Engineering for families is a 6-week structured course for children aged 7 - 11 and their families. It is designed to be used in an afterschool club led by teachers or other adults. Each week focuses on a career within a different discipline of engineering, with a final engineering challenge week. 

This activity, from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), explores the qualities and/or properties which make a material fit for purpose. The resource is designed to allow students to:

• understand that...

This activity involves a series of discussions and ranking activities to develop students understanding of the link between fitness, pulse rate, respiration and activity. It can be used as an introduction to the ...

Students work in teams to design and make a prototype device that can design and make a prototype of a simple device (to be sold in stores like B&Q) that will allow homeowners to remove water from their house during periods of flooding.

In this challenge the device will have to move 100ml of water from...

After learning about flooding, students consider the design problems caused by its early detection. Students are introduced to moisture sensors, and can build their own using the instructions provided or use a ready-made version. This is connected to the BBC micro:bit and used as an input device. After processing...

This is one of a series of resources from the IET designed around the theme of the future of flight with the purpose of developing pupils knowledge and skills in science, design technology, engineering and mathematics. 

In this activity pupils calculate the amount of energy needed to launch a space...

In this activity, students investigate what is meant by fuel poverty. This could be used as a starter activity in mathematics or design and technology, with a focus on economic reasons for the development of sustainable power sources. Using the slides as stimulus...

Produced by The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these resources help to put curriculum science in a real life context. The activities provide opportunities for children to extend their understanding of electricity by applying it to the concepts of electricity generation and its use in the...

This resource could be used as a short design and make project in Key Stage 2, or as the design and modelling stages of a project to make a grabber out of resistant materials.

In this activity, students will make a 'grabber' device from card.

This resources, from Siemens, looks at how an electric car works, the components of the system and the function of each component. Students research the charge and discharge cycles of a battery-powered device and consider the advantages and disadvantages of battery power. They look at what is meant by the capacity...

In this challenge, students are asked to consider the impact of people suffering from heart conditions, both to the individual and to wider society. They then generate ideas for using programmable systems to improve people’s health, and to monitor themselves. A video introduces the idea of a heart rate monitor, and...

In this activity, students consider the heating effects of infrared energy, and how this is used in a range of products. They design a simple experiment to measure the heating effect of toasters, thermal heaters, infrared mouse, kettles (with heating elements) and...

Students first evaluate existing alarm systems and learn about a burglar’s attitude towards them using a video featuring reformed criminals. They are then briefed to create a working door access and alarm system using a BBC micro:bit and selected input and output components such as LDRs, reed switches, buzzers and...