Year 5 Technologies – Term 1 (WA Curriculum): Digital Systems and Data Security

What this unit covers

In Term 1, Year 5 Technologies in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Digital Systems and Data Security”.

Students explore how digital systems represent data through codes and learn to protect their personal information and digital footprint online.

Lesson sequence (8 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Converting Letters to Numbers: Creating Secret Alphabet Codes
2. Exploring Ancient Communication: Morse Code and Semaphore Systems
3. How Computers Store Text: Introduction to ASCII and Unicode
4. Digital Data All Around Us: How Computers Store Images and Sound
5. What is a Digital Footprint? Tracking Our Online Activity
6. Social Media and Search History: Understanding Permanent Digital Records
7. Protecting Personal Data: Safe Passwords and Privacy Settings
8. Being a Digital Detective: Evaluating Website and App Trustworthiness

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 1

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 1 runs from Monday 2 February to Thursday 2 April — 9 weeks for WA public schools. With 8 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.