Why Technology projects get stressful.
Technology is a project subject, and projects are marked against the design process: investigate, design, make, evaluate, communicate. Learners who build something good and document it badly lose most of the marks anyway.
The theory sits underneath — forces in structures, gear ratios, simple circuits — and it is examined in a written paper too. Learners who only remember the making half arrive at the exam unprepared.
How do I work out the gear ratio if the driver has 12 teeth and the driven has 36?
Set it up as driven over driver. What does 36 divided by 12 give you?
3.
So 3:1. The driven gear turns once for every three turns of the driver — slower, but with more turning force. Which one would you use to lift a heavy load?
What Grace covers in Technology.
CAPS-aligned, Grades 7–9. Tell Grace the grade and it works to that curriculum level.
Structures
Types of structures, forces including tension, compression and shear, stability and triangulation, materials and their properties, and structural failure.
Processing
Properties and processing of materials, joining and shaping techniques, recycling, food and textile processing, and the impact of processing on the environment.
Mechanical systems and control
Simple machines, levers, gears and gear ratios, pulleys, hydraulics and pneumatics, and mechanical advantage.
Electrical systems and the design process
Circuits, conductors and insulators, switches, resistance, electronic components and systems; and the investigate, design, make, evaluate and communicate cycle every project is marked against.
Technology homework help, at the hour it is needed.
Technology homework is usually a project stage, and the stage that gets skipped is the documentation — which is where the marks live.
Grace works through each stage of the design process with your child, asking the questions the rubric asks, so the written portfolio matches the thing they built.
- Structures the design portfolio to the IDMEC stages
- Explains forces, gear ratios and circuits with worked examples
- Photograph a worksheet or a sketch and work from it
- Covers Grades 7, 8 and 9 across all four strands
7–9
Full Senior Phase Technology
4
Curriculum strands covered
24/7
Available when the project is due
Related subjects and pages.
Everything on this site is one platform and one subscription — these are simply the other doors into it.
Questions about Technology tutoring.
Will it design the project?
No. It asks the questions the design process asks and helps your child document their own work properly.
Does it cover gear ratios and mechanical advantage?
Yes, with worked examples rather than a formula to memorise.
Is there a written exam in Technology?
Yes. The theory is examined alongside the project work, which is what learners tend to be unprepared for.
What comes after Grade 9?
Depending on the school, learners move to Physical Sciences, IT, CAT or Engineering Graphics and Design.