A week of design and technology

Design and Technology Week (25-29 June) is the perfect time for pupils to get creative and to consider what goes into great design.

What to do

Prompt debate about what makes good and bad design.

A presentation on TES Resources shared by nw5298 explores intriguing designs, such as a banana drink carton that looks like banana peel and a poorly conceived sign reading, “Try our vacuums, they really suck!”

See how much your class knows about designers with a quiz from bubblegum55. Advanced DT students will enjoy the competition, or you can transform it into a research task for key stage 2-3 pupils.

For a fun summer project, have a look at zglw’s lesson, in which teams of pupils produce balloon buggies using only the materials provided. They are given two pieces of softwood, dowels, four wheels, one straw, a sheet of corrugated plastic, a balloon and triangle supports, and compete to make the best buggy. To find the winning design they can then race the buggies outdoors.

For another competitive team task, try HarrisSchool’s challenge in the style of The Apprentice where pupils produce marketing material for a new torch.