The different aspects of D&T

D&T! Argh! How confident are you that you’re teaching each aspect of the D&T curriculum with the rigour it requires to develop all the knowledge skills and understanding necessary? We’re going to take a journey through the five main areas of D&T and look at what each one involves and how we can make them fun, engaging and impactful.

Design and Technology Curriculum There are five areas within Design & Technology: Cooking and Nutrition Mechanisms Structure Textiles Electrical Systems We will go through the skills and knowledge to be developed within the: design, make, evaluate and technical knowledge aspects of the D&T curriculum.

Cooking and Nutrition Design Like any D&T project, in the design stage of cooking you need to consider who it’s for, what it needs to include and how it will be made. Make The skills they need to develop include chopping and preparing food hygienically, following a recipe and cooking ingredients in different ways. Evaluate Children need to know how to evaluate existing products to inform their design but also how to evaluate their own against their design criteria. Technical Knowledge As well as understanding flavour and texture, children must also develop their knowledge of seasonality, hygiene, origin of ingredients as well as the importance of a balanced diet.

Mechanisms Design Teach children to explore and develop their ideas in exploded diagrams, nets, prototypes and storyboards so they are able to explain how their product will work. Make Make sure children can cut and join materials accurately so that their project is functional. Evaluate Children need to regularly test and evaluate their project to make sure that it works. If it doesn’t, they should refer to their designs and check the accuracy of the build. Technical Knowledge There is a lot of technical knowledge within mechanisms as children need to understand how they work in order to create their own versions.

Structures Design Design should be informed by experiments and prototypes or pre-existing structures to ensure they are planning strong and stable structures. Make Children should be taught how to cut, join and assemble accurately with a secure understanding how to reinforce structures in order to be more creative with the final outcome. Evaluate By critically evaluating existing structures, children can learn how to build and reinforce structures of different shapes and materials. Technical Knowledge Pupils should build an understanding of how to achieve strength and stability in their structures and explore different materials and equipment.

Textiles Design Children must consider who the product is for and build a design criteria based on this. Make Teach children to master different types of stitch for different purposes. Evaluate This involves both evaluating their own work and evaluating and learning from the work of others to help master techniques. Technical Knowledge Children should be taught a range of stitches and techniques as well as an understanding of why they might be used for different purposes.

Electrical Systems Design Children should use their scientific knowledge of electricity to draw accurate circuit diagrams within their product designs. Make Encourage pupils to consider and experiment with how technology and electricity can interact with other materials to breathe life into them. Evaluate Teach children to think critically about electrical products, understanding what makes them successful and how to develop their projects. Technical Knowledge Their scientific knowledge of electricity is important as well as their understanding of structures and mechanisms.

Questions? Hopefully this run-through of the different areas of D&T have left you feeling more confident and with a better grasp of the skills children need to develop in this subject. Remember, all of these are consistently and repeatedly referred to in all of the Kapow Primary D&T lesson packs and videos. Do you have any questions? ?