Program a prototype system to alert homeowners flooding risks The flood prevention strategies activity tasks participants to program a prototype system to alert homeowners flooding risks. Flooding is becoming increasingly common in parts of the United Kingdom and causes a lot of damage to peoples’ homes. The sooner a potential flood can be detected, the more time homeowners have to prepare and to save their property. This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit in Design and Technology lessons. Damage caused by flooding can have widespread effects on people’s lives, homes, businesses, and agriculture. Authorities aim to provide adequate warnings when the risk of flooding is likely, however this can be challenging. Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links In this activity, learners will debate the social impact of flooding and how design and technology could provide solutions to this. They should think about how programmable systems could be used to help homeowners and the authorities respond better and provide earlier and more effective warnings that flooding is likely to occur. They will then develop a working flood warning system using the BBC micro:bit. Please do share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation Tools/resources required Projector/Whiteboard To watch videos the ‘flood warning system’ and ‘flood engineers’ videos, please visit the IET Education website.

Investigate and apply methods to attach the bag alarm device to a piece of clothing This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit in Design and Technology lessons. Schools are busy environments and it is easy for learner’s bags to be left unattended, taken by mistake or even stolen. Alarm systems using embedded electronics and programmable components can be developed to protect the property of learners during the school day. In this unit of learning, learners will research, program and develop a working school bag alarm system using the BBC micro:bit. Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links In this activity, learners will design a fully integrated product. They will investigate and apply methods to attach their device to a piece of clothing. 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. Download the free activity sheet! 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. And please do share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

Discover the properties of the piezoelectric crystal and how it can be used to generate electricity The engineers behind the Watt Nightclub in Rotterdam turn the energy created by clubbers on the dance-floor into power for the lighting. There’s even a giant battery to monitor the energy and encourage the crowd to dance even more. Doing your bit for the environment doesn’t have to be boring! Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links An engaging activity where students will investigate a simple piezoelectric device. 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. Download the activity sheets 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

Manufacture a traditional Chinese two-stringed musical instrument called an 'Erhu’ In this activity learners will use the theme of the Chinese and Lunar New Year to learn about and make a Chinese two-stringed musical instrument called an Erhu. They will learn about the purpose of an Erhu and its main parts. They will then use hand tools and equipment to manufacture their own Erhu and test it. The erhu is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument. It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles and large orchestras. It can imitate many natural sounds such as birds and horses. Download the activity sheets for free! 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. Tools/resources required Tin can Piece of wood 2 x M5 screw, 4 x M5 nuts Fishing line Hacksaw/multi-tool Drill and drill bits Hot glue gun Wood saw Violin bows (if available) 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Use colour-changing LEDs for a mood lighting circuit that can help passengers to relax whilst inside an aircraft cabin. This activity could be used as a main lesson to teach about soldering, assembling circuits and the function of components or to support learning about colour and how it changes our response to products. You will need: Soldering iron, stand and mat/base Solder Mood light circuit board 5 V power supply e.g. a USB cable Slide switch 5 mm colour changing LED Protective resistor for the LED 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Design a system to drop emergency aid pallets from an aircraft. In this activity learners will make use of the theme of the future of flight to design a method or system of getting emergency aid from an aircraft to the ground safely. They will analyse existing methods of achieving this. Then use that information to create sketches of their initial ideas, before producing a developed and completed final design. 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

