ICT

YEAR 10 INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

This term, in Year 10 Information and Communication Technology, students have been conducting their own research into an issue with the use of Technology.

We started by looking at some key sample issues (Mobile Phones in Schools, Chromebooks at McKinnon and Remote Learning) before students were provided with some sample links and asked to investigate areas they may be interested in studying further.

For their chosen topic, they need to be able to explain the issue, who is affected and how they are affected, whether or not it is a global problem, describe both sides of the problem as well as trying to provide suggestions as to what could be done to handle the situation better - increasing the positive impacts and/or decreasing the negative impacts.

With each student selecting a different topic, the class is exposed to the widest range of current issues with the use of technology. The wide variety in this class’s topics include:

• Deep fakes
• Artificial Intelligence such as ChatGPT and Bard
• Impact of technology on written English
• Police cameras looking into cars
• Pollution due to Technology
• Delivery Drones
• Improper use of Personal Data
• Interactive Home Gadgets

After lessons in trying to produce the best electronic presentations and tips on verbal presentations, each student will present their findings in an oral presentation to the rest of the class, supported by an electronic presentation. They also need to provide a list of their correctly documented sources to the teacher.

There is an interesting time ahead as these presentations are given to the class.

Diana Hatch

10ICT Teacher

YEAR 10 ENGINEERING

Engineering is a crucial intersection between technology and society. In this subject students will learn about the engineering process of investigating, generating, producing, evaluating, planning and managing solutions, however, the central focus will be on the aspects of producing, evaluating and planning. Students will develop their scientific understanding of materials and specific systems to evaluate their appropriateness for purpose in the engineering process.

There are two main projects in this subject, a 3D modelling of the wind turbine blades and an Arduino circuit design of a traffic control system. We have just completed the first main project and are currently working on the second. Students are developing, designing, testing and evaluating a pedestrian crossing traffic light system. Students are enjoying the process of exploring, thinking, designing and experimenting, and experiencing the joy of engineers creating a better life.

The photos attached show the students testing their 3D model design.

Mr Simon Shen

Engineering Teacher

In our Introduction to Engineering class, we were taught a range of skills about different components of engineering, and how to combine them to be useful in real-life situations. 

Our first 3 topics were flight, materials, and 3D printing. We used our knowledge of these subjects to design and 3D print our own aerofoil-shaped wind turbines on Tinkercad and applied our knowledge of materials by identifying the costs and environmental factors of real turbines.

Our next topics were robotics and electricity. We learned how to calculate and measure things like voltage, resistance, power, and current, to name just a few. We tested our abilities through the Arduino Uno microcontroller by combining hardware skills and some C coding to create a pedestrian traffic light to assist students crossing McKinnon Road. 

One of the best parts of the class was the connections it had to the real world to prepare us for a real engineering future. We brushed the surface of many different types of engineering, learned about the expectations engineers must adhere to succeed, and had tons of fun while doing it. As interesting as it was, it was also a great chance for us to use our imagination, nurture our creativity, and explore the limits of what we can do with a few electronics. Certainly, this class has provided us with the opportunity to educate and prepare ourselves to join the electrifying world of engineering. 

Talia Suchard & Gloris George

During Year 10 Engineering we undertook a variety of projects, one of my favourites being our 3D Design task. This task challenged students to create a 3D design of a wind turbine using the 3D Printers, theory we learnt in class, and ultimately testing how well they generated electricity.

I loved working on this task as it really showed how the work we were doing in class had real life applications by letting us experiment with what we created. It was interesting to observe how different designs gave different outcomes, and by using friendly software it gave everyone a chance to not only participate in the project but evolve their skills to create more complex designs with the CAD software.

Overall, this has been one of the most rewarding subjects I have taken part in at McKinnon, and I really value the skills I’ve learned, as well as the projects I completed, while in this class. For any student looking to expand their knowledge in 3D design, robotics & software, electricity or technology’s effect on our lives and work: I could not recommend Year 10 Engineering more.

Alex Kormas

In my time studying Year 10 Engineering we worked on a lot of practical and engaging applications around electricity and microcontrollers, which is one of my favourite aspects of engineering. By far the learning task I enjoyed most in engineering was the traffic light task which evolves practical skills in making circuits and a little bit of programming.

Overall Engineering is one of the most practical subjects as it teaches you logical thinking and how to solve real world problems as in the start of this course we covered the engineering process. This helped me understand how to organise my personal projects and gave me a better understand of how building and other systems are made and planned. Lastly this course has showed me the many different fields within engineering and how important it is in the world.

Revarn Govender 

Attached are the final student designs and a photo of the experimental setup used to test the turbines.

Mr Jessie Grantham-Smith 

Teacher of Engineering, VCE Teacher