In this KS2 teaching resource activity learners will make use of the theme of new and future technologies to design a futuristic backpack. They will discuss the purpose of backpacks and why they are used. They will then produce a labelled sketch of their design idea to meet the given design brief and criteria. This KS2 classroom activity could be used as a main lesson activity to teach about designing textile and graphics-based products in context, or the use of new technologies within designs. It could also be used as part of wider scheme of learning focussed on the design process. Learners can self or peer-assess their design work suggesting any improvements that could be made. We’ve created this design teaching resource activity to support the delivery of key topics within design & technology (D&T) and engineering. Tools/supplies needed: Pens, pencils and coloured pencils A3 or A4 paper Brief - Design your dream backpack of the future. Criteria - Your design must include a way of comfortably wearing the backpack on the back, spaces to carry different items, colours that show your personality and clever STEM gadgets and special tech that allow you to do incredible things. Considerations: Originality: How original is the idea? Feasibility: How feasible the design, can it be turned into a real-life prototype? Creativity: How creative is the idea? Engineering: What engineering processes has been used in the design? Possible extension Make a prototype or model of your backpack design Design a backpack for doctors or paramedics to carry their medical equipment Design a backpack for your favourite sports star The Engineering Context Engineers need to understand how materials and new technologies could be used to produce improved future product designs. For example, how sustainable materials, materials with improved properties or renewable energy could be used in backpack design in the future. Suggested learning outcomes This resource combines design and technology with engineering with the aim that the learners will be able to understand the purpose and different uses of backpacks and be able to design the backpack of the future. Download our activity sheets for free! All activity sheets and supporting resources are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. You can download our step-by-step instructions below as a classroom lesson plan and helpful PowerPoint presentation. Please do share your highlights with us @IETeducation.

The development of new materials with incredible properties is changing the way we live. From LCD TVs to super light airliners, these materials have quickly found their way into pretty much all of the modern technology around us. One area where modern materials have made a huge impact is in the development of prosthetic devices. Some of these devices are beginning to outperform ‘natural’ body parts. Activity info,  teachers’ notes and curriculum links to KS3 science materials Using the short video ‘Bionic Limbs’, this activity is a quick, engaging introduction to a KS3 science materials lesson looking at the properties of modern materials. It encourages students to think about how technology is changing our society by generating their own ideas for prosthetic devices that they think will be realistic in the near future. There are takeaways for KS4 biology and KS3 product design. The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Download the activity sheet and quiz for free! All activity sheets and supporting resources (including film clips!) are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. And please do share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation.

Design the sports stadium of the future Millions of people from all over the world attend sporting events each year. Can your students design a stadium that will not only meet their needs, but also leaves a future legacy from the competition? In this fun STEM activity, learners will use the theme of sport to design a futuristic sports stadium. They will think about the main design considerations and requirements for the stadium. They will then produce annotated sketches of their idea and think about how it could be used after the event has taken place. This could be used as a one-off main lesson activity to develop designing and sketching skills. Alternatively, it could be used as a part of a wider scheme of work to develop designing and modelling skills in Design and Technology and Engineering. Download the activity sheets for free! And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Create biscuits in national flag colours to celebrate an international sporting event Combine science, maths and design skills to celebrate the different nations taking part in international sporing events such as the Football World Cup and the Olympics. This fun STEM activity focusses on making and decorating biscuits with flags from the different nations. Students will consider the colours and shapes used in different national flags. They will then make and use icing to colour their biscuits in national flag colours from each teams. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. You can download our step-by-step instructions as a classroom lesson plan and PowerPoint presentation. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Explore the body parts that can be replaced with prosthetic devices With the constant advancement in materials and prosthetic technology, this engineering activity for kids explores different materials and their suitability in the use of prosthetics for different body parts. Students will gather data on different materials to create a presentation that can be used to discuss new materials and the part that they play in the development of prosthetic devices. This free STEM resource is aimed at secondary school students. Students will be encouraged to think about how technology is changing our society. This lesson can be introduced by talking about skeletons. An anatomical skeleton can be used as a prop. Do you know what can be done when joints wear out in our skeletons? Students will be divided into teams and asked to come up with a list of body parts that can be replaced with prosthetic devices. Each team will explain their results to the rest of the class. Students can vote for the device they think is most likely to be made in the future. This activity will take roughly 15 minutes to complete. The engineering context The development of new materials with incredible properties is changing the way we live. From LCD TVs to super light airliners, these materials have quickly found their way into the modern technology around us. One area where modern materials have made a huge impact is in the development of prosthetic devices. Some of these devices are beginning to outperform ‘natural’ body parts. The resources within this, and the related activities, encourage students to investigate the properties of smart materials and carry out some data manipulation. Students will also explore the possible moral and ethical issues associated with people potentially choosing to replace healthy body parts with artificial prostheses because they offer higher performance. Suggested learning outcome By the end of this activity students will be able to explain what joints are and how they work. They will also be able to suggest links between modern technology and health. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

