The generation of energy with solar power plants in the desert is a highly controversial issue. In this activity students consider the questions: Which arguments do the opponents and the proponents put forward? To what extent do solar power plants have the potential to contribute to meeting Europe’s energy needs?...

A collection of mini design challenges, themed around different material areas.

Design Club is a social enterprise set up to help children become design thinkers. We create industry-standard resources to help people run design thinking clubs and workshops for 9-13 year olds.

This set of resources contains everything you need to run a Design Club taster project: worksheets, a delivery...

This STEMNET resource describes the background and career of STEM Ambassador Chris Robbins, a design engineer and Director of a small independent consultancy.

Chris uses maths to help companies solve problems by developing mathematical models and associated software to help select appropriate materials and...

Nuffield Secondary Design and Technology guides for Key Stage Four provide a straightforward way for students to become familiar with the sorts of questions they should ask when designing for a particular focus area. The design guides can act as a stimulus for students who are having difficulty in deciding on a...

The Nuffield Design Hexagon for Key Stage Four covers the design strategies that students need to consider be successful at designing products that meet the needs and wants of people in real life situations. Design Hexagons have been developed for each focus area: electronic products, food technology, graphic...

In this Shell Centre module, groups carefully design and produce their own board games. These games are then played and evaluated by other class members.

This involves developing ideas from 2-dimensional shape-and-...

In this ARKive activity, students research and design their own conservation programme to learn about the importance of biodiversity as well as the economic benefits and services ecosystems provide. Using examples of successful conservation programmes within the UK Overseas Territories, students learn about the...

Begin this activity by introducing the idea of playing football on the Moon and the potential problems that could be faced when doing this. Pupils will then sketch and label their design idea for a football kit that can be used to play football on the Moon. Pupils can self or peer-assess their design work...

In this Nuffield exploration students are asked to design a table for a group of 5 people for daily use. The table must be extendable to accommodate 8 to 10 people for some occasions

The key processes developed are:...

Aerospace engineers need to take into account the heat generated when the space craft move through the atmosphere at extreme speeds, both during launch and at re-entry, as without proper thermal protection the space craft could be destroyed. Insulating blankets, foams and tiles are used to protect the spacecraft....

Water pushes upwards with a force called ‘upthrust’. (You can feel this if you try to push a light object such as a balloon or aeroboard under water). The shape of a ‘boat’ affects the weight (passengers/cargo) it can hold. The more water that the boat displaces the more it will float and therefore the more weight...

This classroom activity will enable pupils to design and make a fabric bag big enough to carry their books. Pupils will measure and cut the fabric and decorate it with a book or other personal theme. They will then sew their fabric to create the finished bag. Finally, they will test their book bag to see how well...

In this classroom activity pupils will design, test and make a bookend to assist in the storage of books. The bookend can be decorated to inspire and encourage reading of the books being stored.

Pupils will first make a card model of their bookend design and then produce a finished bookend from wood and card...

Many different personal attributes can impact on road safety including a person's vision, ability to concentrate, reaction times and mobility. The car of the future should be designed to help people overcome these issues.