From the Nuffield Foundation, this resource contains a series of teacher support sheets and student record sheets that provide nine hours work, based on the theme of the future of the motor car. Three possible challenges are presented:

* Develop a presentation to parents to inform them of the impact of the...

One of the units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. Students work in groups to design and make a statue of a creature to welcome visitors to the classroom during the day.

This task asks students to work in groups to design and make a statue of a creature that will welcome visitors...

One of the units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology in which students produce a multimedia presentation using software they are familiar with from previous ICT lesson time. The presentation content must first be researched and the presentation itself needs to be attractive and easy to use...

This resource, from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), explores how communicating rapidly over long distances has changed a great deal since beacons were lit on hilltops. It introduces the science behind sound vibrations, and presents signals,...

 These materials look at three possible projects that relate to sustainable transport:

* Communications project - students gather information and produce a balanced view on the costs and benefits of using hydrogen as fuel for vehicles.

* Practical project - students investigate the factors that affect...

In this independent research project students investigate the properties of materials, electric circuits and electronic devices in order to design, build and test a device to measure the steadiness of someone’s hand ...

Aimed at primary level, this pack contains a range of different activities which take sixty seconds and are intended to stretch the imagination. The activities cover a mixture of topics including: materials and their properties, Earth and space, forces, living things and their habitats, mathematical puzzles and...

In celebration of its founder, Fritz Schumacher’s centenary year Practical Action have created Small Is...Challenge. Schumacher’s philosophy was based on the idea that even a small change can have a big impact on people’s lives. The challenge for students is to look at technologies from the last 100 years and...

Through energy use, each UK home creates around six tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. Much of this is the result of electricity generation. In this activity, from the Centre for Science Education and the Comino Foundation, students look into the advantages and disadvantages of the Smart Meter – an innovative device...

This collection of smart materials resources supports students to learn about Quantum Tunnelling Composite, shape memory alloys, polymorph, microencapsulation, photochromic dyes, thermochromic dyes and E-textiles. The collection provides a classroom presentation, teacher notes, student worksheets, student revision...

In this practical lesson from the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), students complete a number of different tests on a selection of materials and identify each one from its particular properties. The tests include Eureka cans, electrical circuits and other...

This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit.

In this activity pupils will make use of the BBC micro:bit to design and create a programmable system that can control the temperature and soil moisture levels in a ‘smart’ greenhouse. They will analyse a design brief and design...

In this activity from the Institution of Engineering and Technology, students investigate the properties of different categories of smart materials and decide which kinds of materials might offer the best prospects for a financial investment. Students work in teams and...

Receptors under our skin send signals to our brains about the world around us. Engineers are borrowing this idea from the human body to create a ‘smart skin’ for aircraft. In this activity students learn about motes, the tiny sensors at the heart of this innovation, and how science and mathematics are central to...

This resource, aimed at primary level, links to the curriculum areas of food and diet, healthy eating and where food comes from. Children are asked to identify different types of food using their sense of smell. They then work in small groups to discuss and debate what food they may have. Once the food is known...