Writing Samples

This document contains writing samples from Level 7 to Level 10 (Year 7-10) in imaginative,
persuasive, and discursive forms. So that you can see the differences between them, they are
all written using the same topic:

Solutions to contemporary issues that are found using science and technology, may impact on
other areas of society and may involve ethical considerations.

While your class might not be studying this topic, you will be able to find lots of useful advice on
how to write at a particular level.

Ways to use this document

You will be guided through using this document in your classes. You will refer to these pieces of
writing while you produce your own. Here are a few ways you can use this document:

● Find inspiration for an imaginative, persuasive or discursive piece of your own

● Choose the level you think you currently write at, and check your writing against the
samples
● Choose the level you want to write at, and read the samples to identify ways to write at
that level
● Ask your teacher or a peer to grade your work against one or more of the samples,
looking for similarities and differences, and deciding on a grade

1
Imaginative short story
Level 7

Writing Sample Notes

I looked around the room at all the faces of the people who were Uses an opening
counting on me. Everyone was here. My parents, my friends, even sentence which
some of my teachers from school. The pressure was on and I could creates tension.
feel my heart racing a million beats per minute. One of the people in
Varies sentence
the room caught my eye. It was Meesha, my sister. She was structures, including
nodding and smiling, and I could tell that she was thinking, “you can short sentences for
do it!” impact, e.g., “Everyone
was here.”
I pushed the big red button on the screen in front of me and watched
as my work came to life. I had been working on this project non-stop Uses noun-groups to
describe aspects of the
for nearly ten years, since we first heard about the climate disaster
story, like the
that was going to destroy the earth. The intelligent spiderbots raised “intelligent” spiderbots
themselves up on their spindly metal legs and turned to face the and their “spindly
crowd of people. I heard gasps from behind me as the spiderbots metal legs”
opened their glittering eyes. My stomach was doing somersults and
my heart hadn’t slowed down. Attempts complex
words like “somersault”
and “atmosphere”.
The spiderbots turned and began marching out of the room one by
Occasionally makes
one. There were over ten thousand of them just in this one room and spelling mistakes, but
there were rooms like this all over the country. They marched uses the words in the
through the door and out into the harsh summer heat. The heat that correct context.
had been getting worse year after year as more of our pollution
spewed into the atmospheer. I remembered back to the first year Uses paragraphs to
clearly structure the
that the temperature hit 50 degrees. The pavements cracked and
text.
the roads began to melt. I badly burned my hand on the car door on
the way home from work. And it got worse every year. Uses a (brief)
flashback to add
I brought up the screen over my head which showed a spiderbot’s interest to the
view as it scuttled across the hot ground. A group of spiderbots had structure: “I
already gone to work on a pile of trash outside the laboratory. They remembered back…”
crawled all over it and turned it into nothingness. Another group was
Begins to use imagery,
diving into the river that ran past the building. I switched the camera such as “my heart
to an underwater spiderbot that was sucking in polluted water and racing a million beats
spitting out sparkling clean water in its place. per minute”

Writes in a logical
order of events.

2
Behind me, the crowd of people began to cheer and celebrate. My
spiderbots crawled across the whole surface of the earth, cleaning Finishes the story with
up all of the mess that we humans had made over the last centuries. a satisfying ending.

Level 8

Writing Sample Notes

Dear Diary, Uses the conventions

of a diary/journal,
It has been six months since I pushed that big red button that “drawing on text
features for particular
changed our lives forever. I can still hear the cheering of the crowds
effect.”
ringing in my ears as the first of the spiderbots left the laboratory and
headed out into the world. Little did I know that those cheers would
soon turn to cries of horror. Language choices
such as personal
I can picture it all so clearly. The way the intelligent spiderbots raised pronouns (I, my) are
themselves up on their spindly metal legs and turned to face the consistent with the
diary form.
crowd of people. The look of hope in everyone’s eyes. We all hoped
that the spiderbots would be the answer to the coming climate
disaster. We hoped that they would be able to fix all of the things we Varies sentences for
had broken in the world. We were wrong. dramatic effect, such
as using short
I am writing this from the bunker underneath Federation Square. sentences to create
There are one hundred and forty-six people here. We are crammed tension and increase
the pace.
in like sardines into this bunker that was designed for less than half
of this number. The air is stale and smells bad, and soon we will run
out of clean water. I have volunteered to go with a group to the Presents a creative
surface. It is the least I could do. This is all my fault. text which has a clear
viewpoint on an
Dear diary, (the page is smeared in blood) “issue”, i.e., that
humans are
responsible for
This might be the last chance I get to write down what I saw on the damaging the Earth.
surface. I built the spiderbots to save mankind, but they have
destroyed it. They have covered the whole planet. Everywhere we
went they crawled over surfaces, swam through the waters of the Language is clear and
river, climbed up buildings. But that is not the worst thing. consistent, and has
obviously been
proofread for errors.
They have decided that we are the trash. Humans, after all we have
done to damage the Earth. They have started to clean us up too. I

