in many of our classrooms, but would like to ensure all classrooms have access to this fantastic technology. Can you help us?
Tax deductible donations can be made by an individual, company or trust.Cheques can be made out to the Manly Village Public School Public Library and Building Fund. Payments can also be made by eftpos or credit card.
Web Design Awards
The annual Schools Web Design Awards encourage students to develop their web design and team work skills. Last year, the students in 6/5M submitted their website which was based on this year's theme, Earth. You can view their submission at: http://webawards.det.nsw.edu.au/team054
Primary Connections
Science and Technology is a focus area for 2009. All grades, from Kindergarten to Year 6, are trialling the Primary Connections Program. This program uses an innovative approach to teaching Science which not only enhances the confidence of teachers but also enriches the learning experiences for children. Our emphasis is on fostering student engagement and enjoyment, while at the same time developing scientific skills, knowledge and attitudes.
Penguin Project
2007 was the inaugural year of the Penguin Project. Manly Village Public School was very proud to be selected as the first school to be involved in this project. All of our Year 5 & 6 students participated in an extensive range of practical and engaging environmental activities. A team of education officers from Taronga Park Zoo led the project and visited the school on a weekly basis to work with the students. The project included an excursion to the zoo, a beach audit, bush regeneration, an eco footprint audit and a lagoon site visit. It culminated in the Zoo Expo, whereby the children showcased their work.
Due to the great success of the project in 2007, it was extended in 2008 and then 2009, to include five other local schools. Our 5G students were very capably mentored by Year 9 students from Mackellar Girls High School. Again the culmination of the project involved students preparing a major piece of work designed to raise awareness of the plight of the penguin and to harness a commitment to looking after the local inhabitant. The expo was well attended with over 500 spectators who clearly appreciated the wonderful arrangement of work completed by the students. Michael Coutts - Trotter, our Director General, had clearly done his homework before the day, informing us that for every penguin at Manly, there were 10 students involved in this project to look after it!
In 2009 Year 5 students are again invovled in this wonderful project. They have created some websites to visit http://www.rafmlp.yolasite.com and
http://www.penguin-protectors.webs.com
Murder Under the Microscope
Murder Under the Microscope is an exciting and interactive online environmental competition which Year 6 entered in 2009. This competition involves students in working together to research and analyse a fictitious eco-crime. Throughout the competition, the students are provided with clues, which help them identify the crime site (where the environmental problem exists), the villain (the cause of the problem) and the victim. Once the students pinpoint the identity of the crime site, villain and victim, they must submit their predictions as well as a catchment management plan.
Design & Make Innovate
This year some senior students from Manly Village with other students from local schools entered this competition. They designed and made a toy. The entries from all participating schools were proudly showcased at Mackellar Girls High School.
Aim of the Science and Technology K-6 Syllabus
The aim of the Science and Technology K-6 syllabus is to
develop students’ competence, confidence and responsibility
in their interactions with science and technology leading
to:
- An enriched view of themselves, society, the environment
and the future
- An enthusiasm for further learning in science and technology.
Objectives
Knowledge and understanding
Students will develop their knowledge and understanding of:
Skills
Students will be able to:
- Investigate natural phenomena and made environments.
- Design and make products, systems and environments to
meet specific needs.
- Assess, select and use a range of technologies.
Values
Students will engage in learning experiences that will enable
them to develop positive and informed values and attitudes:
- Towards themselves
- Towards others
- Towards science and technology.
 Early
Stage 1
Students who have achieved ES1 show a growing awareness of,
and interest in, the natural and made environment. They demonstrate
confidence in proposing ideas for designs they develop through
play and modelling. They demonstrate curiosity about artifact,
events, phenomena, places and living things around them.
ES1 students use play to explore ideas, manipulate materials
and trial solutions. They develop and begin to refine their
understanding of environments, materials, equipment and other
resources through trial and error. They ask questions, suggest
ideas, propose their own explanations and are able to report
verbally and graphically on their actions and observations.
