School Curriculum: Nature and Process of Technology
This page is designed to enable parents to understand what their child should be learning, when they should be learning it, and what degree of mastery the child should have attained (at a median level) by a certain grade level. For Homeschoolers, we hope that this page will serve as a valuable asset in establishing a baseline curriculum. For parents whose children attend public or private schools (or for the inquisitive student) this page should give some guidance as to whether or not the school curriculum and methods are providing students with an adequate standard of education.
What is meant by "Nature and Process of Technology," why is it important, and how is it approached ? Below is a description of the core discipline and its components, and the answers to why-how-when these components are taught. Nature and Process of Technology components have median level goals to be attained by the end of Grade 2, by the end of Grade 4, by the end of Grade 6, by the end of Grade 8, and by the end of Grade 12.
This page
does not contain articles for education in this discipline.
For educational articles, go to: Nature
and Process of Technology: A. Science and
Technology, B. Nature of Technology, C. Technological Design
| STANDARD 5.4 (NATURE AND PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGY) ALL STUDENTS WILL UNDERSTAND THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOP A CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE NATURE AND PROCESS OF TECHNOLOGY. |
Descriptive Statement: This standard focuses on developing students’ understanding of the interrelationship between science and technology. It introduces students to and expands their understanding of the nature of technology. In addition, it introduces and develops students’ abilities with technological design including experiences in predicting, decision making, critical thinking, and problem solving.
Strands and Cumulative Progress Indicators
By the end of Grade 2, students will:
A. Science and Technology
1. Indicators for this strand are introduced at a higher grade level.
B. Nature of Technology
1. Select and use simple tools and materials to complete a task.
C. Technological Design
1. Make a plan in order to design a solution to a problem.
2. Describe a toy or other familiar object as a system with parts that work together.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 4, students will:
A. Science and Technology
1. Distinguish between things that occur in nature and those that have been designed to solve human problems.
B. Nature of Technology
1. Demonstrate how measuring instruments are used to gather information in order to design things that work properly.
C. Technological Design
1. Describe a product or device in terms of the problem it solves or the need it meets.
2. Choose materials most suitablebased on their characteristics to make simple mechanical constructions.
3. Use the design process to identify a problem, look for ideas, and develop and share solutions with others.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 6, students will:
A. Science and Technology
Reinforce indicators from previous grade level.
B. Nature of Technology
Reinforce indicators from previous grade level.
C. Technological Design
1. Select a technological problem and describe the criteria and constraints and criteria that are addressed in solving the problem.
2. Identify the basic components of a technological system:
input.
process.
output.
feedback.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 8, students will:
A. Science and Technology
1. Compare and contrast science with technology, illustrating similarities and differences between these two human endeavors.
B. Nature of Technology
1. Analyze a product or system to determine the problem it was designed to solve, the design constraints, trade-offs and risks involved in using the product or system, how the product or system might fail, and how the product or system might be improved.
C. Technological Design
1. Recognize how feedback loops are used to control systems.
Building upon knowledge and skills gained in preceding grades, by the end of Grade 12, students will:
A. Science and Technology
1. Know that scientific inquiry is driven by the desire to understand the natural world and seeks to answer questions that may or may not directly influence humans, while technology is driven by the need to meet human needs and solve human problems.
B. Nature of Technology
1. Assess the impacts of introducing a new technology in terms of alternative solutions, costs, tradeoffs, risks, benefits and environmental impact.
C. Technological Design
1. Plan, develop, and implement a proposal to solve an authentic, technological problem.
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