3
can hear them tunneling through the walls towards the bunker.
There isn’t much time! Oh no! They’re-------

Level 9

Writing Sample Notes

He looked different in real life than on TV. His lab coat was frayed There is a clear sense
around the edges and the fabric was more grey than white. There of the development of
were reddish-brown blotches all over it, and it was hard to figure out a unique ‘voice’ and
‘style’ in this piece.
if they were dirt or blood. His crazy white hair stuck out all over his
head and the dark rings around his eyes made him look like he
hadn’t slept in weeks. Uses short sentences
and fragments -
Maybe he hadn’t. “maybe he hadn’t” and
“we waited” - to break
This was the man who had almost ended the world. The up the paragraph
structure.
mad-scientist who had unleashed the destructive spiderbots from his
laboratory in Melbourne. He blinked slowly in the bright sunlight,
obviously not used to the light and the heat after so long Makes use of
underground. We stared at him, waiting for him to speak. Waiting for stereotypical
him to say something, anything in response to the awful things that characters and
had happened in the last twelve months. settings like the “mad
professor” and the hot
Australian climate.
We waited.

“I-,” he started. His voice cracked and he coughed. Somebody Uses dialogue
handed him a glass of water. The water had been scooped straight effectively, including
out of the Yarra and was sparkling clean. But the river wasn’t the using punctuation to
only thing the spiderbots had “cleaned up”. indicate patterns of
speech like the
stammering.
“I’m sorry.” He said. His words came out slowly. Everyone was silent.
“I’m sorry that I ever pushed that button. Sorry that I released those
vile things out into the world. They are gone now. My team worked Has been edited and
out how to disable them remotely. They will not come back. But the proofread to remove
world they leave behind is a different world.” spelling mistakes and
improve sentence
variety and structure.
The crowd murmured. There were people here who had lost family
and friends. At the back of the crowd, somebody shouted
“murderer!” The professor flinched.

4
“Some of you think that I am a murderer.” He ran a hand through his
wild hair. He was starting to sweat in the clear Melbourne sunlight.
“When I released the bots it seemed like the right thing to do. To- to-”
he stammered, his voice catching again. Then, from the crowd,
somebody threw a glass bottle towards the stage. It smashed at the
professor’s feet. The crowd surged forwards like a tidal wave.

