Mid-Summative Assessment Task:

You are a journalist from National Geographic traveling to a farm in Australia. Your assignment is to
investigate what technologies the farm uses to produce its products. You will identify the
purposes of these technologies; such as ones used to preserve natural resources or manage time
effectively. Your supervisor at National Geographic would like you and your team to record your
understandings to present back to the board of publishing.

Your research will be conducted on this website:

http://virtualfarm.mla.com.au/

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

 What is farmed?

What is produced by the farm?

Why is it important to understand where our

products (E.G meat and wool) come from?

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

 What role do technologies play in farming?

List at least five technologies you found on a farm

and what they are used for.

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

 How do technologies benefit the farmer?

How might the technologies benefit the

livestock?

How might the technologies used benefit the

farm?

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

Suggest ways to improve the technologies used on
the farm.

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

Extension:
Suggest ways to improve the farm’s management
practices so that there might be less impact on
the environment.

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

Mid-Summative Assessment Student Work Sample:

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre
Final Summative Assessment Task:

National Geographic has accepted your research for publishing. They are even extending you the
opportunity to pitch your new farming technology to them for their Engineering webpage
cover and featured article! Choose one technology that you found on your farming technologies
research task to improve for current or future needs. You will pitch National
Geographic a design brief and small model of your proposed technology to their web
designers.

Your design brief must include:

Research into the technology you have chosen to improve

A description of the purpose of your new farming technology

A description of how your design meets the needs of present and future farmers

An explanation of the features of your design

Technical terms and language for materials, tools and labels

A plan for your project

A plan for your production process

A list of materials you would need to design it

A list of materials you will need to construct a model

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

Final Summative Assessment Student Work Sample:

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre
Research and Design Task Rubric:

Design and Technologies | Food and Fibre