Lifestyles, Choices, and the Future

Module 14: Leisure and Recreational Technology

This sub-organizer contains the following sections:
Prescribed Learning Outcomes
Suggested Instructional Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
Recommended Learning Resources

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

• outline ways in which technology has reduced working time and increased leisure time for society
• identify and describe the effect of technology on the development of specific recreations (e.g., computerization on the music industry, new materials incorporated into ski equipment)
• relate the development of leisure and recreational technology to developments in science and technology over time
• provide evidence that the use of recreational technologies involves personal and societal values
• identify and describe the use of technology in the fine arts, other cultural activities, and the media

Suggested Instructional Strategies

• Have students brainstorm the technological tools involved in recreation of all forms. Have them make a collage using magazine ads.
• Have students examine the collage created in the previous activity and select a technology of interest to study. Have them use on-line research to create a presentation on the development of the technology and the scientific research that contributed to its development.
• Present a list of recreational activities. Have students discuss how these activities have been influenced by technology and the effect of this influence. After they conduct their research, have the groups make presentations to the class.
• Have each student select one item of recreational equipment of interest. Have them conduct field work and prepare research reports on costs and other features. Then have them give reports to the class on the products they have selected, the reasons for their choices, and details about some of the competitive products.
• Organize a "show and tell" of recreational equipment (e.g., snowboards, skateboards, skis). Have students describe the special technological features of the equipment they present.
• Have students set up simple experiments to compare products (e.g., measuring the distance a ball will travel using different tennis racquet strings).
• Have students discuss whether technology creates more leisure time. Ask: Do people use the extra time obtained through technology for leisure? If not, what becomes of it?
• Have students examine the role of advertising and endorsements in the development of new products. Have them describe what influences them to purchase specific products and discuss what that means to the market.
• Organize an invention fair. Have students explore the history of particular technologies and develop their own products (e.g., a recreational product, a computer game). Students might also develop marketing plans for their products as part of a project in business or technology education.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

• Assess students' collages using predetermined criteria such as visual appeal, details, and clarify.
• Devise a holistic rating scale with the class to assess strategies and the inventions for the fair. The scale might rate the student's development:
  • function
  • appearance
  • durability
  • complexity
  • marketability
  • originality
  • component materials
  • use of technology
• Assess the contents of students' portfolios for minimum and maximum amounts of data, as well as qualitative features.
• Assess individual or group presentations on the basis of general knowledge, delivery, and subject content.
• Assess students' presentations on recreational or leisure technologies for the use of multimedia, scientific explanations, historical details, and the use of props and visual aids.
• Assess students' "consumer reports" on recreational equipment for organization of information, number of brands examined, and supporting evidence.
• Assess students' laboratory experiments on products on the basis of their experimental design and quality of reporting (hypothesis, procedure, materials used, control of variables, data collection methods, reporting of data, conclusions).

Recommended Learning Resources

• A Measure of Beauty
• Breakthrough Series

• Science and Technology 11, Unit 5
• Science and Technology 11, Unit 5 Source File
• Teaching Tessellating Art

Table of Contents

Curriculum Branch
Ministry of Education
© 1995 Copyright

Maintained by: Science and Technology Coordinator

Revised: January 27, 1999

Ministry of Education Home Page