Level 10

Writing Sample Notes

Maya skipped across the broken ground with light, hopping steps. This is a sustained
Step on a crack and break your mother’s back! she thought to piece of writing with a
herself as she dodged the uneven breaks in the pavement. Some of clear and well
the cracks were wide enough that she could have lost a whole foot if developed “voice” or
she hadn’t jumped over them anyway. Green slithers of vine grew style.
across the ground, merging together in some places to make a thick
mat of emerald. Maya was only seven years old - she had never
seen the world any other way. The crumbling towers and apartments There is
with their exposed metal frames were just a background to her life characterisation
down here on the ground. She skipped through the deserted streets through aspects such
of Melbourne as if it were her own personal playground. as the childlike speech
(e.g. “lextricity”) and
Her parents told her stories of the time before. To her, hearing about Maya’s reflections on
things like “lextricity” and “trafick” was as exciting as the best of the her earlier childhood.
picture books that her Dad had dug out of the rubble of the book
store down on Lygon street when she was four years old. She
couldn’t imagine that the huge rusting shapes that lay scattered all The structure of the
over the city had once rumbled and raced and sped down the story is broken up with
cracked roads. They lay everywhere like sleeping metallic beasts. flashbacks and
Maya used them as climbing frames. Hiding places when she played memories, and the
games with some of the other children from the block. Every now paragraphs are varied
and again, she found one that hadn’t been totally looted. Sometimes in length and pace.
they had treasures inside, black-screened slabs of metal that her
mother called “eye pads”, even though Maya couldn’t understand
how you’d ever wear one of them on your eyes. There is a wide variety
of clause structures.
She had only been six months old when her parents climbed out of
the bunker. They told her she’d been born down there in the dark,
underground. She couldn’t remember coming out into the light for Uses figurative
the first time, but even now she barely spent any time inside. Her techniques like similes
father called her a “wild thing”, and she cried “I’ll eat you up!” (e.g. “like sleeping
laughing at the image it brought into her head from one of her metallic beasts”) and
favourite stories. visual language (e.g.
“a thick mat of
She was playing one of her favourite games as she skipped along emerald”).
the deserted street. She imagined that the rusted cars were islands,

5
and she had to swim, run, or fly between them. She had heard of
“plains” but had never seen one in the sky. Still, she stuck her arms Includes relevant
out to the side and made the noise her Dad had shown her - references to other
“nyaaaoooooowwwwww”. She landed next to one of the vehicles texts, such as the
and gingerly peeled open the door. And that was when she saw it. allusion to the
children’s book ‘Where
Her eyes widened in horror. the Wild Things Are’.

Her parents had told her about them, but she’d never seen one.
They’d been collected up after the shutdown and sunk to the bottom Deliberately uses
of the ocean, or stacked high in huge piles and burned until their devices like short
fragile metal melted to nothingness. But she had been told stories sentences to create
about them. About what they did. About why this huge city with its tension, particularly at
towering buildings was almost empty. the end of the story.

She stared at the eight silvery metal legs, her heart pounding in her
chest. Maya leaned forward, seeing her reflection in the shining
surface.

One of the legs twitched.

6
Persuasive opinion piece
Level 7

Writing Sample Notes

In my opinion, we need science and technology to help us in the Establishes a clear

future and to help solve the world’s problems. contention (main
argument) in the
Firstly, there are many problems in the world right now to do with opening sentence).
climate change and pollution. Because of old technology like oil, gas
and coal, we have filled the atmosphere with pollution. For example, Uses some persuasive
in the ocean there is so much plastic that people are now finding language choices, for
plastic inside animals. This amount of pollution will eventually lead to example emphasising
something called a climate disaster, and the world is at risk. terms like “many
Technology can help to reduce the amount of pollution such as wind problems” and “so
farms and solar energy. much plastic”.

Secondly, there are technologies which can help with medical issues Uses (anecdotal)
and problems with people’s health. Because we have better health evidence to support
care and have longer life expectencys people are living much longer arguments, such as
than they used to. This means that more and more technologies like the example of animals
medecine will be needed in the future to help to keep us alive for consuming plastic.
longer. People will need extra health services so that they can carry
on enjoying life while they are old. Structures the
response with
Finally, there are technologies like robotics which are already connectives like
helping to solve problems. In the past people have had to work in “firstly”, “secondly”,
dangerous environments such as down mines and in places where “finally” to indicate the
there are dangerous chemicals. In the future most of these jobs will order of the
be replaced by robots and there will be much less danger to arguments.
humans.
Ends with a concise
In conclusion, I believe that it is very important that science and statement summing up
technology play a part in our futures for the benefits to pollution and the rest of the piece.
climate, health, and robots working in dangerous places.

Level 8

Writing Sample Notes

To the editor: Establishes the form

immediately with
In response to your article, The Dangers of Ocean Plastics, I have a conventions of the
few things to say. Firstly, you point out the problem but you do not ‘letter to the editor’
suggest that there is anything we can do about it. Why bother form.

