This lesson resource provides teacher notes for delivering a lesson that places 3D Printing as a new and emerging technology. It looks at how 3D printers work and provides a student assessment.

This guide to disruptive technologies provides ideas and rationale for why disruptive technologies should be taught as part of the Design and Technology secondary and post-16 curriculum. It provides examples of disruptive technologies, discusses how they might be introduced in a classroom setting and supports in...

This activity, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, concentrates on the design of buildings, their use and eco- effectiveness. Students will explore how, through applying circular economy principles, new buildings can be created that have a positive impact – buildings that do good rather than less harm.

The...

This activity, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, introduces aspects of the circular economy through design-and-make tasks, focusing on food packaging for festivals. It addresses the circular economy principle that waste equals food. The activity provides students with the opportunity to consider mass food...

This activity, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, follows the format of a ‘Dragon’s Den’ competition. It aims develop student’s understanding of responsible product development and how the principles of the circular economy can be applied to current business practice. Case studies of existing products are...

This design-and-make project, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, provides hands on experience of working with materials, using CAD/CAM for design, and an opportunity for students to manufacture interesting products while addressing many circular economy concepts.

The activity explores the use of materials...

Biomimicry involves looking at nature for inspiration to solve engineering problems and to develop innovative new designs for products and architecture. This activity, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, investigates what is meant by linear and closed loops systems and explores products that have been developed by...

This activity, for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, looks at textiles in fashion design. It provides an opportunity for students to increase their knowledge and understanding of a circular economy approach to developing textiles products and how textile companies are applying this approach to developing new products...

The Collect package of resources supports students to try out user-centred design principles,  helping them to collect information about their chosen theme for the V&A Innovate challenge. The resources encourage students to explore, listen to people, observe and uncover everything they need to know to help...

This teacher's guide, from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, introduces six design and technology teaching activities and explains how they can be used and adapted. It includes an overview of design in the circular economy, including an exploration of how pioneers have rethought design and why it has needed...

EAT asks us to explore human food habits. How do we give more people access to affordable, healthy food? What can we do to ensure that our food production is sustainable, and that we aren't wasting or polluting the planet with too much packaging? Can a design idea encourage people to make better food choices?

This Nuffield task is to design an emergency shelter, using a 4m x 3m rectangular piece of tent material, to protect three people from wind and rain.

The key processes developed include:

Fixperts is an award-winning, hands-on learning programme that challenges young people to use their imagination and skills to create ingenious solutions to everyday problems. The programme is equally relevant to design and technology, engineering and as a STEM enrichment activity.  

This set of resources can...

GO asks us to consider the big questions facing human movement. How can we increase global travel without polluting our planet? How do we bring people from different countries closer together? What are the challenges to our everyday mobility?

How might we redesign everyday objects to make travelling...