For accessibility information on this site use accesskey "0"
Skip Navigation and go straight to the main content or use use accesskey "s"

Puzzle in a box
Kent LEA
Submitted by: Paul Shallcross and Jennifer Ayres
ReceptionWhole Class ProjectResistant MaterialsEngineering
KS1Individual ProjectGraphicsCADCAM
KS2Short TaskFoodCatering
KS3Research and InvestigationTextilesFashion
KS4Enterprise activityICTElectronics
Post 16Product AnalysisSystems and ControlStructures
Embedding ICT in DT   

Lesson Context
This is one of three resistant materials units that focus on designing: this one in year 7 on designing for yourself; one in year 8 on designing for clients; and one in year 9 on designing for markets. These units ensure progression in understanding about designing.

This is part of a series of three units in year 7 on designing and making for yourself; there are equivalent units, with similar learning outcomes, on food and textiles. Together these units are expected to take 15-24 hours. It is important that the department plans as a team so that pupils are able to draw on knowledge, skills and understanding from across the units to reinforce their learning and avoid unnecessary repetition.

The product evaluation activities and focused practical tasks from unit 7C 'Using ICT to support researching and designing' could be integrated into this unit. Pupils could carry out the DMA from this unit or one of those from unit 7C ('stencils you like' or 'maze game').

Resources Needed
· a collection of marketing techniques, eg posters, TV and radio adverts, brochures and leaflets, advertorials, packaging, photographs of point-of-sale displays, used for particular products, eg cars, games, puzzles
· case studies, eg videos, photographs, books, explaining the product development process for a range of well-known products
· case studies or examples of user research
· case studies showing a variety of prototypes being used in the product development process
· materials, tools and equipment for prototyping, modelling and making mock-ups
· materials, tools and equipment for cutting, shaping and joining
· useful websites, eg
- www.dtonline.org
- www.warwick.ac.uk
- www.engc.org.uk
- sites of manufacturers containing marketing information, such as www.deskartes.com; www.imirp.demon.co.uk; www.jjengineering.co.uk; www.rapitypes.co.uk; www.sanders-prototype.com

Teacher Preparation
It is helpful if pupils have:
· selected appropriate materials, tools and techniques
· measured and marked out accurately, eg when marking out and drilling a hole
· used tools for cutting safely and effectively
· used a drill to make an off-centre hole in a wheel
· made a prototype to test their ideas
· produced step-by-step plans for making their design, including materials and tools needed
· used appropriately a variety of temporary and permanent joining techniques
· used tools safely and accurately to construct a simple frame
· selected appropriate tools, materials, components and techniques for a task, taking into account constraints, eg time or the availability of resources
· identified the main stages of making

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

Project Brief
Puzzle in a box

Many small gifts, games and puzzles are produced to appeal to a particular age group or type of person, eg 'Kinder Eggs' contain a surprise gift for young children inside a chocolate egg. The 'BB Box Company' has asked you to make a box of a maximum size 100mm * 100mm * 100mm. They would also like you to design an interesting gift to fit inside the box. Decorate the box to suit the design of the gift and finish it in a suitable way.

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 use simple prototypes, models and mock-ups to evaluate design ideas
o use a range of cutting, shaping and forming processes, eg sawing, line bending
o use specified hand-tools to cut and form materials safely
There are also opportunities for pupils to:
о use and understand a one-off production technique
о use prototypes, models and mock-ups in the manufacturing process
о learn that designers evaluate and modify their prototypes before starting a production run
о learn that marketing is an important part of designing and making a product

Differentiation
At the end of this unit

Most pupils will:
carry out their own research by collecting information and use what they learn about products that are produced commercially when developing their own ideas; consider the needs or requirements of users; clarify their ideas through discussion, labelled sketches and modelling (using ICT where appropriate) and give reasons for choosing between ideas; work safely and with some accuracy when using a range of resources, addressing risk, noting any hazards to themselves and others, and identifying ways of controlling risks; compare their product with the design specification and identify what is working well and what could be improved

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 or models and choose between them; measure, mark out and cut given materials with some accuracy during modelling and production; note safety equipment used, eg goggles, and identify its purpose; identify some successful, weak or problematic parts of their work

Some pupils will have progressed further and will:
carry out their own research using sources other than those provided by the teacher, and use their findings about existing products when developing their own ideas; make effective use of models/prototypes to explore and test their thinking; use formal drawing methods to communicate their intentions; use a wide range of techniques during trialling and production, eg measuring, marking out, cutting, forming, joining, finishing; devise simple 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:
· present an illustrated story of the design, production, promotion, use and disposal of one product
· collect advertisements that show the ways in which one product has been marketed
· find examples of new products that have been designed to meet recent consumer needs and explore questions about them, eg What has caused the demand for these products, such as changing lifestyles? What demand might there be in the future for new products? Which different groups of people might want or need them?
· practise techniques for finding out about users that they know nothing about, eg looking at the situation in which a product will be used, talking to users, to establish what people like and dislike and the range of different people who will use the product
· collect pictures of different products under two headings: 'high-volume production' and 'one-off production'
· 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