7
identifying a problem if you don’t have a suggestion for a solution? I
have a simple solution for your readers: use less plastic! Did you Uses structural
know that thanks to modern technologies there are now hundreds of connectives like
alternatives to plastic, including materials made from coconut husks, “firstly”, “secondly” to
renewable woods, and even recycled paper? My own toothbrush is direct the arguments.
made from recycled toilet rolls! (That sounds kind of gross, but the
packet tells me it’s perfectly hygienic.) Uses persuasive
devices like rhetorical
Secondly, your article made it sound as though it is us everyday questions, humour,
people who cause the most damage to the environment with and metaphor (e.g.
plastics. Sure, I sometimes use an extra plastic bag to hold my “we...are just tiny
bananas at the supermarket, but do you seriously think that my ants”)
banana bag outweighs the damage done by major businesses all
over the world? Surely we everyday people are just tiny ants in References a credible
comparison to the great beasts of these businesses who year after source of information
year dump pollution into the oceans and the air. and provides a statistic
as evidence.
A recent survey by the CSIRO claimed there is 6-12 metric tonnes of
plastic going into the ocean each year. If governments do not act Concludes with a
now to punish big businesses who produce and dump these plastics, decisive statement of
then all of us will be impacted. Companies should be rewarded for opinion.
using technologies that reduce the amount of waste they produce.
Maybe then they would consider switching over to renewables and
actually paying some attention to their impact on the environment.

Next time you write an article about plastics, maybe you could carry
out some research first before blaming everyday people like me for
the world’s problems!

Annoyed Banana Bagger

8
Level 9

Writing Sample Notes

Why We Need AI More Than You Might Think Uses the conventions
of the ‘opinion piece’
Opinion: By Maya Alexander form, including
headlines, the author’s
name, and a suitable
image.

The image is
referenced numerous
times during the
response and backs
up the arguments.

Talks about cultural

fears around AI that
come from popular
media.

Talks about multiple

perspectives on the
same issue,
acknowledging that
A lot of people are scared of Artificial Intelligence, or AI. There are there are fears, but
plenty of movies out there that fuel the fires of this fear. If you pay using logical
too much attention to these movies, you might think that all AI will be arguments to counter
evil. That it will immediately try to destroy us the moment it comes them.
alive, or that we will end up as its slaves. Because AI has the
potential to be so fast and intelligent, people are worried that one
machine is worth multiple people, and that it might decide that it Appeals to the broad
doesn’t need people at all! audience through both
‘bigger picture’ ideas
But AI is not the science fiction horror story that the media has made like climate change,
it out to be. It is true that AI has the potential to match or even and ‘local issues’ like
improve on human intelligence. But we are facing problems now that the traffic in Melbourne
require greater than human intelligence. Take, for example, climate and Sydney.
change. The best simulators in the world, running on the most
powerful supercomputers, are still not fully capable of predicting
climate disasters. An AI might be able to help solve that problem. Uses language
appropriately to
Or, think about even more everyday problems, like the traffic around signpost the
major cities like Melbourne and Sydney. While there are systems to arguments (e.g. “take,
help manage the flow of vehicles, including software that runs the for example…”, “Or,

9
traffic lights and crossings, AI might be able to predict traffic jams think about…”,
before they even happen. “Finally”)

Finally, the health sector would get massive benefits from artificial
intelligence. Research into cancer treatment, new medicines, and
genetics could be greatly improved if we developed a powerful AI to
assist with our ordinary human thinking.

So remember, the next time it seems like Artificial Intelligence is in a

tug-of-war with humanity, it doesn’t have to end up as an “us versus
them”. If we’re ever able to create a working AI, the opportunities for
us to grow as a species far outweigh the dangers.

Level 10

Writing Sample Notes

Digital Business Magazine Uses the conventions

of the ‘opinion piece’
form, including
The Digital Divide: It’s time we started headlines, the author’s
seriously funding new technologies. name, a suitable
image and a caption
for the image.
Opinion: Maya Alexander
May 2021
Identifies a clear
publisher (“digital
business magazine”)
which creates an
awareness of the
audience and the
values of the writer.

Evaluates and selects

supporting material
from two relevant
sources.

