Year 9 Technologies – Term 3 (WA Curriculum): Design, Society and Sustainable Futures

What this unit covers

In Term 3, Year 9 Technologies in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Design, Society and Sustainable Futures”.

Students explore how technologies are designed with consideration of economic, social and environmental factors, developing critical thinking skills to evaluate technological solutions for community needs.

Lesson sequence (20 lessons)

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

1. Investigating How Economic Factors Shape Product Design
2. Analyzing Market Demands and Consumer Needs in Technology Development
3. Exploring Sustainable Materials and Their Impact on Design Choices
4. Understanding Built-in Obsolescence and Its Economic Purpose
5. Evaluating Alternative Technologies for Environmental Solutions
6. Designing Products with Multiple Economic Considerations
7. Investigating Marketing Strategies That Appeal to Consumer Desires
8. Analyzing Local Community Technology Needs and Solutions
9. Exploring Regional Technology Services and Their Social Impact
10. Developing Critical Thinking Skills for Technology Evaluation
11. Creating Ethical Guidelines for Technology Design
12. Investigating Forces and Materials in Bridge Construction
13. Analyzing Engineered Systems in Multistorey Building Design
14. Exploring Traffic Flow Systems and Resource Efficiency
15. Designing Solutions for Specified Community Transportation Needs
16. Managing Resources in Large-Scale Engineering Projects
17. Evaluating Consumer Values in Technology Adoption
18. Investigating Producer Responsibilities in Sustainable Design
19. Developing Management Strategies for Community-Based Solutions
20. Creating Technology Solutions That Balance Multiple Stakeholder Needs

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Skills 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 3

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 3 runs from Monday 20 July to Friday 25 September — 10 weeks for WA public schools. With 20 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.