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1. The technological process
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4.
STAGES OF THE TECHNOLOGICAL PROCESS
As a way of practising technological processes, we are going to design
a drip
irrigation system
. Let’s look at the stages we have to follow.
4.1.
Approach and analysis of needs and problems
Before we begin a project, we
should ask ourselves what are our
needs. The more details and data
we have, the easier it will be to get
the design right and come up with
an appropriate solution.
In this case, we can find the needs
or problems in the instructions for
the final task.
You are going to design and build a
homemade
drip irrigation system
to optimise the consumption of
water for plants in a garden or a
school vegetable plot.
Once we have identified the
problem, we have to study it in
depth.
4.2.
Collecting information and analysing previous cases
At this stage, we
look for information
about solutions found for problems similar to
ours and about technical
aspects
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that might
affect
12
our project.
We should learn about drip irrigation, its advantages and disadvantages, and compare
it to other watering systems.
To get this information, we can use gardening books, talk to experts, or look for
information in shops or on the Internet.
Once we have all the information, we should analyse and organise it. Then we can
choose the data that we think is the most important from each
source
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.
Looking for information and studying similar cases allows us to choose different
solutions.
We can use the case that is most similar to ours as a
model
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. In the following stages,
we can make changes to
adapt
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it fully to our needs.
Apply
15.
Think of three properties the following objects have to have:
a)
to protect us from the rain.
b)
to clean dust around the house.
c)
to write.
d)
to hold food.
Understand
16.
Look for ideas on the Internet that might be useful for your project.
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aspect
: a part of a situation or problem
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affect
:
have an effect on
13
source
: a person or thing that gives us
information
14
model
: a thing used as an example to
copy
15
adapt
:
change to make something
more suitable to our needs
Apply
14.
Find out information
about different types of
drip irrigation systems.
How do they work?
How does the water
reach the plants?
Professional drip
ADVANCE EDITION
