This is one of a set of resources developed to support the teaching of the primary national curriculum. They are designed to support the delivery of key topics within design and technology, maths and science (in this case mainly design and technology). This resource focusses on developing understanding of...

When the James Webb Space Telescope is deployed it will have one side which continually faces the Sun and is warmed by the Sun, and one side which does not face the sun. The cold side of JWST houses scientific instruments which work better if they are at a low temperature, so a sunshield is used to keep the...

This resource provides classroom activity and a presentation on sustainable design.

In this activity students use chromatography to separate the dyes in sweets. The resource looks at the information on food labels and provides some questions for students to answer about fat, sugar and salt content.

Students then place sweets on filter paper, adding water to dissolve the food colourings....

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...

Inspired by the Born to Engineer video from George Edwards, a young engineer whose understanding of temperature measurement helps him to create a newly engineered product, this resource supports students to increase their understanding of engineering by learning about temperature control and its importance in the...

In this activity, learners will improve and further develop their programmable pedestrian crossing system using the micro:...

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.
• ...

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.

A set of design guides for Key Stage Four focusing on textiles 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 deciding on...

This game from Siemens gives pupils the opportunity to design a virtual car by altering various factors such as the type of tyres, body style, engine and materials for wheels. The real-time simulation tests each design change in terms of outputs and how it performs on the road.  Once the design is finalised, the...

In this resource, aimed at Key Stage Two and Key Stage Three, students are asked create a pyramid to represent the food groups in a balanced diet, considering how many portions of each food type should be eaten each day. The resource would link to studies about food, diet and health, and the life processes and...

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...