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...

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

This mock exam tests student understanding of the ethics involved in being a designer. Questions look at sustainability, life cycle analysis and the impact of design on society.

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:

This collection of resources provides classroom presentations and activities to engage students in different types of energy generation. Content covered includes renewable and non renewable energy types, environmental impact and provides examples of different types of power stations around the world.

This one-hour lesson introduces the Internet of Things to students, through the context of fire fighting.

Students explore the user needs of a modern firefighter and how different Internet of Things technologies could improve their...

This activity requires students to design and construct a payload fairing and vibration rig to test a protection system for a satellite (an egg).  Students are given limited materials (this can be differentiated accordingly) to produce their model, the success of the model is initially measured by the egg not being...

This resources investigates how electrical energy is generated from renewable and non-renewable sources.

Suggested learning outcomes include:

• To know the difference between a renewable and a non-renewable source of energy.
• To understand how electrical energy is generated from at least...

This resource explores the impact of globalisation on the manufacturing market. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of global product manufacture, looking at topics such as transport, sustainability, delivery, consumer rights, legislation. The presentation and worksheets combine to create a learning mat...