Toys
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Approach:  Group
Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Investigating and evaluating design  
Resources:
5 toys, 4 team badges, 2 pictures, 2 cards,
Working Together team card
frame 596Kb
Questions/instructions:  


Read and explain ‘Working Together’ card with students.

We are going to look at some toys. Each of you will have a different toy and I will ask you some questions about your toy. Here are the questions I will be asking.

Show and read question card 1, then hand out toys – Goggle Eyes to Student 1, Wendy toy to Student 2, Stethoscope to Student 3 and Robo Insect to Student 4.
[Card 1 same as questions 1-3 below.]

[Click on images to enlarge.]
 
% responses
2008 ('04)
y4
y8
[Student 1] show the others your toy (goggle eyes).
1. Who do you think might like to have this toy? prompt: Who else?
    
Mentions:
Gender –
girls
0 (0)
1 (0)
boys
11 (19)
5 (14)
age
31 (21)
73 (70)
specific relevant interest
40 (39)
57 (54)
2. Why might they like to have it?
3. What has the toy maker done so they might like to have it?
 
decorative features of toy (including colour)
31 (37)
68 (46)
functionality
80 (73)
84 (80)
[Student 2] show the others your toy (Wendy toy).
4. Who do you think might like to have this toy? prompt: Who else?
Mentions:
Gender –
girls
7 (11)
6 (8)
boys
8 (21)
9 (8)
age
66 (66)
88 (84)
specific relevant interest
44 (46)
51 (48)
5. Why might they like to have it?
6. What has the toy maker done so they might like to have it? 		   
  decorative features of toy (including colour)
36 (43)
68 (71)
functionality
52 (64)
67 (61)
[Student 3] show the others your toy (stethoscope).
7. Who do you think might like to have this toy? prompt: Who else?
Mentions:
Gender –
girls
2 (9)
0 (4)
boys
3 (10)
3 (8)
age
37 (37)
77 (75)
specific relevant interest
76 (73)
80 (77)
8. Why might they like to have it?
9. What has the toy maker done so they might like to have it?
 
decorative features of toy (including colour)
25 (42) 49 (28)
functionality
 59 (59) 62 (63)
[Student 4] show the others your toy (Robo Insect).
10. Who do you think might like to have this toy?
prompt: Who else?		    
Mentions:
Gender –
girls
0 (0)
1 (0)
boys
21 (36)
18 (37)
age
44 (38)
80 (85)
specific relevant interest
30 (31)
51 (39)
11. Why might they like to have it?
12. What has the toy maker done so they might like to have it?
 
decorative features of toy (including colour)
34 (42)
66 (56)
functionality
73 (82)
88 (82)
I’m going to give you some pictures of shelves in a toy shop and
a teddy bear, then as a group you will talk about the questions on this card.
Read then give students question card 2.
[Card 2 same as questions 1-4 below.]

GROUP DISCUSSION:
Hand out the pictures and the teddy bear.
Talk together for a couple of minutes and try to agree on your answer to each question. After that I’ll ask you to tell me your group’s answers.
Allow time.

Now tell me your group’s answer to each question,
starting with question 1.
Students respond.		    
1. Why has the shop arranged its toys in this way?    
 
mentions gender
65 (77) 88 (93)
2. Do you think it is a good idea to arrange the toys in this way?
    
 
yes
89 (91)
87 (97)
no
2 (2)
6 (0)
no agreement
7 (3)
7 (3)
3. Why do you think that?
How strongly did team argument back team choice?
strongly
28 (45)
47 (40)
moderately
49 (35)
42 (48)
weakly
23 (21)
11 (12)
4. Where would you put the teddy bear? Why?
   
 
pink aisle
35 (46) 47 (52)
red aisle
 2 (2) 3 (2)
another place
29 (32) 36 (40)
no clear decision
34 (20) 15 (7)
mentions gender
38 (58) 71 (64)

Total score:
10–11
2 (0) 22 (19)
9
7 (14) 21 (23)
8
18 (27) 29 (16)
7
14 (25) 15 (23)
0–6
 59 (34)
13 (19)
Commentary:
Substantial gains in performance from year 4 to year 8 were seen in this task asking students to discuss design features of a variety of toys. In particular, older students attended to the decorative features of the toys far more than younger students. In contrast, both groups addressed the functionality of the toys. There was a decline in performance for year 4 students, but not for year 8 students.
girls toys