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.
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.
Lesson to meet requirements for teaching limitations and defects in wood to help pupils make informed choices when selecting timber.
Common defects of wood. (5min) Class
Teaching method: Introduce, pupils investigate, mini whiteboard to recall facts.
Rational: Introducing new vocabulary.
Line of questioning: When selecting wood, why is important to look for defects?
mini whiteboard: Progress check
Grading wood (5 min) Pair
Teaching method: Demonstration, Questioning,
mini whiteboard: Progress check
Rational: Make informed decisions, check progress
Selecting Wood (15 min) Pair
Teaching method: Facilitate pupils investigation, provide factsheets, pupils to record information found through scanning, circulate to guide pupils. Model scanning method.
Rational: literacy focus to develop pupils lit skills, pupils need the information to make informed choices, working in pairs to support each other.
Consolidating Information (10 min) Silence
Teaching method: Open question – ‘When selecting a wood species for a product what do pupils have to consider before committing to the material?’
Rational: Pupils to answer an assessment of learning question using as much detail as possible. Consolidating learning from this and previous lesson.
Learning Leading to
Pupils will have to select and justify materials for their products, they have to state what needs to be considered and how the materials they select can be quality checked and finished to achieve a good result.
Extension activity and Stretch it (10 minutes) Individual
How wood is graded. Pupils to investigate how wood is graded and what information they would find from a piece of wood graded wood.
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
Please leave feedback
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
I have compiled a practice exam with answers to aid students in preparing for the WJEC product design and engineering exam. The questions are centered on the fundamental principles and concepts specified in the curriculum. The exam includes questions from the SAMs and previous papers, and I have created an editable document that can be printed and distributed to students.
Providing past papers and mock exams can help students to familiarize themselves with the format and style of the exam, as well as identify areas where they may need further study or practice. Encouraging students to practice with past papers and mock exams can also help to build their confidence and reduce anxiety around the exam.
Colour in, Cut out and stick togethr these Pirates and Princesses Hats (Key stage 1 Art and DT)
I designed these for my kids craft party to colour cut out and wear, might be useful to someone.
In this lesson, students will explore adjectives and their two main roles: attributive (before the noun) and predicative (after the noun). Through a combination of direct instruction, guided practice, and peer interaction, students will deepen their understanding of how adjectives modify nouns and enrich sentences.
The lesson begins with a quick-start activity to recall prior knowledge, followed by an engaging visual explanation of adjective use. The main task includes a worksheet with real-life sentence examples, allowing students to practice identifying adjectives in different positions. Interactive tasks encourage collaboration and active learning, while peer review promotes reflection and discussion. The lesson closes with a mini-task and a plenary to consolidate key points.
This well-rounded approach ensures that students grasp the concepts and can confidently use adjectives in their writing.
This worksheet is designed as a fun and educational activity to help students understand how and when to use apostrophes correctly. It is perfect for a cover lesson or busy task where students can work independently or in small groups.
What It Covers:
Introduction to Apostrophes:
The worksheet starts with a brief, student-friendly explanation of what apostrophes are and their two main uses—showing possession and replacing missing letters in contractions.
It covers key aspects of apostrophes: contractions, possessives, and common mistakes (like using apostrophes in plurals).
It is a self-explanatory resource, requiring minimal teacher intervention—perfect for independent work during a cover lesson.
The activities are flexible and can be completed individually or in pairs.
This worksheet will help students strengthen their understanding of apostrophes while offering them an enjoyable way to practice their skills.
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!
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.
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.
15 pages of design tasks or emergency cover work.
Design a bookend
Design a pop vinyl figure
Design a picture frame
Design a car
Design a milkshake brand
Design an automata
Design a mobile phone holder
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
3 revision activities for GCSE product design covering Social and economic impact in product design, Smart Materials and standards and legislation.
Simple text and easy to hard questions to help them prepare for the exam. Could be printed off and left for cover work as well.
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).