These resources consist of a presentation and activity sheets to support design and technology students aged 14-16. It helps students to gain knowledge and understanding of sustainable development and the use of precious resources. The 6 R's are:

• Rethink: what could be done differently?
• Refuse...

A Bridge too Many, from the Centre for Science Education, is a set of teaching materials which offer a cross-curricular approach to learning about engineering. The context for the activities is a challenge based on a large model bridge that has been pre-constructed using prefabricated components, with weak pins...

Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, these materials introduce students to circuit symbols. They develop their knowledge and understanding of circuit symbols and components through a range of short, interactive learning activities. These are particularly useful to reinforce, or consolidate,...

From Practical Action and the Royal Academy of Engineering, this short starter activity helps students to think about their own values and those of their peers in relation to the sustainability of engineering. The activity encourages an awareness of the impact of engineering on the environment and sustainability....

This problem features a coil of tinplate being stored on a mandrel. In the first problem, students are presented with the diameter of the mandrel, the height from the floor, the width of the coil and the density of the steel. The problem is to calculate the maximum coil weight. A worked solution is included with...

From Practical Action, this resource is an eco-tool used to compare the sustainability of two products or design ideas.

Produced by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, this activity takes students through a step-by-step approach to understanding the basic principles of distance-time and velocity-time graphs. Working through the activity will help students to:
* Understand the terms distance, time, velocity and...

Drinks cans are made by stamping out circular discs from a sheet of tin. Given the dimensions of the sheet of tin and the diameter of the circle stamped out, students are required to calculate the wastage and to investigate whether there is a more efficient method. The problem requires students to be able to...

The Eco-design web is a useful tool to help students’ analyse an existing product or design. It can also be used to indicate areas of the product that can be redesigned to improve its environmental sustainability.

These activities, from the Institute of Physics, look at electrical circuits. They provide a review of previous knowledge and introduce the language needed to cope with the greater depth of learning at post-16 level. Activities include: • a discussion about electrical circuits to reinforce knowledge and highlight...

This challenge, from Practical Action, requires students to design and build a model structure that will enable farmers to grow crops even in an area that may become flooded. A floating garden, built on a base of aquatic weeds, is a low cost and sustainable way of allowing people to grow vegetables. The resource...

This in-service training pack, from the Centre for Science Education, was developed to help subject leaders to make effective use of the Engineering a Better World resources. The aims of the pack are to:

*enable leading teachers to develop their team's experience and expertise when integrating engineering...

In this activity, from the LSIS, students discover for themselves the importance of the perpendicular distance in moments. It is presented as a whole class discussion but can easily be adapted for small group work.

The activity uses a magnetic disc that takes about 15 minutes to construct. The activity will...

From Practical Action, this resource encourages students to look at how design specifications are balanced when developing new products.

Medical Emergencies, from the Centre for Science Education, is a set of teaching materials which offer a cross-curricular approach to learning about engineering. Students design and make a hanging storage device that could, ideally, be folded up to make a rucksack or...