Students in ES1 recognise that information can come from
a variety of sources, including other people and from different
media, e.g. books and videos. They demonstrate an awareness
of a range of uses for computer-based technologies with assistance
to create text, images and play games.
Students develop ideas through the use and manipulation of
concrete materials as a means of progressing towards abstract
thought.
Stage
1
Students who have achieved Stage 1 are developing an awareness
of the wider world and are applying their scientific and technological
understanding to new and different situations. They are starting
to develop the social skills required to investigate design
and make products and services.
Students are starting to appreciate the dependencies of living
things and their environments. They recognise that people
create products, services and environments to meet their own
needs.
Students are able to interpret information and make predictions
based on their own observations. They are better able to accept
that the result of a test may be different from what was originally
expected.
Students are able to recognise the purpose of an investigation
and seek further information as a result of their own curiosity.
They begin to see that an investigation is a series of orderly
steps. They use their senses to identify similarities and
differences. Students show curiosity about natural and made
environments and seek explanations that allow them to interpret
their observations.
Students have a developing awareness of a range of media
and information products. They are able to use computer technology
to start, open files or applications, save and shut down.
They are able to use computer-based technologies where appropriate
for a given task.
They are able to identify the different forms of technology
in their immediate environments and explain how they help
us. They safely use, maintain and store equipment such as
scissors, magnifying glasses, computers and disks.
Stage 2
Students who have achieved Stage 2 are able to initiate their
own investigations as a result of something that has aroused
their curiosity. They ask perceptive questions and respond
to design tasks in innovative ways. They identify ways of
improving their own scientific and technological activities
by considering issues such as how ell something works, its
appearance and how it might affect the environment.
Students develop the capacity to ask questions to clarify
understanding. They predict outcomes by proposing explanations
and testing to see if their predicted outcomes eventuate.
As students develop skills in predicting, testing, recording
results and drawing conclusions, they begin to form understanding
about "fair testing" that takes into account the
need for consistent conditions except for one variable, in
order to ensure accurate results.
Students who achieve Stage 2 are able to explore ideas for
investigations and their design proposals in order to identify
where decisions still need to be made, and to suggest modifications
to improve their initial proposals, including the selection
of different solutions to arrive at a suitable outcome.
Students recognise the function of some hardware and software
and are able to select and use these to meet the requirements
of a task. They can discuss the possibilities and limitations
of using a range of technology including computer-based technology.
Students also demonstrate a greater understanding of and
control over a design process. They recognise the importance
of evaluation throughout a design cycle.
Stage 3
Students who have achieved Stage 3 are able to undertake
investigations independently in order to satisfy their own
curiosity. They demonstrate a willingness to initiate their
own investigations; this might include a range of possible
explanations for the results of their investigations.
Students select and use appropriate language structure and
media and demonstrate skill in critically examining and communicating
scientific and technological ideas and issues. Students can
relate their scientific understanding to new tasks or different
situations.
Students use two- and three- dimensions drawings and models
to develop and modify their design ides and to communicate
details to others. They recognise and use some conventions
and symbols related to developing plans and diagrams, such
as measurements and some of scale. They can observe the form
and detail of objects carefully in order to produce accurate
drawings from different views and they reflect on their drawings,
sketches or computer models.
Students recognise that computer –based technologies
have a wide range of applications in society and can identify
and describe some of the effects of such technologies on individuals
and communities.
Students who have achieved Stage 3 can confidently and competently
use a range of computer-based hardware and applications. Students
at this stage can identify alternative uses and can be creative
in adapting available to the requirements of a task.
COMPUTER-BASED TECHNOLOGIES
We believe at Manly Village Public School that computer-based
technologies can be used to support learning by:
- Providing motivation - many students find computer based
activities highly motivational. This may be linked to the
attributes of specific software,allowing students to make
choices about the direction of the learning activities in
which they engage. Initially, computer-based activities
can provide the stimulus to undertake tasks that students
may otherwise avoid.
- Increase opportunities for student interaction and decision-making.
