Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies Grades 6 – 7
Students in Grades 6 to 9 will have opportunities to explore specific areas of Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies while continuing to build their design thinking and foundational skills.
The Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies 6–9 curriculum encompasses content from the four existing Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies disciplines (Business Education, Home Economics, Information and Communications Technology, and Technology Education) and new and emerging fields, and provide opportunities for choice, modularization, and a variety of delivery options. This approach provides provincial recognition of the variety and scope of existing locally developed middle years programs and a template for the development of additional
local programs.
As a result of their explorations in Grades 6 to 9, students may begin to show particular interest in and aptitude for specific Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies areas and set more specialized learning goals.
Big Ideas
- Design can be responsive to identified needs.
- Complex tasks require the acquisition of additional skills.
- Complex tasks may require multiple tools and technologies.
Introduction
The ability to design and make, acquire skills as needed, and apply technologies is important in the world today and a key aspect of educating citizens for the future.
The Applied Skills learning area has been re-envisioned as a K–12 program and renamed. The new Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies (ADST) curriculum is an experiential, hands-on program of learning through design and creation that includes skills and concepts from traditional and First Peoples practice; from the existing disciplines of Business Education, Home Economics, Information Technology, and Technology Education; and from new and emerging fields. It envisions a K–12 continuum fostering the development of the skills and knowledge that will allow students to create practical and innovative responses to everyday needs and problems.
Business Education builds an understanding of business skills and concepts in the context of current technology, ethical standards, and an increasingly global economy, empowering students with economic, financial, consumer, and communication skills for lifelong participation in local and global contexts.
Home Economics focuses on fundamental needs and practical concerns of individuals and families in a changing and challenging world, It integrates knowledge, processes, and practical skills from multiple areas, including foods, textiles, and family studies, and provides opportunities for creative applications and critical examination from global citizenship perspectives.
Information Technology encompasses evolving processes, systems, and tools for creating, storing, retrieving, and modifying information. As students design, share, and adapt knowledge in critical, ethical, purposeful, and innovative ways, they gain perspective on the long-term implications of life in a digital, connected world and develop literacies to responsibly take ownership of such technologies to augment learning and benefit society.
Technology Education involves students in the design and fabrication of objects using a variety of materials, methods, technologies, and tools in order to develop their ability to shape and change the physical world to meet human needs. It may include woodwork, metalwork, electronics, drafting, automotive technology, power mechanics, and robotics.
Using creative and critical thinking, students can work collaboratively to problem find and solve by exploring materials, using tools and equipment, designing and building, developing processes, and communicating the merits of their work. They can learn to critically evaluate the appropriateness of the products they develop and those developed by others. As they explore the role of culture, including local Aboriginal cultures, in the development of practical and innovative solutions to human needs, they can develop a sense of personal and social responsibility for the products they use and develop, and their effects on individuals, communities, and the environment, now and in the future.
Learning in Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies provides firm foundations for lifelong learning and, for some, specialized study and a diverse range of careers. It develops well-rounded citizens who are informed creators and consumers. It fosters the development of future problem solvers, innovators, and skilled tradespeople who can contribute to solving problems not yet anticipated with processes and technologies not yet imagined in order to improve their lives, the lives of others, and the environment.