Uses techniques from

digital texts (including
links to other articles)

Pays deliberate
attention to word

10
The future is here and it’s a scary place. choice (e.g., “scary”,
“threat”, “attacks”) and
We live in a world where the daily threat of cyber attacks, hacking, persuasive techniques
and digital warfare are very real. For many of us, having to protect (e.g. rhetorical
ourselves online has become an absolute necessity. From identity questions, statistics,
theft to bank fraud, the number of digital attacks against citizens are quotes, anecdotes)
increasing daily. And what about the even greater attacks on
businesses and the government?
Is sustained, and has a
Last year there was a 14% increase in cybersecurity attacks against clear style and ‘voice’
major Australian companies, and a similar rise in attempts to breach
the security of the Australian Government. These attacks target
vulnerable areas in important networks, things which could have a Creates a logical
real impact such as healthcare and financial services. argument that is
clearly designed to
In an article for The Strategist <insert link target the specific
https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/government-must-rethink-funding- audience.
model-to-support-technology-in-australias-public-sector/ > Lesley
Seebeck writes that the government spends too much time thinking
about efficency and keeping costs down, and not enough money on Has been proofread
improving digital security. In a similar article <insert link and edited, and
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/budget-2021/digital-economy-str reviewed by peers
ategy-budget-funding-better/ > for SmartCompany, Marek before submission.
Kowalkiewicz writes that government funding for digital technologies
must be increased because otherwise Australia will “slide down the
rankings” in global security.

Individual attacks are bad enough. Last year I had my bank account
details stolen in a cyberattack on a website I use for online
shopping. The attackers managed to drain ten thousand dollars from
my account before I reported it to the bank, and it took almost six
months to get the money back.

Now imagine if that happened on a larger scale to the entire

government. What would happen if that was ten billion dollars? How
long would Australia survive against these kinds of attacks?

It’s time the government put its hand into its digital wallet and started
taking these threats seriously.

11
Discursive blog post
Level 7

Writing Sample Notes

Blog post by Maya Alexander Uses an opening

paragraph to establish
Why science and technology is important. the main argument.

Science and technology is important because of all of the benefits to

our society. Since I was born, science and technology have already Acknowledges both
improved the lives of many people. Even though there are some sides of the argument,
downsides to science and technology on the whole I believe that making the piece more
there are more benefits. discursive than
persuasive.
Firstly, science and technology have improved the ways we live. For
example, there are many advantages to new ways of living and
working, such as using the internet, computers and smartphones. Has some features of
These devices mean that we can keep in touch with each other over a blog post, such as
large distances. During COVID 19, it meant that many people could use of first person, and
still work from home. the headline/title.

Secondly, science and technology have improved our health. For

example there are many new treatments and medicines now than Uses connectives
there were a hundred years ago. The COVID 19 vaccine is one (“firstly”, “secondly”) to
example. This sickness spread across the whole world and was a structure ideas.
pandemic but finally a vaccine was created because of science and
technology. Things like vaccines mean that many people can live a
much longer life. Uses a connective (“on
the other hand”) to
On the other hand there are some downsides to science and introduce another
technology. For example, there is a lot of pollution from cars and perspective.
factories. Making things like smartphones uses lots of natural
resources which can never be replaced. These types of science and
technology are bad for the environment. Makes references to
(though it does not
Overall, I still think that science and technology have more good specify) other sources
points than bad points. Being able to work from home and having of information.
the medicine to be healthy are the main advantages. Concludes on a final
summarising point.

12
Level 8

Writing Sample Notes

How technology changed my life Written in the style of a

personal blog post or
When I was only 7 years old I suffered from an injury that led to me piece of biographical
losing my left leg. I don’t really remember the injury itself - I was writing.
knocked out and unconscious for a long time, and when I woke up
the leg had already been taken. I do remember feeling numb and
confused, angry and sad all at the same time. I remember feeling Uses clear
like I would never be able to do the things I loved like running, conventions of
playing football, and swimming. For a long time, I didn’t know what sentence structure,
to do. paragraphing, and
vocabulary like
And then technology stepped in (no pun intended) and saved me. I connectives to
was fitted for my first prosthetic almost right away after my wounds signpost the order of
had healed. I had to do a lot of physiotherapy before I could even information.
walk, let alone run. During those months my physiotherapist, my
doctors, and my parents all helped me with encouragement and
praise. I finally felt as though I was getting back to normal. Has an appropriate
tone - slightly casual,
But the first prosthetic was clunky and awkward, and it took me with some humour.
longer than I thought it would to learn to balance, walk, and run. I
spent a lot of time frustrated and uncomfortable, and when things
seemed to be taking too long I got angry. Once, I got so angry that I Uses personal
unstrapped the leg and threw it at a wall. Looking back, I’m just glad anecdotes to explore
it didn’t break because these things are not cheap! the broader issue of
medical technologies/
As I grew older, technology in prosthetics continued to improve. The prosthetics.
materials became lighter and stronger, the fit got better, and the
overall feel of the leg improved. With my most recent prosthetic I am
trialling a brand new technology called ‘haptic feedback’, which Has been proofread
stimulates nerves and means that I can actually feel what is and edited: the
happening. language is clear and
accurate.
It’s still so strange after all these years, but with every advance in
technology, I feel like I am one step closer to being able to fulfil my
dreams.

