These technical briefs focus on low cost approaches to accessing energy. This is vital to health and well being and low costs are particularly important to poorer communities in the developing world.

This activity challenges students to work in small teams to design a water supply system for a small town of 5,000 inhabitants. They have to work within a budget, including giving themselves a profit margin.

The...

From the Chilled Food Association, this resource helps students to think about how they taste food and find out about the work of a taste scientist. The materials are aimed at STEM ambassadors or company personnel running a session in a secondary school. However, they can be adapted for use by teachers in the...

The Science with Technology Teamwork unit, from the Association for Science Education and the Design and Technology Association, introduces students to skills to solve problems and improve quality. It was developed in collaboration with experts in the Rover Group. This unit was part of the Toolkit produced by the...

This activity, from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), makes students aware of the positives that modern communication systems give to society, and asks them to make decisions about the use of these systems for social, economic and environmental...

Produced in 1993, this National Curriculum Council document was written to respond to the Secretary of State for Education’s proposals to address issues with the National Curriculum for technology at the time.

The key responses to the proposals include:
*The scope of ‘technology’– clarifying the...

Written the year after the introduction of the National Curriculum, this report from the Department of Education and Science specifies the Attainment Targets expected of students at all stages of compulsory education in technology. Programmes of Study are described, along with examples of work that students could...

In this resource students are asked to test the operation of pulley systems and calculating their mechanical advantage.

Suggested learning outcomes include:

• To understand what is meant by mechanical advantage.
• To be able to calculate the mechanical advantage of pulley systems.
• ...

Students are asked to design and make a sock puppet that can be used to promote the social issue of 3-5 years olds starting school. They begin by briefly analysing a simple textile product - their school tie to consider how a relatively simple product still has been designed to be effective. They need to consider a...

This resource provides mini challenges based on the designing process. With textiles as the core theme, students are set mini challenges that ask them to create design briefs, understand client needs, generate ideas, communicate their ideas and evaluate their ideas.

This activity, from the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), is a quick, engaging introduction to a lesson looking at the properties of modern materials and how these are used to imitate human body parts. Students think about human body parts which can...

In this activity students explore why a water clock was the world's first programmable system. Programmable systems are by no means a modern invention. Many regard the first to be Ktesibios's water clock, which was invented approximately 2250 years ago.

The aim of this activity is that students apply what...

The Great British Space Dinner Challenge contains nine lessons:

Lesson 1: All Aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Sets the scene with a brief introduction the ISS and the Great British Space Dinner Challenge. Students develop a brochure about the ISS suitable for...