A Nuffield design hexagon task focusing on product design (using resistant materials). Aiming to extend understanding of how to evaluate a design by thinking how it affects people and whether it performs as expected.

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A presentation to support a project to design and make a useful item that incorporates throwaway materials. 

A set of design guides for Key Stage Four focusing on product design providing a straightforward way for students to become familiar with the sorts of questions they should ask when designing for a particular focus area.

The design guides can act as a stimulus for students who are having difficulty in...

Produced by The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), this set of activities allows students to investigate the properties of polymers in relation to the design requirements for a sleeping bag.

Students carry out an investigation of the design and manufacture of sleeping bags as a product...

From The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these materials consist of three parts relating to the choice of materials and production processes involved in the manufacture of plastic bottles for carbonated drinks. The three sections are:

From The Centre for Industry Education Collaboration (CIEC), these activities deal with the different stages of market research, product design, selection of materials and manufacturing processes in the sports shoe industry.

Through a range of activities and practical investigations, students gain a greater...

This resource from Practical Action includes a presentation and worksheets which give Key Stage Three and Four students opportunities to understand more about the impact of existing and new products on people and the environment. The presentation is packed with useful activities to reinforce students' learning. The...

St Bonaventure’s School met with a STEM Ambassador from the BBC. She discussed her career and the various different jobs involved in product creation.
Using a TED talk as a starting point students worked through the activities with the STEM Ambassador.
As an extension activity, students then used the...

Produced by Practical Action, these materials help students to consider the impacts of a product through its whole life cycle. A presentation describes the concept of lifecycle analysis (LCA) and gives some examples. Students are then challenged to consider the life cycle of familiar products, from raw materials,...

This classroom presentation supports the teaching of planned obsolescence and a product lifecycle. Using the example of a mobile phone, students explore the volume of phone sales over time and discuss how manufacturers can plan a product's lifespan, looking at product growth, maturity of sales and decline over time...

 In this lesson students will use case studies of what a life cycle assessment is and how/why they are carried out.  Students will also gain an understanding of how a life cycle assessment can be misused. Learning will be demonstrated by carrying out product evaluations using LCAs on different products using...

In this lesson students will understand the life cycle of a product through studying a graph. Students will understand the five stages of the life cycle assessment graph and the role planned obsolesce has in relation to the benefit of the manufacturer and not necessarily the consumer. Through case studies and...

Produced by Practical Action, this short activity introduces the various factors that influence the choice of consumers. Students consider different products and the reasons behind why they would or would not purchase them. The activity is a perfect introduction to sustainability and aims to help students think...