Level 9

Writing Sample Notes

Science and Cats - A blog for people who love science, and Uses the conventions
cats! of a personal blog
post, including the
Are advances in science good or bad? structure of the overall

13
 piece.
Blog post: Maya Alexander
3rd June 2021
Clearly references
Knowledge is power. And with great power comes great other sources of
responsibility. OK, now I’ve gotten the cliches out of the way, why information.
don’t we take a look at the pros and cons of science!

Readers of my blog will know that I am all for advances in Presents both sides of
technology and science. From smartphones to smarthouses, the an argument, using
advances in scientific knowledge and technologies have changed evidence to support all
the way we live. I can’t imagine having to actually turn a key in the points.
lock to my front door now that I can just wave my phone over the
keypad, and if my one click order wasn’t waiting for me inside and I
had to traipse across town to the post office, I think I might cry. But Tone is informal and
modern conveniences aside, do the risks of science and technology conversational,
outweigh the benefits? appropriate to both the
form and the audience.
Risks

There are unfortunately many risks to advantages in science and The ‘voice’ of the piece
technology. Products like those I mentioned before have become so is clear and unique,
commonplace that they dominate our lives. HelpGuide.org has an helped by the personal
entire section dedicated to smartphone addiction. There’s even a and friendly tone.
word - “nomophobia” - that means the fear of being without your
phone. Having access to all of this information, and having to be
available 24/7 for notifications and communication, can have serious Uses techniques such
mental health effects. as varied sentences,
humour, rhetorical
There’s also the environmental impact of advances in science and questions, and
technology. Even though electric vehicles can use renewable anecdotes to engage
energy, the fact that they are cheap to produce and fuel might the reader.
ultimately mean there are more cars on the road not less, and there
would still be an impact on the environment from the resources
needed to manufacture them and the electric batteries that store
their power.

Benefits

It’s undeniable though that advances in science and technology

have many advantages. Advances in medical technologies have
extended our lifespans, and mean that not only can we live long, but
we can continue to enjoy life into old age. Recent advances in
neuroscience mean that we understand the brain better than ever,
and that knowledge is even filtering down into workplaces and
education and improving how we live and learn.

Renewable energy - even though slow to start in some countries - is

steadily becoming the norm, reducing emissions globally and
helping us to fight the effects of climate change. Technologies have

14
been invented to clear the ocean of plastics and chemicals, and we
are steadily righting some of the wrongs of the Industrial age.

Final thoughts

Look, if you’re here, then you either love science, or cats (or both).
It’s pretty clear which side of the fence I sit on in these arguments,
but there are reasonable concerns on both sides. If we want to
continue to advance in science and technology, we need to treat the
risks seriously. But I think that the future is a bright and exciting
place, and I’m here for it.

Level 10

Writing Sample Notes

The SciTech Blog A sustained and

engaging piece with a
clear target audience,
5 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE form and purpose.
WITH SCIENCE AND TECH
Acknowledges the
Maya Alexander two-sided nature of the
issue with a link to a
previous post with the
Science and technology have made our lives better in countless other side of the
ways. There’s no denying that, overall, advances in science and argument.
technology have created enormous benefits from health, to
education, to work. While there are always going to be downsides -
covered in my other post 5 ways science and tech are ruining our Tone is appropriate to
lives - the future looks bright. the form - playful,
humorous and
In this post I’ll be covering the 5 ways you can improve your life with personal.
amazing modern science and technology.