**This activity introduces the concept of force and motion and energy transfer through the making of a rotary water-powered ‘hero’ engine. ** This resource focusses on a water-powered ‘hero’ rotary engine, which converts water pressure to rotary motion. Devices of this type, called aeolipiles, were described by the mathematician Hero of Alexandria around 2100 years ago. These operated on the same principle but used water that was heated to make steam, rather than just water pressure. You will need: Empty plastic one litre bottles String or thread Sticky tack Drinking straws Felt tipped pens Scissors Rulers Sharp point, such as a bradawl, large needle or metal skewer Stopwatch (for extension 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. Please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Design a personal transport system for the future. Engineers are always looking to improve existing transport systems to make them better, more efficient, and widely available to everyone. As new propulsion methods are made smaller, and materials get lighter and stronger, personal transportation systems will be developed. In this activity, learners will design a futuristic personal transport system. The transport will use a chosen method of propulsion to allow it to fly, carrying an individual or a group of people. Learners will communicate design ideas using sketches, notes, and annotations. You will need: Projector/whiteboard Sketching equipment 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Designing a new way of carrying things. This resource focusses on designing a new item of luggage that travellers can use to store and carry their belongings. Learners will create a list of design criteria for the luggage, apply mathematical knowledge in measuring the objects that need to be carried, then design the luggage itself. What you will need Pencils Rulers Tape measures (if available) A3 and A4 paper as required 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Looking at ways to keep birds away from airport runways. Bird strikes can be extremely dangerous and cause a lot of damage to aircrafts. In this activity learners will come up with ideas to prevent bird strikes. Learners will develop their analytical and researching skills, and then be able to apply these to the given design situation. You will need: Pens Pencils Rulers Projector/interactive whiteboard or computers for watching the video 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Evaluating materials for a heat shield to prevent a piece of chocolate from melting The Solar Orbiter has to get very close to the Sun’s surface to observe how it works. It needs a heat shield, so its systems do not get too hot and melt. This fun activity make use of the theme of the future of flight to design, make and test a heat shield to prevent a piece of chocolate from melting. Test different materials to see which protects the chocolate the best and discuss their results. You will need: Polystyrene cups Scissors Materials for heat shields (e.g. milk bottle plastic, cardboard, metal foil, metal mesh) Chocolate pieces Hairdryer Stopwatch or timer Additional equipment that could be used: Thermometer Ruler Heat mats to place polystyrene cups on Oven gloves/cloths/tongs 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Experiment to find out which substances effect oxidation of apples Thinking about what snack to leave out for Santa and his reindeers on Christmas Eve, our activity suggests cut-up apples but experiment with ways to prevent discolouration. Using different substances such as saltwater, lemon juice and milk, students will test their maths and science skills and learn about oxidisation, acids, alkalis and more. 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation #SantaLovesSTEM

In this activity learners will make use of the theme of the future of flight to learn about the importance of clear communication for air traffic controllers. They will work together in groups to follow instructions to make a range of shapes using different cards. You will need: Scissors (to cut out shape cards). Shape cards. 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation

Learn about states of matter while having fun with bubbles It’s fun to blow bubbles but they usually don’t last very long and are very easy to pop. In this Christmas STEM activity, students will create a frozen bubble using golden syrup and washing up liquid. This activity will get students thinking about the different states of matter, evaporation and molecules 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation #SantaLovesSTEM

Watch crystals form from a bicarb solution It’s hard to imagine a wintery snow scene without crystals and icicles. Drips of icy water freeze into long frozen structures which hang from roofs, windows and from the branches of trees. In this fun activity students are going to create crystals without the use of a fridge! This experiment will test and improve their maths and science skills. 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. And please do share your learning highlights and final creations with us on social media @IETeducation #SantaLovesSTEM

A set of printable resources and guidance notes giving teachers and technicians the basic ingredients to run their very own IET Faraday® DIY Challenge Day. This cross-curricular activity day brings science, design and technology, engineering and maths (STEM) together in an engaging way. The context of the challenge Engineering has always been of great importance to the health industry. Machines, equipment, techniques and procedures are developing at a great pace and rely on engineering research and development. The field of bioengineering – the application of engineering principles to address challenges in the fields of biology and medicine, is advancing rapidly. As medical knowledge, techniques and expertise get more sophisticated, the needs to perform remote operations, to levels of minute accuracy, are becoming more and more necessary and common. The Remote Operations challenge is based on the IET Faraday® Challenge Day of the same name from our 2010/11 IET Faraday® Challenge Day season. Students work in teams to design and make a prototype device that can simulate a heart and kidney transplant, but must be operated remotely. Objects representing the human heart (tennis ball) and a kidney (ping-pong ball) must be picked up and accurately placed in their appropriate holes in an MDF/cardboard cutout of a human torso. Designed for six teams of six students (36 students in total) aged 12 – 13 years (year 8, and equivalent), the challenge encourages the development of students’ problem solving, team working and communication skills. This activity day 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 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. Film clips Informative clips about remote medicine and robotic surgery, plus examples of possible solutions to the challenge. To view the additional related videos, please visit the IET Education website.

