The BBC micro:bit is a small programmable device, designed to engage children with coding and the world of digital. Given to all 11-12 year old students across the UK in 2016, it is supported with a range of programming environments available here.

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These wide-ranging resources provide information and guidance that will help practitioners and employers consider issues such as gender equality, subject choice, inclusive pedagogy and providing successful work placements.

In this activity students will make use of the theme of new and future technologies to design a futuristic backpack. They will discuss the purpose of backpacks and why they are used. They will then produce a labelled sketch of their design idea to meet the given design brief and criteria. Students can self or peer-...

Dallas Campbell talks about how engineering links to the production and packaging of foods.  He gives the example of the bacon sandwich that was designed...

This activity, suitable for a multi-lesson sequence or a single extended session, challenges students to design and prototype a simple motion-sensing alarm. The device is intended to prevent theft or the accidental picking-up of a bag.

Motion is sensed using the accelerometer built-in to the BBC micro:bit,...

This Licence to Cook practical session is about the production of bread based products, with students making either Dinner rolls or Pesto pizza or Finnish fruit plait. There is scope for students to be creative, selecting different types of ingredients that could be combined into the dishes. The writing frames can...

This activity can be used to explore the relationship between shape and hydrodynamics (resistance).

Curriculum links include aerodynamics, resistance, forces, buoyancy and thrust. There are a number of useful links to...

Students begin by considering what items are produced in batches, and why? Details are given on the characteristics of batch production, and how it can be applied to engineered products. Students consider how they could describe batch production and its advantages and disadvantages. Students may begin to research...

In this resource, students use their STEM skills to help them design and build a model of a flood- proof house. Activities to help them with their design include testing materials (for strength and absorbency) and structures. Set on a fictitious island coping with the devastating effects of flooding caused by...

Become an innovator! This video introduces the challenges involved in the V&A Innovate collection.  It sets the scene for how creativity and design can have a positive impact on our world and tasks students with using their creative talents to solve...

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 report from Ofsted looks at low level classroom disruption. Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) raised concerns about low-level disruption in schools in his Annual Report 2012/13. As a consequence, guidance to inspectors was tightened to place greater emphasis on this issue in routine inspections. In addition...

Looking to discuss the big, contestable questions in STEM? This collection of resources from The Economist Educational Foundation supports students to understand how the scientific and technological processes of the modern world are intertwined with political decisions and ethical calculations. They help develop...