KS3 Resistant Materials
Through a variety of creative and practical activities, pupils should be taught the knowledge, understanding and skills needed to engage in an iterative process of designing and making. They should work in a range of domestic and local contexts [for example, the home, health, leisure and culture], and industrial contexts [for example, engineering, manufacturing, construction, food, energy, agriculture (including horticulture) and fashion].
Aims
The national curriculum for design and technology aims to ensure that all pupils:
- Develop the creative, technical and practical expertise needed to perform everyday tasks confidently and to participate successfully in an increasingly technological world.
- Build and apply a repertoire of knowledge, understanding and skills in order to design and make high-quality prototypes and products for a wide range of users.
- Critique, evaluate and test their ideas and products and the work of others.
Student Objectives
In KS3 Product Design pupils will be taught to:
- Develop specifications to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that respond to needs in a variety of situations
- Understand developments in design and technology, its impact on individuals, society and the environment, and the responsibilities of designers, engineers and technologists
- Understand and use the properties of materials and the performance of structural elements to achieve functioning solutions
Course Content
Year 7
Pupils will design and make a wooden frame with a copper sheet coating. The frame will have a continuous Nature inspired design and will be highly finished to a burnished finish.
Year 8
Pupils will design and make an illuminated desk trophy utilising different techniques in the shaping, marking and finishing of Thermoplastics.
Year 9
Pupils will design and make an appropriate frame as a collaborative project with Product Design. The frame will surround the previously completed clock design and will be a complimentary addition to the overall design.
Assessment
The students will be leveled at the end of each unit of work. This will be completed in line with the school policy. Feedback and targets will be given to the students verbally and via the marking stamp as outlined in the school marking policy.
What it leads to in KS4
The Design Technology department offer three courses at KS4:-
- GCSE Food Technology
- GCSE Resistant Materials
- GCSE Product design
Pupils will be expected to utilise the skills and knowledge they have built up in KS3 and then develop them further to solve a range of design problems using increasingly sophisticated tools, processes and technologies to produce relevant, accurate and appropriate outcomes.
