ABSTRACT
The brief said ‘The roller must travel a distance of 1 metre in not less than 30 seconds.’ The two boys described how they had planned and constructed a zig-zag path for the roller to follow within a plywood box. ‘But of course it covered the metre in under 30 seconds and so we had to look at ways of slowing it down. We lowered the angle of the paths and then the roller got stuck so we left them at the original angle and tried to increase the friction by putting patches of felt on the path. That worked alright but it took us ages to find a way of making the roller drop from one path to the other without falling off. John thought of making a guide with wire and that’s what we did.’ John, who had not spoken so far, pushed forward a booklet and showed a series of notes and drawings which described vividly the frustration the group had felt before they finally succeeded. The roller once more obligingly ran down the tracks. ‘Not bad-that was 31 seconds’ and this from someone outside the group! It was difficult not to get caught up in the enthusiasm of the group and not to be aware of how effectively they had communicated not only within the group but to the class and to us, as outsiders. The children’s clear and accurate explanation, their use of precise vocabulary, and their working drawings demonstrated the ways in which the design brief had provided them with an experience with necessitated the complementary use of a variety of means of communication-oral, graphic and mathematical. One of the interesting aspects of Design Technology is the way in which it is bringing drawing and graphical representation to the fore as a highly desirable skill for young children to develop. One of the first activities in the infant school is to drawlarge brightly coloured lively pictures which are talked about to the teacher and which for the child conveys a detail and meaning which he delights in pointing out to the unaware adult. ‘That’s not a dog-It’s a lion and he’s in the jungle. He’s eaten three people.’ Teacher and child agree interpretation and under the pictures smaller symbols appear ‘This is my lion’. But all too soon the words oust the picture-somehow it is not so important, something to be done when you’ve finished your work!
