Module 6: Building the things we need

The key idea with these activities is to get students thinking about efficient ways of doing things. This starts off with simple examples such as getting ready to come out of the house in the morning and then extends to more complex contexts such as how to organise the assembly of motor cars in response to orders. Tasks draw upon a range of skills from the STEM curriculum when challenging students to develop ideas and solutions.

• Activities are set in the context of the kitchen at home and students suggest logical and efficient way of organising systems. This leads to an interactive learning tool task developed in conjunction with BMW-Mini whereby students manage car production lines looking at sequencing and efficiency and stock control measures.
• Students go on to investigate control systems in fairground rides and pedestrian controlled road crossings with an extension using a free programming language (Scratch).
• A final team challenge activity reinforces the concept of sustainability and its importance and application to a range of different enterprises.

 Some of these teaching resources are based around the use of an online digital resource. This is designed to run on a wide range of platforms and is also accessible from any location, so students can use it at home as well as at school.