The unit is structured as a constructivist, collaborative design task whereby students have the freedoom to design an alarm to be hidden anywhere, for example, under a chair so when the chair is sat on the circuit closes and the alarm sounds. 

Learning Objective: Students will investigate how electrical energy can control sound in a designed product. They will learn about circuits, generate design ideas using graphical representation and technical terms, produce a functional prototype, evaluate design ideas and build their final design. Students will achieve this through the use of this guided portfolio.

Connected Curriculum- Year 6 Science- Electrical energy can be transferred and transformed in electrical circuits and can be generated from a range of sources (ACSSU097)

Differentiation- Advanced students can extend the task to make the alarm even smaller, or add an addititonal circuit to make the design light up. Students could also create a SlideShare or iMovie to document how they made their design. 

After each lesson in this resource it is important that students have the opportunity for a class discussion in which they can share their progress and outline any problems they are having. This is a great opportunity for their peers to assist them by outlining how they solved similar problems. 

References 

ACARA. (2016). Design and Technologies. Retrieved from http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/technologies/design-and-technologies/curriculum/f-10?layout=1

It’s a Doozy. (2013). 13 Year old Kenyan boy Ted talk [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjapPH6wyGA

Pixabay. (2016). Free images and videos. Retrieved from https://pixabay.com

Villis, J. (2014). Forces and Electricity. Retrieved from http://intertecheducation.edublogs.org/

WGBH Educational Foundation. (2016). Hidden alarm. Retrieved from http://pbskids.org/designsquad/build/hidden-alarm/