Products and Applications at Key Stage Two

Produced by the Nuffield Foundation, the activities in this booklet use paper carrier bags as a context in which to explore designing, making and evaluating. There are a series of small tasks that encourage children to consider:

[b]The form of products[/b]
Paper carrier bags are usually mass produced from a single sheet of paper to allow for printing of logos and folding by machine. Most carrier bags have a handle which is designed or reinforced in a number of different ways. The study of handles can allow children to
develop subject knowledge regarding aspects of the strengthening of structures through the
shaping of materials.

[b]The function of products[/b]
Clues to the function of the bag, i.e. what it is designed to hold, are usually apparent in the size and shape of the bag, use of logos, quality of paper used, weight of paper used and the design of handles.

[b]Aesthetic considerations[/b]
Children consider how a bag looks in terms of the design of surface features and logos.

[b]Values[/b]
A study of 10 year old children indicated that they had very different perceptions about the typical users of carrier bags from Marks and Spencer as compared to a cut price supermarket.

[b]Environmental concerns and sustainable development[/b]
Children think about the use, re-use and recycling of different types of bags.

[b]Testing[/b]
Children investigate how to test bags in terms of the maximum weight that a bag might hold.

[b]Designing and making[/b]
Bags offer an opportunity to design and make within a manageable, interesting context. It can also draw upon links with art (printing and stencilling), mathematics (measurement), science (fair testing) and information technology (communicating information through word processing and graphics packages).