NAAIDT: NAAIDT Project Exchange: Activity week

Activity week
Kent LEA
Submitted by: Paul Shallcross and Jennifer Ayres

Reception	Whole Class Project	Resistant Materials	Engineering
KS1	Individual Project	Graphics	CADCAM
KS2	Short Task	Food	Catering
KS3	Research and Investigation	Textiles	Fashion
KS4	Enterprise activity	ICT	Electronics
Post 16	Product Analysis	Systems and Control	Structures
Embedding ICT in DT

Lesson Context
Not all D&T learning takes place in timetabled lessons. After-school and lunchtime clubs, activity weeks and school trips can all play an important part in developing pupils' D&T capability.

The main aim of this unit is to show how time outside lessons can be used to support pupils' learning, eg
· by suspending the timetable and making other flexible arrangements
· by resourcing a project with school visits or visitors to the school
· by using local events and celebrations
· by working on a challenge, race or competition set by a national organisation

Teachers can choose from two design and make assignments (DMAs) based on a school trip or industry experience. These have been selected because they can be adapted to meet the requirements of individual schools. The DMA chosen should allow pupils to show how well they can work independently, and how much they are able to draw on knowledge from a range of materials or focus areas.

Resources Needed
· case studies, eg videos, pictures/photographs, books, showing the product development process for a range of well-known products (preferably similar to the DMA set)
· case studies or examples of appropriate user research, eg interviews, observation
· materials, tools and equipment for prototyping, modelling and making mock-ups in food, resistant materials and textiles
· materials, tools and equipment to practise cutting, shaping and joining in a variety of materials in food, resistant materials and textiles.

Teacher Preparation
It is helpful if pupils have:
· selected appropriate materials, tools and techniques
· followed instructions, eg to carry out fair tests
· used equipment accurately and appropriately, following safe working practices
· planned an order of work, with a list of equipment
· made a prototype to test their ideas

Pupils should have gained the above knowledge, skills and understanding in years 5 and 6, through unit 5A 'Musical instruments', unit 5B 'Bread', unit 5D 'Biscuits', unit 5C 'Moving toys', unit 6A 'Shelters', unit 6B 'Slippers', unit 6C 'Fairground' and unit 6D 'Controllable vehicles' in the key stage 2 scheme of work, or similar projects.

Project Brief
School trip:
Help to plan a school trip and develop a product or system that either meets the physical needs of pupils on the trip, or supports the learning activities of the trip.

Industry experience:
After a visit to a manufacturing plant (or a talk and slide show by a manufacturer), either design a new product to add to the company’s range, or design a product that would help workers at the plant. Organise a range of activities that give pupils an opportunity to:–
- learn how products are designed and made
– understand how and why products have changed over time.

Design and Manufacture
Pupils gain the knowledge, skills and understanding they need to carry out the DMA successfully through product evaluation activities and focused practical tasks.
They:
o learn how products are designed to meet particular needs and how the users interact with the products
o understand how and why products have changed over time
o learn how to use prototypes, preliminary models and mock-ups when designing
o learn how to use a range of cutting, shaping, forming and joining techniques and specified tools and equipment safely.

Differentiation
At the end of this unit

Most pupils will:
carry out their own research and use their findings about products that are produced commercially to develop their own ideas; consider the needs of users; clarify their ideas through discussion, drawing and modelling, and give reasons for choosing between ideas; work safely and accurately when using a range of resources, avoiding risk, noting any hazards to themselves and others, and identifying ways of controlling risks; compare their product with the design specification and identify successful, weak and problematic parts of their work.

Some pupils will not have made so much progress and will:
carry out research and use their findings when developing ideas; illustrate alternatives using sketches and models and choose between them, showing an awareness of constraints; measure, mark out and cut materials reasonably accurately during modelling and production; note safety equipment used and identify its purpose; identify successful, weak or problematic parts of their work.

Some pupils will have progressed further and will:
carry out their own research using sources not provided by the teacher, and use their findings about existing products when developing their own ideas; make effective use of preliminary models to explore and test their thinking, and use formal drawing methods to communicate their intentions; use a wide range of techniques skilfully during trialling and production, including measuring, marking out, cutting, forming, joining and finishing; devise tests to evaluate the effectiveness of their product in use; evaluate how they have achieved their original design proposals and make recommendations for further development of the product.

Additional Information
Out-of-school activities and homework

Pupils could:
· find out about the design, production, promotion, use and disposal of a product that is similar to the one they are going to design. They could consider What or whose needs or wants might have been considered at each stage from design to disposal? How might they have been identified? Who might have been consulted? They could list the criteria that the designer might have thought about
· find examples of how prototypes, models and mock-ups (in a variety of materials) are used.

Download a WinZip file of the full Y7 SoW

Link URL: http://www.winzip.com