6. Real World Projects

These are some interesting projects that you might like to discuss with your students that show what they learn in TAS can be applied to solving difficult problems in Australia and in the wider world.

Warka Water towers harvest drinkable water from the air

Related context areas: Materials, Engineered systems

Related LAC areas: Civics and Citizenship, Work and Enterprise, Sustainability, Critical and creative thinking

Focus Area: Technologies in Society

Designer Arturo Vittori says his invention can provide remote villages with more than 25 gallons of clean drinking water per day with this Tower that pulls drinking water out of thin air Read more

Creating Water in the Atacama Desert - Creating Water Foundation - Documentary

Related context areas: Agriculture and Food Technologies, Materials, Engineered systems

Related LAC areas: Civics and Citizenship, Sustainability, Critical and creative thinking

The Fun Theory 1 – an initiative of Volkswagen: Piano Staircase

Related context areas: Digital Technologies, Materials, Engineered systems

Related LAC areas: Critical and creative thinking, Information and communication technology capability

Visit the The Fun Theory website to read more about how has been used to motivate people to do all kinds of ‘boring’ things like, getting fit, recycling and more.

Teenage girls designed a tent that could help get the homeless off the streets

Related context areas: Digital Technologies, Materials, Engineered systems

Related LAC areas: Critical and creative thinking, Information and communication technology capability

Beautiful and Innovative Medical Jewellery by Artist and Designer Leah Heiss

Related context areas: Digital Technologies, Engineered systems, Materials

Related LAC areas: Work and Enterprise, Critical and creative thinking, Information and communication technology capability

Related Focus: Technologies and Society

"Leah Heiss is an Australian artist and designer. Her beautiful work brings the worlds of art, design and science together. She designs jewellery that incorporates cutting-edge nanotechnology. Leah has created biosignal sensing jewellery, swallowable devices to detect gas fluctuations within your body, and emergency jewellery for times of crisis. She experiments with next generation materials such as memory metals, magnetic liquids, and electricity conducting textiles." Source: accessed 30/7/18

Visit Leah's Website to learn more about her work and the variety of projects she has designed solutions for.

Robotics in Dairy Farming

Related context areas: Agriculture and Food, Digital Technologies, Engineered systems

Related LAC areas: Information and communication technology capability

Focus Area: Technologies in Society

A Manning Valley farmer is using robots for milking his cows, and is at the forefront of implementing Robotics and digital technology in Agriculture. Read more on this project. His next plan is for a drone that can fly around his farm periodically to stir the cows at different times of the day/night to come in for milking.

What are some of the problems particular to your school or community and what could your students design and create to solve them?

The problem of discarded plastic sushi soy fish containers and lids littering school playgrounds is a common issue for example. These wash into drains and frequently out to the ocean where they kill marine life who ingest them.