Goals
The BC Applied Design, Skills, and Technologies curriculum contributes to students’ development as educated citizens through the achievement of the following goals. Students are expected to
- acquire practical skills and knowledge that they can use to bring their ideas from conception to fruition
- develop a sense of efficacy and personal agency about their ability to participate as inventors, innovators, and agents of change to solve practical problems in a rapidly changing world
- explore how the values and beliefs of cultures, including local Aboriginal cultures, affect the development of products, services, and processes
- understand the environmental implications of the products they are designing and constructing
- investigate and actively explore a variety of areas, including aspects of Business Education, Home Economics, Information Technology, and Technology Education, and new and emerging fields, in order to develop practical hands-on skills and make informed decisions about pursuing specialized interests for personal enjoyment or careers
- develop a lifelong interest in designing, making, and evaluating products, services, and processes, and contributing through informed citizenship, volunteer work, or their careers, to finding and solving practical problems
Defining
- Choose a design opportunity
- Identify key features or potential users and their requirements
- Identify criteria for success and any constraints
Ideating
- Generate potential ideas and add to others’ ideas
- Screen ideas against criteria and constraints
- Evaluate personal, social, and environmental impacts and ethical considerations
- Choose an idea to pursue
Prototyping
- Identify and use sources of information
- Develop a plan that identifies key stages and resources
- Explore and test a variety of materials for effective use
- Construct a first version of the product or a prototype, as appropriate, making changes to tools, materials, and procedures as needed
- Record iterations of prototyping
Testing
- Test the first version of the product or the prototype
- Gather peer and/or user and/or expert feedback and inspiration
- Make changes, troubleshoot, and test again
Making
- Identify and use appropriate tools, technologies, and materials for production
- Make a plan for production that includes key stages, and carry it out, making changes as needed
- Use materials in ways that minimize waste
Sharing
- Decide on how and with whom to share their product
- Demonstrate their product and describe their process, using appropriate terminology and providing reasons for their selected solution and modifications
- Evaluate their product against their criteria and explain how it contributes to the individual, family, community, and/or environment
- Reflect on their design thinking and processes, and evaluate their ability to work effectively both as individuals and collaboratively in a group, including their ability to share and maintain an efficient co-operative workspace
- Identify new design issues
- Demonstrate an awareness of precautionary and emergency safety procedures in both physical and digital environments
- Identify and evaluate the skills and skill levels needed, individually or as a group, in relation to a specific task, and develop them as needed
- Select, and as needed learn about, appropriate tools and technologies to extend their capability to complete a task
- Identify the personal, social, and environmental impacts, including unintended negative consequences, of the choices they make about technology use
- Identify how the land, natural resources, and culture influence the development and use of tools and technologies
Learning Commons Resources
Curriculum Examples
- Stepping into STEM
- Project Based Homeschooling: Mentoring Self-directed Learners
- Critical Thinking
- STEAM Kids: 50+ Science/Technology/Engineering
- Lego Mindstorms
- The Thinking Toolbox
- Maker Projects for kids who love animation
- Howtoons: Tools of Mass Construction
- Micro: bit
- Virtual Reality
Search Terms
Use the following keywords to search for resources:
- Maker education
- Project based learning
- Inquiry based learning
- Inventions
To enter the Search Portal, click on the button below or through the main navigation bar at the top of any page on this site.
Subscriptions
Log in to BrainPOP. You can search for topics such as technology and coding. For ADST there are many BrainPOP videos available.
OR
Go to the BrainPOP Educators site (no login required) which has the option to choose BC curriculum standards.
In BrainPOP you will find short animated movies, to creatively engage students in learning. (Gr. K-12) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to Discovery Education Canada and search for ADST topics. There will be topics such as: Education, Engineering, Environmental Occupations, Financial, Health, Human Services, Workplace Skills, Marketing and Sales, Mechanics, Media and Arts, Personal and Building Services, Production Occupations, Professional Specialty Occupations, Scientific Occupations, Technical and Related Occupations, Technology, and Transportation and Material Moving Occupations.
Discovery Education Streaming Plus offers students award-winning digital or multimedia content. (K-12 content) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to Explora Primary.
EBSCOhost’s Explora is a site to encourage student research with extensive, reliable content and ease of use. (K-12 content) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to EverFi to find the courses: FutureSmart (becoming stewards of your financial future Gr. 6-8) Demo video; Ignition (using technology safely – Gr. 6-9) Demo video; Venture – Entrepreneurial Expedition (important basic business skills – Gr. 7-10) Demo video.
EverFI produces digital courses, such as: financial literacy, STEM, diversity and inclusion, student loan management, digital citizenship, civic awareness, entrepreneurial thinking, alcohol and substance abuse, and sexual assault prevention. (Gr. 4-12) Look for a full description (and a list of all courses available) under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to KnowBC and search by going to an encyclopedia or book title, and searching it.
KnowBC is the leading general reference site for British Columbia, and has the Encyclopedia of British Columbia and other reference works. (Gr. K-12) Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
First log in to Learn360 Learn360 before you choose a topic or “click” on a link. Once in Learn360 select a topic such as Technical & Vocational Education, then filter for the appropriate grade range.
Learn360 is a media-on-demand service or digital video library for Gr. K-12, with digital, audio and other support materials. Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to Tynker, where you can learn coding and programming using JavaScript and Python, or how to program drones, how to program the Lego WeDo 2.0 Smart Hub and sensors using Tynker code blocks, etc. Their newest course is Augmented Reality, which is also available to HCOS students.
Tynker’s interactive courses enable students to learn computer programming in a fun and imaginative way. Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.
Log in to World Book, and choose either World Book Student (Gr. 5-8) or World Book Advanced (Gr. 8-12).
World Book is our online encyclopedia with research sites for all ages from K to 12. Look for a full description under “Subscriptions” in the main menu above.