PRIMARY DESIGN TECHNOLOGY
Ensuring outstanding teaching in Design Technology
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Mini Greenhouse (Lower Key Stage 2)
Design Brief: Design and make a mini greenhouse to provide the right conditions for growing plants and vegetables all year round.
Strand of Learning: Materials, Structures, Cooking & Nutrition
Overview: In this project children learn about how greenhouses are used to grow plants. They are introduced to using computer software to help design products and use this software to design a mini greenhouse to grow plants seedlings in. They further their understanding of frame structures by following their design to make a mini greenhouse using the Jinks method of constructing wooden frameworks. As part of the evaluation, they plant and grow seedlings.
A version of this project without the use of computer-aided design is also available.
Gallery
Images from the Lesson Presentation Slides
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6 x Lesson Presentation Slide
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Medium Term Planning includes:
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6 x lesson overviews
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Vocabulary List
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Learning statements linked to Curriculum
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Support and Challenge
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Assessment - Keeping up with the curriculum
Teaching Pack
Curriculum Scope and Sequence
Substantive & Technical Knowledge
Children will know:
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The difference between a design brief and design specifications.
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Design specifications describe how a product should be made, how it works or what it should do.
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There can be a range of people and places that can be clients for a product.
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How computer-aided design software can help in the design process.
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Rules and procedures for keeping themselves safe when making products.
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The properties of materials that they are working with and how these determine the tools and techniques that they use.
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That a list of the main stages of turning a design into a product will aid the making process.
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Design specifications are a list of success criteria for the product.
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When evaluating products, it is important to use the design brief and the design specifications as a guide.
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To use a range of information sources to identify areas in which their product could be improved.
Cooking and Nutrition
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Food is either grown, reared, or caught for food.
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Different foods are grown around the world and that some food is dependent on the seasons.
Materials
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That products are made of materials that are chosen because of their properties.
Structures
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Whether a structure is a frame structure or a shell structure
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Suitable techniques to strengthen materials.
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Suitable techniques of making structures more stable
Practical Knowledge (skills)
Children will know how to:
Designing Skills
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Generate ideas for a product, considering its purpose and who the client is.
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Design a product that meets client’s needs and the design brief.
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Use design specifications as a guide to the making process.
Drawing Skills
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Communicate and draw out their designs using three-dimensional techniques such as ‘crating’ and isometric drawing.
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Use computer software to show what their final product will look like.
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Follow instructions to ensure that they work safely.
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Select suitable tools, equipment, materials, and components for the task.
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Explain their choices of materials, techniques and tools when making a product.
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Measure, mark out, cut and shape materials with increasing accuracy.
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List the ways in which a finished product meets the design specifications.
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Evaluate their product using a range of sources including client review, peer review, design brief and the design criteria.
Materials
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Measure, mark-out, cut and shape a wide range of materials.
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Cut internal shapes and joining slots in sheet materials.
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Join and combine materials and components using a variety of methods.
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Manipulate different materials to create different effects by cutting, creasing, and folding.
Structures
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Choose suitable materials, techniques, and tools to construct or repair products.
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Apply a range of practical skills and techniques to create stable and strong frame structures.