In this fun STEM activity for secondary school students, learners are challenged to design and create a prototype Smart Beacon which will be used to communicate information to cyclists. When used, together with other Beacons, along a route, cyclists will be able to identify a safe cycling route which they can use. The Beacon must contain electronic components to allow it to communicate information to cyclists. This may be done by reacting to external conditions e.g., light or temperature and then sending a signal to the cyclists who pass it on their route. The aim of this challenge is to introduce students to technology which engineers use and will be using in the future. This challenge will work best if you have access to 3D printers at your school or a local venue. The use of 3D printers can be substituted for making prototypes out of cardboard, as many conceptual designs are created by engineers. However, running this challenge could be a great opportunity to make links with a local university, college or industry. Designed for six teams of six students (36 students in total) aged 12 – 13 years (year 8, and equivalent), this fun challenge encourages the development of students’ problem solving, team working and communication skills. This activity can be tailored to the needs of your school and your students by adapting the PowerPoint presentation and the editable student booklet. What’s included? The complete set of downloadable materials includes: Teachers pack A list of the practical materials needed, presenters’ notes highlighting key areas and reinforcing key themes throughout the day, some handy hints on how to deliver the day . . . plus printable Faradays currency and student certificates. Student booklet Available an editable MSWord document to allow the booklet to be adapted to meets the needs of your students and your school. Introductory PowerPoint presentation A step-by-step guide for your students throughout the day, with supporting notes for the delivery of the presentation. Film clips and sound effects The engineering context More and more people are taking to cycling for competition, personal transport and leisure. The benefits of cycling are obvious; it is enjoyable, cost effective, improves fitness and is a sustainable way to travel. IET Faraday® DIY Challenge Day We have provided a set of printable resources and guidelines notes giving teachers and technicians the basic ingredients to run their very own Faraday Challenge Day. This cross-curricular activity day brings science, design and technology, engineering and maths (STEM) together in an engaging way. Download all documents for free! All online resources (including film clips!) are free to download, and the student booklet and PowerPoint presentation are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

Designing a football arena for the moon In this activity learners will make use of the theme of football on the moon to design a future football stadium for playing the game on the moon. They will think about the main design considerations and requirements for the stadium. They will then learn how to draw a football pitch step by step and produce annotated sketches of their idea. This is one of a series of resources that are designed to allow learners to use the theme of football on the moon to develop their knowledge and skills in Design & Technology, Graphic Design and Engineering. This resource focusses on learners designing a stadium for playing football on the moon. The teacher will introduce the theme of playing football on the moon, before introducing and discussing the design brief with learners. Learners will then have time to research and design their stadia for playing football on the moon. This activity can be simplified (particularly for less able students) by providing partially completed arena designs for weaker learners to add to and improve and/or providing card or paper cut outs of different arena elements that they could assemble to produce a finished design. As an extension learners can introduce vector illustration to their design or make a card scale model of the stadium and/or design a stadium for playing other sports on the moon, such as athletics, rugby, cricket or netball. How would the requirements of these differ from football? This activity is designed to take between 50-70 minutes. Tools/resources required Pens or pencils Coloured pencils Rulers Paper Computer and internet for research The engineering context Travelling and potentially living on the moon presents all sorts of challenges for engineers to overcome. For example, how will we breathe, how will we cope with much lower gravity, how will we play sports and keep fit, how will we develop the facilities to live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives? Suggested learning outcomes By the end of this free resource students will be able to understand the main considerations when designing sports stadia; design a stadium for playing football on the moon; and present design ideas as annotated sketches. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation.

Designing and making a foldable goal that could be transported to and used in Lunar football matches In this activity learners will make use of the theme of football on the moon to design and make a model of a foldable goal for use in a Lunar league football game. They will consider the issues with playing football on the moon and transporting equipment to it. They will then design and make a model of a goal that could be folded into a tube for transport, then opened up and used. This is one of a series of resources that are designed to allow learners to use the theme of football on the moon to develop their knowledge and skills in Design & Technology and Engineering. This resource focusses on learners designing and making a model of a foldable goal that could be transported to, and then used for a game of football on the moon. The teacher will introduce the theme of playing football on the moon and the challenges that would be faced when doing this, before explaining the design brief and task ahead to design, make and test a model goal. This activity can be simplified (particularly for less able students) by providing templates for the shape of the goals and/or pre-cutting the straws and string into required sizes. As an extension students could organise a Lunar Football League with other groups in the school; design and make a model of a space rocket to get your goals to the moon and/or design foldable equipment for other sports, such as Rugby goals or a cricket sightscreen. This activity is designed to take between 60-100 minutes. Tools/resources required Paper straws Scissors String (or wool) Ruler Pencils A bamboo skewer or similar thin rod Sticky tape A cardboard tube (E.g. the inside of a cling-film/tin foil roll) A small ball, such as a table tennis ball The engineering context Travelling and potentially living on the moon presents all sorts of challenges for engineers to overcome. For example, how will we breathe, how will we cope with much lower gravity, how will we play sports and keep fit? Suggested learning outcomes By the end of this free resource students will be able to understand the challenges of living and playing football on the moon; design and make a model of a foldable goal; and understand the function of different shapes of structure. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation.

In this fun activity, students will be designing and making a pewter cast medal for a sporting event, such as the Olympics or Football World Cup. We introduce the concept of CAD design, pewter casting and how this can be used to create something for a major event. Metal casting is a manufacturing process that involves pouring molten metal into a mould to create a 3D metal part. The mould contains a hollow cavity of a desired geometrical shape, and the molten metal is allowed to cool down to form a solidified part. The term ‘casting’ also refers to the part made by the casting process, which dates back 6000 years. Students will look at designing the medal, casting the pewter and fettling, and finish the medal. Download the activity sheets for free! And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation or send them via email to IETEducation@theiet.org

Designing footwear for sports use Trainers are one of the most commonly worn shoes in our culture. They provide comfortable support for our feet as we go about our active lives as students, athletes, educators and engineers. The design of trainers (and all athletic shoes) is based on how they will be used and is an example of bioengineering. This activity introduces the concept of research through product analysis to support the design process. The main activity involves designing a trainer. Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links In this activity, learners will use the theme of the London Marathon to respond to a design context, investigate existing products for inspiration and design a trainer. This activity could be used as a main lesson activity to develop skills in designing. It could also be used to introduce the review of existing products to inspire design solutions. Tools/resources required Pens, pencils and drawing instruments Variety of trainers/shoes for comparison The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download and are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

IET Faraday® DIY Challenge Day This engineering challenge for kids aims to create a device that consistently serves table tennis balls to a player so that they can practice their skills at the table tennis table. By creating this brilliant machine, a player can practice table tennis on their own while the machine serves back to them. Activity introduction The Faraday Challenge ‘Table Tennis Server’ has been designed for six teams of six students (36 students in total) aged 12 – 13 years (year 8, and equivalent). Each team will be asked to assign: a team leader; an accountant; an assessment coordinator; two scientists; two mathematicians; two design and technologists; manufacturers and designers. Each team member will need to be assigned more than one role and feed into different aspects of the day. You can adapt this set of resources for larger numbers of students if, for example, you wish to run the event for the whole year group. If this is the case, you will need to increase the number of team booklets and practical resources appropriately. We have provided a set of printable resources and guidelines notes giving teachers and technicians the basic ingredients to run their very own Faraday Challenge Day. This cross-curricular activity day brings science, design and technology, engineering and maths (STEM) together in an engaging way. The set of downloadable materials includes: Teachers pack A list of the practical materials needed, presenters’ notes highlighting key areas and reinforcing key themes throughout the day, some handy hints on how to deliver the day . . . plus printable Faradays currency and student certificates. Student booklet Available as an editable MSWord document to allow the booklet to be adapted to meets the needs of your students and your school. Introductory PowerPoint presentation A step-by-step guide for your students throughout the day, with supporting notes for the delivery of the presentation, including links to the related film clips. The engineering context Table tennis is a growing sport in the UK. Practice, as with most things, is the key to improving at the sport. The only problem is that it is hard to practice on your own. Being able to return service is often what provides the edge in terms of winning and losing. Within this challenge, students will work in teams to design and make a prototype device that will serve tennis balls consistently across a table tennis table. The server must fit securely on the edge of the table and serve at least four balls accurately and precisely in the same position, and allow the ball to be returned. Download the activity sheets for free! All online resources (including film clips!) are free to download, and the student booklet and PowerPoint presentation are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. For additional related videos, please visit the IET Education website.

Testing fitness to decide whether people should engage in computer-based sport With such a wide variety of fitness-based computer games available, this engineering activity for kids encourages children to collect data to find out if video games for fitness have the desired effect on fitness levels. Do technology games really enhance fitness? Can you increase your fitness levels by being in front of a gaming computer? Use this activity to help answer these questions while at the same time questioning the validity of data and the difficulties of carrying out a fair test. This lesson involves a series of discussions and ranking activities to develop students understanding of the link between fitness, pulse rate, respiration, and activity. This activity was designed as a science activity but would be an excellent opportunity to be taught in conjunction with PE and mathematics. Students will divide themselves into groups of 4 to 6 and have a discussion to establish what the group understands by the meaning of the word ‘fitness’ and clarify a group definition. Students should consider the following questions: what do we mean by someone’s level of fitness? What is a pulse rate? What is respiration and where does it happen? Why do we need our heart and blood? What is energy and how does it relate to activity? What you will need Projector Whiteboard The engineering context The ‘Who’s the winner’ scheme of work provides students with an opportunity to collect data which they can use as evidence to debate whether people should be encouraged to engage in computer-based sports activities. The investigation highlights how difficult it is to control all variables and therefore carry out a fair test. The students’ evaluation of the investigation will allow them the chance to question the validity of the data, question the size of the data set used and question the time span data needs to be collected over before it can be used to confirm a claim. Suggested learning outcomes By the end of this engaging activity students will be able to explain what is meant by fitness, pulse rate and respiration and how they are affected by activity. They will also be able to explain how fitness relates to level of activity. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. You can stream and download the related films for free by clicking on the appropriate link in the related resources section below. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

Designing a robot that can perform the duties of an assistant referee during a football game In this activity learners will make use of the theme of football on the moon to design a robot that can perform the duties of an assistant referee during a game in the ‘Lunar League’. They will consider the challenges associated with playing football on the moon and the duties of an assistant referee. They will then produce a labelled sketch of their idea to meet a set of design criteria. This is one of a series of resources that are designed to allow learners to use the theme of football on the moon to develop their knowledge and skills in Design & Technology and Engineering. This resource focusses on learners designing a robot to act as an assistant referee during a game of football on the moon. The teacher will introduce the theme of playing football on the moon and the challenges that would be faced when doing this, before explaining the task to learners and introducing the design brief. Learners will then have time to sketch their design ideas and report back to the class on their successes and failures and what they would do differently if they were to repeat the task. As an extension learners can design a logo for the Lunar League that could be shown on the side of the robot assistant referee; produce a model and prototype of the design idea, using electronics to make it functional; and/or design a robot referee for the games of football to be played on the moon. This activity is designed to take between 50-80 minutes. The engineering context Travelling and potentially living on the moon presents all sorts of challenges for engineers to overcome. For example, how will we breathe, how will we cope with much lower gravity, how will we play sports and keep fit? Engineers have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that their work is sustainable and that they do not negatively impact the environment. This includes the use of sustainable energy sources to power products. Suggested learning outcomes By the end of this free resource students will be able to understand the challenges associated with playing football on the moon; understand the roles and responsibilities of an assistant referee in a game of football; and be able to design a robot that can perform the duties of an assistant referee for a game of football on the moon. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation.

Sketching an idea and writing a microcontroller program for the line painting robot to follow This resource focusses on robotics engineering where learners design and write a program for a robot that could mark out the pitch lines for a game of football. Students will produce a labelled sketch of their idea and write a microcontroller program for the electronic aspects of the robot. This is one of a series of resources that are designed to allow learners to use the theme of sports to develop their knowledge and skills in Design & Technology and Engineering. The teacher will introduce the theme of playing football on the moon and the challenges that would be faced when doing this, before explaining the robot design worksheet and task ahead to design and assemble their robot and then program it to complete the task assigned. This activity is designed to take between 90-140 minutes. Tools/resources required Pens, pencils and coloured pencils Crumble controller board and USB download cable Three red crocodile clips and three black crocodile clips Three AA batteries and battery pack Two Crumble motors Crumble software and computer hardware for programming The engineering context Electrical, electronic and control engineers need to have knowledge, understanding and skills associated with circuit design and assembly, and the programming of electronic control systems. Travelling and potentially living on the moon presents all sorts of challenges for engineers to overcome. For example, how will we breathe, how will we cope with much lower gravity, how will we play sports and keep fit? Suggested learning outcomes By the end of this free resource students will be able to understand the challenges of living and playing football on the moon; be able to produce a labelled sketch of a design for a moon based pitch marker robot and be able to write a program for the electronics of the orbit, so it can mark out the pitch. All activity sheets and supporting resources to design a robot are free online to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation.