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.
A selection of posters for your DT classroom.
Tools
Plastics
Metals
Wood
Jobs in DT
Famous designers/ engineers
DT vocabulary and Welsh words
All editable
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!
This lesson explores the roles within the brigade system, focusing on the daily responsibilities, skills, and challenges of different chef positions like the Sous Chef and Executive Chef. Students will reflect on the hierarchy’s importance in kitchen operations. Resources include role descriptions, posing questions, links to support videos, a written reflection activity, stretch it task, mini review and a comparison exercise.
Lesson Overview:
This Year 10 Hospitality and Catering lesson focuses on helping students understand the essential personal attributes, qualifications, and experiences needed for success in the hospitality industry. Students will explore key attributes such as teamwork, communication, adaptability, customer service, and punctuality, as well as how gaining relevant qualifications and hands-on experience through internships or part-time work can lead to better job prospects and career progression.
Lesson Objective:
Students will identify and explain the importance of personal attributes, qualifications, and experience in hospitality and catering, and understand how these elements contribute to employability and career advancement.
Learning Outcomes:
All students will be able to identify basic personal attributes and qualifications required for hospitality roles.
Most students will explain how personal attributes, qualifications, and experience affect employability and career progression.
Some students will evaluate the significance of these factors in different hospitality roles.
Lesson Resources Provided:
Introduction:
A matching activity where students pair personal attributes (e.g., teamwork, adaptability) with various hospitality roles (e.g., waiter, hotel manager).
Scaffolding Information:
Key points covering the importance of personal attributes, specific qualifications, and relevant industry experience.
Mini Review Task:
“Rank the Importance” task where students rank personal attributes, qualifications, and experience in order of importance for a chosen hospitality role.
Main Task:
Job advertisement creation, where students write job ads for different roles, including the required personal attributes, qualifications, and experience.
Plenary Discussion:
Class discussion on what makes them the “perfect candidate” for a hospitality role, summarizing the key attributes and qualifications discussed in the lesson.
Assessment Questions:
A set of 6 questions targeting different levels of understanding (easy, medium, hard) to assess student comprehension of the lesson material.
Visual Aids and Illustrations:
Images representing personal attributes like teamwork, punctuality, communication skills, adaptability, customer service, and industry-related qualifications.
Key Topics Covered:
The role of personal attributes (e.g., teamwork, punctuality, communication) in hospitality
Industry-specific qualifications and their impact on job prospects
The importance of gaining hands-on experience through internships, part-time jobs, and volunteering
How experience, skills, and qualifications together lead to employability and career advancement
Estimated Duration:
1 hour
This lesson includes engaging activities, visual aids, and differentiated tasks to ensure all students can grasp the concepts, making it suitable for a diverse range of learners in Year 10 Hospitality and Catering.
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.
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.
Lesson Synopsis: Menu Planning
This lesson introduces students to the key factors involved in menu planning, with a focus on cost management, seasonal ingredient use, and adapting menus for different occasions and customer expectations.
Students will learn how ingredient costs, labor, and overheads influence the pricing of menu items, and why using seasonal ingredients can help keep costs low.
The lesson also explores how menus differ across various settings—such as fine dining, fast food, and catering services like hospitals or schools—based on budget and customer expectations.
Through discussions and scenario-based activities, students will explore how menus are planned for balance, cost efficiency, quality and consider how different occasions, such as weddings or large events, require specific planning to ensure smooth service. By the end, students will be able to outline key menu planning strategies for a variety of settings and occasions.
I created this lesson for a non specialist to cover a DT lesson, can be used as a standalone or over a couple of lessons.
Lesson plan: Draw a living area using a grid and symbols:
Objective: Students will plan and draw a living area layout using a grid system and symbols to represent furniture and objects.
Materials Needed
Grid paper or drawing paper (a pre-drawn grid is available in slides will need to br printed out A3)
Pencils, erasers, rulers
Example floor plan diagrams for reference
Lesson Steps
Introduction (10 minutes)
Introduce the concept of floor planning and how architects and designers use grids and symbols to plan living spaces.
Show examples of floor plans and discuss
Symbols(10 minutes)
Introduce common symbols used in floor plans to represent furniture (e.g., beds, sofas, tables), doors, windows, and other objects (e.g., TV, plants).
Mini review
Grid Basics (10 minutes)
Explain the grid system and how each square on the grid represents a specific measurement (e.g., 1 square = 10cm).
Demonstrate how to measure and mark the grid using rulers and pencils.
Planning Phase (15 minutes)
Assign students to plan their living area layout on the grid paper.
Encourage them to consider scale, proportions, and functionality (e.g., placement of furniture for traffic flow).
Drawing Phase (20 minutes)
Once planning is complete, instruct students to start drawing their floor plan using symbols for furniture and objects.
Emphasize neatness, accuracy in scale, and clear labeling of symbols.
Extension activities
Review and Discussion (10 minutes):
Have students display their floor plans and discuss their design choices with classmates.
Encourage peer feedback on layout effectiveness and creativity.
Reflection (5 minutes):
Ask students to reflect on the challenges faced during the activity and what they learned about floor planning and design principles.
Challenge advanced students to incorporate additional elements such as color codes for different areas (e.g., living room, kitchen).
Revision resource or cover lesson for the 5 stages of risk assessments and why they are needed.
Example of risk assessment and activities to revise learning
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
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
This lesson introduces students to the concept of using local produce, focusing on how it supports the environment and the local economy. Students will explore the benefits, such as reduced food miles, sustainability, and support for local farmers, while also considering the challenges of relying solely on local food sources, such as limited variety and seasonal availability.
The lesson includes:
PowerPoint Presentations: Clear visual explanations and key points on food provenance and sustainability.
Video Resources: Engaging visual content to illustrate examples of local food production and its impact.
Mini Reviews: Short, focused assessments to check for student understanding after key sections of the lesson.
Interactive Tasks: Group activities that encourage collaboration and hands-on learning, such as designing a soup using local produce.
Challenge Sheets: Stretch-it questions to encourage deeper thinking, including support materials to guide students through more complex concepts.
Final Review and Reflection: A class discussion to consolidate learning and reflect on how students can apply their knowledge in their daily food choices.
This resource is ideal for a Key Stage 4 class in Hospitality and Catering, Food Technology, or Geography, and includes everything needed to engage students in the importance of local, sustainable food choices.
Please leave a review if you have purchased
In this lesson , students explore various media types (print, digital, broadcast) and their role in promoting restaurants. They evaluate the positive and negative impacts of media on society and learn competitive marketing strategies, such as special offers and events. The final task involves pairs creating a 30-second radio advert for a new pizza restaurant, using key promotional techniques. Through discussions, group work, and creative tasks, students reflect on how media and marketing influence customer engagement and business success.
Starter activity - Spot the difference
Learning objectives and outcomes
Tasks
Reviews
Plenary
60 Minute lesson
An assembly presentation you could use before a Student council Election
Discuss the election process, why your voice is important and the roles of a student council
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.
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.
A smoothie design lesson I made for year 7.
Especially useful in helping pupils use specifications to evaluate their designs.
Includes;
Stater
Video Links
Support sheets
Example
Exit Card
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