My, my – how time flies! Our focus for Design and Technologies (D&T) this semester is on food and fibre.

In Early Years and Primary, we are exploring where familiar foods come from and it is inspiring to hear that most of our students know where milk and eggs come from.  It can be a little confusing that we also get meat from cows and chickens though. There is a lot of cutting out and pasting together at this stage – the fine motor skills needed to use scissors can take lots of practice. Other benefits to students of learning to use scissors safely include building up strength in hands and fingers, learning to coordinate both hands to work together (bilateral coordination), and tracking the cutting line with their eyes.

In Junior and Senior Secondary, while several of us are also learning the fine art of using scissors safely and with precision, we also explore how technology has changed the ways that food and fibre is grown and packaged, and how it may change in the future. We ask questions like “why are round pizzas delivered in square boxes?”, and design simple solutions to familiar problems.  You will find some Design and Technology activities in your home learning packs on Friday. All activities are optional.

One of the many benefits of living in a rural community is seeing food production in action so a simple way to keep on top of D&T at this time is to bring it up in conversation – we often learn best when we don’t even know that we’re learning! If you are lucky enough to have your own chickens or ducks at home, collecting eggs is an easy math lesson. How many today? How many more/less is that than yesterday? How many eggs have we collected this week altogether? Involve your older children in unpacking the groceries and explore the different types of packaging. Take boxes of different sizes and shapes apart before putting them into the recycling bin to see how they fold together. How is a cereal box different to a tissue box? Which one is easiest to stick back together? Which one is stronger? Why is cereal put into a plastic bag AND a box? So many questions, so little time!