Create a set of clear instructions to navigate a maze path This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit in Design and Technology lessons. Programmable robotic systems are becoming an important part of industrial developments in Design and Technology. Robots are now being developed that can sense changes in their surroundings and respond accordingly. In this unit of learning, learners will use the BBC micro:bit to develop a robotic buggy that can successfully navigate a maze or path. Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links In this activity, learners will create a set of clear instructions to help their partner navigate a maze path. 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. Download the activity sheets for free! 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. And please do share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

Create five rules for learning about programmable systems This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit in Design and Technology lessons. Hundreds of people are killed in accidents on roads in the United Kingdom every year. When schools are situated close to roads there is particular danger to children crossing them. A good, well programmed pedestrian control system can minimise risk and enable people to cross the road safely. In this unit of learning, learners will use the BBC micro:bit to develop a prototype for a pedestrian crossing for a local secondary school. Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links In this activity, learners will create five ‘golden rules’ for others learning about the topic of programmable systems. 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. Download the activity sheets for free! 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. And please do share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

Use the BBC micro:bit to develop a prototype for a home energy monitoring system that will inform people of how long they leave their lights and/or heating on during the day. In this activity, learners will develop their energy monitoring system using the BBC micro:bit. This is an ideal exercise for learners to develop programming skills, make use of programmable components and embed intelligence into a product design. This is a versatile activity that can be attempted by learners as individuals, in pairs or in small groups. If learners have not seen or used a block systems diagram before it might be necessary to describe this in more detail (i.e., what is meant by input, process, output etc.) This activity will take approximately 60 – 120 minutes depending on ability and prior experience of learners. Tools/resources required Projector/Whiteboard BBC micro:bit system and online programming software Internet (to access programming software) Suitable input devices Crocodile clips or other wiring options (to attach input and/or output devices) What is the BBC micro:bit? The BBC micro:bit is a great way to get kids interested in computing. It is a small, programmable computer that can be used to create a wide variety of activities and projects. It is a powerful teaching and learning tool that helps learners develop their own systems and learn the basics of coding. It is an ideal tool for introducing children to programming concepts in a fun and engaging way. When writing the program, those who have not done programming before may benefit from writing, experimenting with and downloading the example program shown on the Teacher PowerPoint. They can use this as a base for their own program. The engineering context Home energy usage is an ideal topic for teaching about programmable components and embedded intelligence in products. These are key parts of the 2014 programme of study for Design and Technology at KS3. It is also an ideal vehicle for using the BBC micro:bit in the classroom and developing the programming skills of learners. Download the free Design a home energy system activity sheet! 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

Learners to demonstrate existing knowledge of sustainability issues in Design and Technology This is one of a series of resources to support the use of the BBC micro:bit in Design and Technology lessons. Reducing energy usage in the home saves money, increases energy security and reduces the need to burn unsustainable fossil fuels. The first step in doing this is monitoring how much energy is used each day. In this unit of learning, learners will use the BBC micro:bit to develop a prototype for a home energy usage monitoring system that will inform people how long they leave their lights and/or heating on during the day. Activity info, teachers’ notes and curriculum links In this activity, learners will demonstrate their existing knowledge of sustainability issues in Design and Technology. 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. Download the activity sheets for free! 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. And please do share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation