Welcome to Resourceful Mind! Through my extensive experience in teaching design, engineering, graphics, food and textiles, I've developed resources that make topics easy to understand. My materials include clear visuals, simple explanations, and engaging tasks to reinforce learning and support learners.
Welcome to Resourceful Mind! Through my extensive experience in teaching design, engineering, graphics, food and textiles, I've developed resources that make topics easy to understand. My materials include clear visuals, simple explanations, and engaging tasks to reinforce learning and support learners.
Introduction to smart materials when you just don’t have enough time or resources to give everyone a smart material to experiment with.
Good revision lesson too.
Includes:
Video link introduction
Key Vocubulary
Smart Material animations
Mini Review
Scaffolding Tasks
Example GCSE Questions
Exit Card.
Revision lesson to cover the surface finishes and treatments that are available to enhance functional and aesthetic qualities in materials.
Mini reviews
Video resources
Past paper questions and knowledge check tasks
Handouts
By the end of this lesson, students will understand the concept of sustainability, recognise the impact of human actions on the environment, be familiar with fossil fuels, and apply the principles of the 6R’s in designing a sustainable product.
Introduction (10 minutes)
Start with a discussion on how human activities harm the planet (e.g., pollution, deforestation, overconsumption).
Show images and video depicting environmental damage caused by human actions.
Defining Sustainability (15 minutes)
Define sustainability as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Discuss the importance of sustainable practices in preserving natural resources and maintaining ecological balance.
Understanding Fossil Fuels (10 minutes)
Explain what fossil fuels are (coal, oil, natural gas) and how they are formed over millions of years.
Discuss the environmental impact of burning fossil fuels, such as air pollution and climate change.
The 6R’s of Sustainability (15 minutes)
Introduce the 6R’s: Rethink, Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Repair.
Discuss examples of each R and how they contribute to sustainable living (e.g., using reusable bags, repairing instead of replacing items).
Activity: Designing a Sustainable Product (30 minutes)
Task each group or student with designing a product (e.g., water bottle, backpack) with sustainability in mind.
Encourage them to consider materials, energy use, recyclability, and end-of-life disposal.
Have groups present their designs and explain how they incorporated sustainable principles.
Conclusion and Reflection (10 minutes)
Wrap up the lesson by revisiting key points on sustainability, human impact, fossil fuels, and the 6R’s.
Ask students to reflect on how they can apply sustainable practices in their daily lives.
A simple set of design and technology activities that could be used as emergency cover.
15 activities in total suitable for year 7 - year 10
I created these quickly as a teacher called in sick in the morning and needed some activities that students could work through independently without much instruction.
They are not perfect and done in a rush but they did they job!
A lesson to guide students on how to answer the exam question on processes and the suitabililty of material used in the process to manufacture the product.
Processes
Materials
Properties
Example questions
Includes Updated power point 2020
This lesson follows on from my Vitamins lesson. Pupils should use the investigation technique to scan and skim information to find facts form the fact sheets on minerals provided. There is a short video on minerals a show me game and plenary. Also a piece of homework for them to produce their own fact sheet on water.
Please leave feedback!
Introduction to plastics
What are they why we use them
What are their properties
Design a reuseable plastic product
kept it simple for year 7’s being taught by a non specialist. Avoided all the plastic term names like polyethylene etc and tried to make it engaging.
You could add plastic names to stretch higher ability pupils
Useful for that quick lesson you just don’t have the time to create
Food lessons
1 - 3 food lessons planning evaluating and demonstrating a flapjack
Stater
Demonstration
Mini review on demonstration
sensory evaluation using star profile
Mini review
Planning activity
Differentiated support sheets
Exit card
An investigation lesson on vitamins including a starter, link to a great vitamin video, table for pupils to complete as a group and 6 fact sheets for pupils to investigate and get the information they need. Extension task of class discussion about vitamins and an exit card.
Example assignment for unit 3 assignment Btec engineering health and safety in engineering.
The assignment includes all feedback and Btec sheets that should accompany it.
Assignment were praised by external moderator as good examples.
4 Christmas activities for ks3 DT.
Not the greatest stretching activities but I had to provide some quick cover work for a teacher for a non specialist. Might be useful to someone else too
Quick resource I created for a cover lesson for my year 8 food class. We are currently learning about staple food ingredients. Could be useful for someone.
This lesson follows on from the revision of a designer lesson in my resources. The reasonong behind the lesson is to reiterate the work of the designer but to also focus on some sketching skills and design thinking. There are 3 tasks.
1 Practicing sketching - Straight lines, Curves, Ellipses, Perspective, Coverging lines
2. Practicing shading and contering
(if you are not great at product design then I suggest you use this video from you tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-UqGtsjKiU )
3. Design a clock using sketching skills in the style of Phillipe Stark
There are some visual images that you can use for inspiration as well.
Not my greatest resource but could come in handy