1. Use your smartphone as a digital assistant The ‘listicle’ format is

an appropriate
That thing you carry around in your pocket - you know, the little subgenre of blogs, and
rectangle you use for checking Facebook - did you know that it can works well with the
also save you time and energy by acting as your personal assistant? content here.
If you’re a student at school, think about using great productivity
apps to track your homework, or use voice assistance to set Sentences are varied
reminders so that you don’t forget to do it! For the adults reading this for effect.
post, maybe you should level-up your planning game and start using
many of the calendar features built into your phone like

15
appointments, automatic email reminders, and shared family References to multiple
calendars. issues and topics, all
under the umbrella of
2. Bring your games to life with VR the main topic.

Virtual reality has been around for a while now, but it’s finally
becoming affordable and accessible. Quality devices used to cost Chooses vocabulary
thousands of dollars, and now you can get your hands on a great with intent to have a
wireless system for a couple of hundred. And it’s not just about specific effect on the
gaming either. The other night I was sprawled on my couch watching audience, such as
netflix. Except, rather than squinting at my tiny 28” TV, I was choosing informal
strapped into a VR set looking at a huge cinema screen from the words and phrases
lounge room of my virtual Swiss chalet! (e.g. “a little peaky”) in
keeping with the
3. Get fit, and live longer overall tone.

Everybody knows that to live a long, healthy life you need to be able
to monitor and improve your overall health. One of the best ways of Addresses two main
doing this is through regular exercise. Smartwatches have features audiences: students
built into them not only to help you track exercise, but to motivate and working adults.
you through badges, awards and reminders. And if you’re feeling a Differentiates between
little peaky, these same watches can now monitor your heart rate, the different evidence
take an ECG, and in the future might even be able to measure blood for each audience, e.g.
sugar levels and other important health data. school work for
students, and personal
4. Make your money work for you finances for employed
adults.
For those of you earning money - whether you’re a student with a
part time job or you’re fully employed - you should be using
technology to keep track of and improve your financial situation. Includes many
Track your spendings on something as simple as a spreadsheet, or conventions of the blog
go one further and use a dedicated app. Have your online banking - format, including
through an app, of course - automatically funnel some of your hard references and links to
earned cash into savings. For those of you who are already other websites
investing, or keen to start, you can even get apps for trading shares
online, managing properties you own, or adding to your side-hustle
through social task apps. Remember - it’s not just for facebook! Ends with a comment
section, which the
5. Use science to save the world student has used to
illustrate multiple
This is the big one. So far, I’ve focused on some pretty low-key uses viewpoints, and to
of technologies like smartphones, smartwatches, and VR to improve allow the “author” of
your day to day life. But what’s the point of enjoying day to day life if the blog to further
there’s no world around to enjoy it in? Advances in science are some of the original
allowing us to tackle climate and health issues on a scale never arguments.
before manageable, and you can be a part of that. There are many
scientific research institutes now that allow you to “donate” some of
your computer’s spare processing power to science. There’s a great
article on this over at the Singularity Hub: 9 Ways You Can Use Your
Devices for Advanced Scientific Research Want to help

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So there you have it, my top five ways you can improve your life with
modern science and technology. I hope you’ve enjoyed the post, and
if you have anything to say, please leave a comment!

Comments:

Scikitty2004: Love your blog, totally agree with the first four points,
but if you think I’m giving up processor power that I could be using to
annihilate my friends on online games you must be dreaming!

MAlexander: Thanks Scikitty2004! I know it’s hard to pull

back from those games, but try to see the bigger picture - no
world, no games! ;)

anonymous: this is supposed to be a blog about science and

technology but all you ever talk about is smartphones. Do you
secretly work for apple or something? What about all the amazing
medical technologies, or artificial intelligence, or electric vehicles?
Maybe you should spend less time staring at your phone on social
media and get out into the real world!

MAlexander: thanks for taking the time to read the article,

anonymous! You make a valid point - this article is quite
focused on smartphones. Just wait until you see my
upcoming post on the wonderful world of electric cars and
maybe you’ll change your mind! Maya.

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