“South Pacific Beats”, Connected, level 3, November 2018
15 November 2018
Wellington designer Rachael Hall has developed a modern version of the traditional Tongan lali which incorporates digital capabilities.
You can find the story and teacher support material here: South Pacific Beats, Connected, level 3, November 2018
Other useful resources
- Pasifika drum strikes a chord – Listen to an interview in which Rachel and Jeremy Hall discuss the development and use of the Patō. There is also a video clip of the Patō in use.
- The James Dyson Award - Patō National runner up – Read about the Patō, how it works, and the design process Rachael followed to develop her prototype.
Discussion questions
These could include:
- Describe the properties of the materials used in the Patō that can be measured objectively and those properties of materials that can be measured subjectively.
Subjective measurement is reliant on people’s perception (tasty, evokes a sense of natural beauty, warm and inviting, and so on) where as objective measurement is not (conductivity, UV resistance, and so on).
- Describe how the properties of the materials used in the Patō combine to allow the Patōto be technically feasible and socially acceptable.
The fitness for purpose of a product relies on the material providing appropriate performance properties to ensure the product is technically feasible and socially acceptable (safe, ethical, environmentally friendly, economically viable, and so on).
- The Patō is a technological system. Identify the inputs and outputs of the Patō.
- How does Racquel record the music made by the Pato?
Indicators of progression for discussion starters
| Component | Indicator | Level |
| Technological products |
| 3 |
| Technological area | Progress outcome | |
| Designing and developing digital outcomes | PO1: In authentic contexts and taking account of end-users, students participate in teacher-led activities to develop, manipulate, store, retrieve, and share digital content in order to meet technological challenges. In doing so, they identify digital devices and their purposes and understand that humans make them. They know how to use some applications, they can identify the inputs and outputs of a system, and they understand that digital devices store content, which can be retrieved later. | |