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...

Designers must consider how people will interact with their products and systems. The use of ergonomics and anthropometric data allows them to make sure their products are comfortable and efficient to use.

This resource focusses on how ergonomics and anthropometric data can be used to design a product.

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...

The ‘production’ section of the Fixpert's resource focuses on producing a  high-quality working prototype that meets the problem described in the original design brief. Activities that support this section include: ‘hack a toothbrush’, starting points for innovative ideas, and making paper bowls. These activities...

One of the trial units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. In this unit, children explore when and why hats are worn: as parts of uniforms or for protection, for example.

Children also begin...

Produced by the Nuffield Foundation, the activities in this booklet use paper carrier bags as a context in which to explore designing, making and evaluating. There are a series of small tasks that encourage children to consider:

[b]The form of products[/b]
Paper carrier bags are usually mass produced...

One of the trial units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. In this unit, teachers can examine what children already know about a particular sort of product, some of the values they have with regard to the product and set the scene for them to find out more.

One of the trial units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. In this unit, children examine different every day tools, such as potato peelers. The aim of the task is to examine how a number of tools are used and consider how they could be designed differently.

One of the trial units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. Children consider testing proceedures to evaluate what food they like and don't like. Testing food products requires a more subjective response than the testing of other products. It is important to develop a considered view of why...

One of the trial units from the Nuffield Primary Solutions in Design and Technology. In this unit, children examine containers of varying sorts, their contents and why they are the shape they are - everyday items.

Use questions to guide the students' thinking about the purpose and possible uses for a number...