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Draft curriculum content
This page is based on the draft Year 9 content for Technology, which is currently open for feedback. Schools are not required to implement changes until the consultation process is confirmed.
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In Year 9, your child develops a more specialised understanding of how to design complex projects using a variety of materials, tools, and digital systems.
Students explore at least 2 technology strands, examining how design choices impact people, communities, and the environment. Students begin learning how these skills relate to innovation and potential future careers, broadening their outlook.
Spatial and product design#
With your child, you could:
- encourage them to plan and design a product for a real user, like a modular backpack with compartments for sports gear or school equipment
- discuss everyday household products and their purpose, thinking about the design and needs of the user, questioning what the designer’s intent was, and what will happen when the product is no longer useful
- look at spaces that they use every day and discuss how the space is organised and used, how do people move around a shopping centre, a library, a playground or park, or marae?
- discuss function, durability, and appearance, for example, adjusting straps, materials, or compartments to suit different activities.
What the teacher will focus on#
Teachers support students to apply spatial and product design thinking to create functional, sustainable, and user-friendly products. Students learn to sketch, model, and prototype (create an example or model), make decisions about materials and structure, and test their products.
For example, by the end of Year 9, your child may be able to:
- use design frameworks and an iterative approach (that improves over multiple versions) to design, develop, and evaluate models and prototypes for products like a skateboard deck or a skate park, use planning tools to create multi-phase project plans to ensure the project is completed on time and successfully
- evaluate how design choices affect usability, safety (extending to ethical and legal issues), and environmental impact, how do their choices expand human capability?
- research systematically, using existing information to inform their work, and looking at local contexts for inspiration
- correctly use multiple methods of designing, including Computer-Aided-Design (CAD) tools for modelling, sketching in 2D or 3D, and technical drawing to express their ideas.
Materials and processing technology#
With your child, you could:
- look at and discuss the materials chosen to design a space or product, and decide which materials are best by thinking about how long they’ll last, how they affect people and the environment, and whether they suit the purpose and users
- discuss how safety is managed at your workplace, or the workplace of a relative, and how this is similar to what happens at school
- encourage them to investigate the innovation of materials to improve strength, durability, or appearance, such as Teflon or heat-changing materials
- help them to design their own recipe for a family meal that meets dietary needs, and the needs of each person, for example, create a dish to celebrate Matariki and Puanga, or a ‘no sugar’ dessert
- consider food waste and ways to ‘make your food go further’, such as eating in season, by preserving or fermenting food.
What the teacher will focus on#
Teachers support students in applying mathematical, scientific, and social sciences concepts to improve material choices, increase safety levels, and enhance overall product usability. Students will investigate techniques and processes across a range of technological areas, including construction, textiles, biotechnology, and food technology, considering the design materials and their functionality. Students will work on projects as part of a team, applying safe practices and sharing feedback to improve outcomes.
For example, by the end of Year 9, your child may be able to:
- safely create a product by choosing the best range of materials and ingredients for their end purpose, such as strength, nutritional value, flexibility, durability or sustainability
- make considered decisions about their design ideas, taking into account ethical, cultural and sustainable factors, and thinking carefully about how people will interact with their product and the environment
- explain a project's life cycle by identifying where the material or ingredients have been sourced, how it’s managed, how it’s disposed of, and taking into account industry standards of practice
- become creators of useful products such as foods, natural medicines, or materials, bio-technology, processing technology, food technology, hard (resistant) and soft (textiles) engineering
- adjust processes to improve the final product’s quality and performance based on testing and trialling during creation.
Electronics and mechatronics#
With your child, you could:
- discuss technological systems at home, such as digital gaming systems, air conditioning, roof framing, mountain bikes, to help the understanding of how these systems are fit for purpose and respond to the user and the environment
- think about electrical products, such as smartphones or watches, and how they are designed to help you in everyday life
- look at simple structures and mechanisms, such as a bicycle or furniture with opening doors, and think about how it functions and how it can be adapted to meet different needs
- encourage them to test and refine control systems, for example, adjusting the sensor sensitivity or programming movement sequences in a home security system.
What the teacher will focus on#
Teachers help students understand how mechanical, electrical, and digital components interact to form a final product. Students learn to plan, build, and test mechatronic systems, improving performance through refining and improving models.
For example, by the end of Year 9, your child may be able to:
- apply sensors and actuators to projects to meet user needs; for example, using a light sensor to control a fan in a greenhouse, or programming motors to move a toy car or drone
- build a working mechatronic device, that responds to sensor input, for example, an automated window opener that activates based on temperature or light levels
- build, test and refine electronic circuits that include inputs (switches or buttons), processing (microcontrollers, 555 timers) and outputs (LED lights, motors) in a real-world context
- follow systems diagrams or sequenced instructions to design and build features of simple mechatronic systems, for example, an automated robotic arm or a smart toilet
- consider smart components and how this can be best used in a design, for instance, sewable, programmable LED lights in fashion that react to light and dark
- troubleshoot and refine systems for improved control and reliability, and consider what could happen if the system fails and how this issue could be addressed.
Digital technologies#
With your child, you could:
- use free programming software (like Scratch) or 3D modelling tools (like SketchUp) to create solutions, such as an interactive map or a 3D-printed component
- have a conversation about how digital platforms have changed since you were their age
- discuss their role as citizens in a digital world, how we act and behave in this space, its effect on others, including privacy and online behaviour
- examine websites that have a purpose (like online supermarket shopping), and discuss the usability of the site, is it logical, helpful, functional, and how the colour and image choices influence you
- discuss how they can be an ethical user of technology, for example, only take or post someone's photo with permission.
What the teacher will focus on#
Teachers guide students to integrate digital tools with design and making, using data, algorithms, and simulations to solve problems. Students learn to test, refine, and document digital solutions and understand the ethical use of technology and its impact on people’s lives.
For example, by the end of Year 9, your child may be able to:
- plan and build a digital solution, like a quiz game that tracks scores and gives feedback; a simple platform game with levels and scoring; or a simulation of a traffic light system, or predator–prey ecosystem
- manage their work safely in a digital space, taking into account storage, updates, settings, permissions, passwords and backups, and what information they should share
- create simple interfaces for specific people, such as websites or apps, that include design elements like layout, typography, colour contrast, and basic accessibility checks and features
- understand and use appropriate formats and settings for documents, images and recordings
- collaborate with others to plan and produce a digital outcome using shared tools, recording sources and attributions, for example, online meeting tools, brainstorming, planning and collaborative tools.