Computer-based activities can often engage students in interactions
that range from responding to simple prompts, to complex
decision making and planning. The value of interactive activities
lies in the opportunities provided to students to direct
their learning and to pursue information or complete tasks
in ways that meet their own interests and needs. This interactive
process has the potential to cater for individual learning
styles. Teachers can tailor learning experiences to meet
specific needs of students and the requirements of the curriculum
by offering choice in the type of activity, level of difficulty
and speed of interaction involved.
- Making complex tasks manageable - some software applications
provide opportunities for students to complete, with greater
ease, otherwise long and laborious tasks. These include
word processing, databases, animation packages, spreadsheets,
video editing and desktop publishing packages.
- Making repetitive tasks more interesting. Manipulative
tasks, the speed and accuracy of recall and the refinement
of specific skills may be improved through practice. Practice
may be made more interesting if presented in the form of
games, personal challenges or humorous activities, especially
when there is immediate feedback and reward. Many software
packages provide stimulating and varied ways of practicing
skills and developing set concepts.
- Illustrating complex processes or concepts. Simulations
can be used to represent complex, inaccessible, dangerous,
costly or time-consuming, real-world situations in a form
which can be more easily controlled and investigated by
the learner. Simulations and modelling software also enable
students to design or create products, systems or environments.
Students can then simulate a context or situation to conduct
tests that would otherwise be impossible. The successful
use of simulation often relies on ensuring that students
are given opportunities to reflect on experiences and to
make connections between their understandings of the real
world and the images or information on the computer screen.
- Providing access to resources. Computers can now be the
source of vast amounts of information, whether on disks,
CDs or through telecommunications, in the form of graphics,
video, sound and text.
The role of the teacher
The introduction of effective computer-based activities into
the classroom can have profound effects on social interaction
and classroom organisation. They provide many possibilities
for new and varied experiences and interactions.
A computer alone will not improve student learning. The critical
factor in the introduction of computing activities is the
way in which the teacher integrates computer-based technologies
into teaching and learning activities.
The style and extent of the engagement of students is critical.
Activities can easily be driven by what the technology can
do rather than by students needs. It is the teacher who ensures
that learning activities with computer-based technologies
are meaningful.
The role of the learner
The effectiveness of computer-based activities is enhanced
by the use of collaborative group work. Where groups of students
are engaged in purposeful computer-based tasks, they often
exhibit high levels of on-task interaction, including asking
questions, receiving explanations, contributing suggestions,
demonstrating skills and describing what is happening on screen.
Simultaneously, students act as peer tutors, improving the
learning of the whole class.
The use of computer-based technologies can shift the emphasis
of activities away from the teacher and towards the students.
Students can select tasks, work at levels that meet their
particular needs, or take responsibility for the management
of entire activities.
The way in which computer-based activities are presented
to students can also influence learning.
In learning to use computer-based technologies, students
need to develop understandings about the technologies themselves
and about their effects. Such attitudes need to be discussed
and questioned to ensure that students' perceptions do not
lead them to believe that computers can 'do anything' or that
using computers will make learning easier than it is.
While computers can have strong motivational effects, it
is important to acknowledge that truly effective computer-based
learning requires purposeful application and the mindful engagement
of students.
THE TECHNOLOGY PLANNING TEAM
Principal
The principal is ultimately responsible for the management
of the teaching and learning that takes place in the school.
The principal overviews all website material and computer
programs to ensure that the Department of Education and Training
guidelines are met.
Computer co-ordinator
The computer coordinator is responsible for the maintenance,
installation and management of all computers within the school.
Website co-ordinator
The website co-ordinator is responsible for supervising the
content and material placed on the school website and ensuring
that the content has the approval of the principal.
Senior school assistant
The senior school assistant is the office manager responsible
for the finance and administration of the school using the
oasis system.
Librarian
The librarian is responsible for the computers located in
the library, the installed software and the use of the Internet
on the library computers. The librarian liaises with the computer
co-ordinator in matter of maintenance and with classroom teachers
to ensure the continuity of learning.
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