Great Scot April 2019 Great Scot_156_April_2019_Online | Page 40

News
ABOVE: WILDLIFE BOXES CREATED BY YEAR 11 STUDENTS FOR HOUSING NATIVE POSSUMS. BOTTOM: VOLUNTEER FROM WILDLIFE AUSTRALIA HOLDING ONE OF THE HOUSING PRODUCTS.
IMAGINATIVE AND UTILITARIAN
Flat-pack dog kennels and nature boxes for
possums, micro-bats and other native animals
are good examples of the imaginative products
emanating from the fertile imaginations of boys
participating in Product Design and Technology,
Unit 2. The unit requires boys to work
collaboratively to design and develop an item in a
given product range.
Over the past four years, Scotch Year 11
boys have been designing a range of products
for local charities. In 2015, the class made half a
dozen flat-pack dog kennels that were donated
to the Lost Dogs’ Home in Melbourne. Since
2016, boys have responded to requests from
Wildlife Victoria for nature boxes to house a
range of native animals, including possums,
micro-bats, lorikeets, king parrots and owls.
In small teams, boys research, design and
make batches of products for use by Wildlife
Victoria volunteers across the state. The boys
must address a number of key factors in
manufacturing such bespoke items, including
working within a set budget, determining the
scale, shape and size of the boxes, incorporating
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Great Scot Number 156 – April 2019
hinged lids for easy maintenance, attaching
baffles to deter the entry of intruders, installing
bee plates to prevent a hive from overrunning
the box, providing drainage holes and landing
posts, using suitable materials and finishes,
and adopting sound construction techniques to
ensure durability.
Our two Year 11 Product Design and
Technology classes have received deserved
praise for manufacturing 36 new wildlife boxes
for Wildlife Victoria. The organisation’s volunteers
from locations around Melbourne, including
Hoppers Crossing, Rowville, Heathmont and
Hurstbridge have made good use of the soundly
built boxes.
For many years this project has enabled
boys to work successfully within the boundaries
of VCE design study while responding to a
real client/end user situation, with function and
purpose the key factors of the design brief —
and all in a very worthwhile cause.
BYRON BENTLEY — PRODUCT DESIGN
AND TECHNOLOGY TEACHER