Design and Technology: Blog items
Year 3 - DT - Investigating existing products and Market Research
Date: 9th Sep 2024 @ 9:05pm
To begin our DT journey, we looked at a range of existing pencil cases. We thought about what material they had been made from, how they had been joined, who the user was and how they opened and closed. We found most of the pencil cases were made from fabric and stitched together. Some pencil cases were made from wood or leather but these were less common. We also conducted some market research. We created a google form to gather data on what users would want from a pencil case. We thought about what we would need to put in a pencil case, the shape, the design, the material and how the case would close.
We then analysed the data to see what it told us. Our results showed that a character design is most popular. Those surveyed also wanted a soft pencil case that they could carry in their bags. We also found out that most children wanted lots of different things in their pencil case, so when we design our cases we need to make sure we have enough room and potentially a pocket for organising.
Date: 5th Sep 2024 @ 7:40am
Yesterday, we explored different types of puppets so we can take inspiration from them when we make our own puppets. We thought about what materials were used and how the parts were joined together to gain a better understanding of how they work and how these things make it appropriate for their user.
Date: 17th Jun 2024 @ 4:06pm
We continued our 'Mechanical Systems' unit by finding our more about pulleys and gears. We learned how pulleys an gears can be used in mechanical systems before experimenting making different gear chains. We also made pulleys from wooden dowel and cotton reels.
Reception Clay Bog Baby Models and Habitats
Date: 11th Jun 2024 @ 11:21am
Reception have been reading the story 'Bog Baby'. As part of our art work all the children made their own clay model of the Bog Baby. the children looked carefully at the different features of the Bog Baby including his big googley eyes, long spikey tail and little mouse like ears. The children explored the clay using their hands to manipulate the shape and size. They used the teachniques of slip, score and blend to successfully attach the different parts to their model. When the models had dried the child painted them carefully. Every child made their own home for the Bog Baby which they used a range of different materials from the create area.
"The water helped the clay to stick together" Mathew.
"Yo have to blend it properly or the tail will fall off" Elisha.
Date: 21st May 2024 @ 6:28pm
Today we finally finished our homes! We put all the finishing touches onto our final products using paints and other materials. We have worked very hard throughout this half term to look at existing homes, design our own home, make our prototype, make our final design and evaluate what we have made.
Date: 17th May 2024 @ 1:01pm
Today we followed our designs and prototypes to make our homes. We thought about key ideas we needed to talk about before we started to make our homes, e.g. how can we stay safe when making our homes? And how can we make sure our homes turn out the way we want them too? We then worked to follow our own designs and prototypes to each create our home. After we had created our final product we checked really carefully that there was nothing else to do to improve our finished product.
Date: 9th May 2024 @ 11:03pm
This week we have been reading "Nornan the Slug with the Silly Shell" by Sue Hendra. In the story, Norman the slug meets some snails and loves their shells! We looked closey at the spiral pattern you find on shells and then made our own jammy spiral pastries!
Date: 23rd Apr 2024 @ 4:53pm
Today we created a prototype for the front of our home. We continued to work safely with resources to follow our design. We evaluated our designs as we were working with our partners and after we had finished our prototypes we then discussed as a class what had gone well and what we had to change before making our final product.
Date: 10th Apr 2024 @ 8:57am
After spending time exploring a variety of existing shell structures, looked at creating nets and CAD, it was finally time to make our final products. We made our very own Easter themes boxes to hold a chocolate surprise. We had to carefully use a hot glue gun and measure accurately to ensure that they folded together correctly. We also used moulds to create different chocolate shapes to go inside, proving our designs were fit for purpose!
Date: 8th Apr 2024 @ 6:51pm
We began todays lesson by thinking about how many different homes we could think of and what types of homes people live in around the world. Together, we then looked at a number of different homes, talking about what kind of home it was, what shapes we could see in the home and what materials the home was made from. We then looked a number of different picture cards showing different types of homes. We read and orally answered a number of different question cards and identified which houses fit each question/description. We also went outside to observe the different types of homes we can see from our school environment, revisiting our local area knowledge from earlier in the year.
Year 2- Making Moving Vehicles
Date: 26th Mar 2024 @ 3:48pm
Today, we used our designs to make our moving vehicles. We painted the wheels before using our marking out skills to mark out windows and doors to cut out. We used cellophane to create a glass effect in the windows before painting them the colours we had chosen in our design. We cannot wait to test them out tomorrow to see if we were successful in meeting the design brief.
Date: 14th Mar 2024 @ 2:48pm
In D.T we have been looking at making shell structures. We have been making shell structures as Easter gifts and have been using CAD to design our products.
Date: 13th Mar 2024 @ 12:07pm
In Reception we have been learning about space. As part of our learning the children have been using a range of different recycled boxes, tubes and materials to create their own model rockets. They had to think very carefully about the different matierals they were using looking at shape and size and decide the best way to fix and join them together. The children had some brilliant ideas and used thei problem solving skills when they were faced with challenges. Have a look at some of the rockets they made.
Date: 5th Mar 2024 @ 10:26am
As part of our DT unit, Shell Structures, we have looked at nets. We carouselled around the room completing a series of activites. These included usingmagnet shapes to make shell structures, deconstructing 3D shapes, cutting and folding nets and finally we made nets to replicate real life objects! We even linked it to History and made some historical landmarks!
Date: 29th Feb 2024 @ 4:52pm
Today, Year Two enjoyed their first forest school session of the spring term. We begun by discussing how the season has changed from Autumn to Winter and what has changed in the outside areas; we then went on a hunt around the garden to find signs that spring is nearly here! Next we made friendship bracelets, working well together to twist the materials tightly and tie a knot so we could wear them before we had a team race to see who was the best at tying knots in string. Finally, we explored shelters and used the parachute to protect us from the cold before making our own dens in the garden to protect a teddybear.
Date: 28th Feb 2024 @ 8:46pm
Today in Design and Technology we practised the skill of accurately drawing out shapes. We carefully used a ruler to measure out different shapes in centimetres and we then carefully cut them out. We will apply this skill to mark out different parts of our moving vehicles, such as doors and windows.
Date: 27th Feb 2024 @ 12:01pm
Last half term, the children in Year 3 explored healthy and varied diets. We designed and created wraps and pittas thinking about colour, taste and if it had a selection from the eat well guide.
Date: 26th Feb 2024 @ 5:56pm
Reception have been learning about the celebration- Chinese New Year- the year of the dragon.
They made Chinese lanterns and dragons, painted Chinese dragons, talked about Chinese food and how similar it is to other celebrations, such as Christmas and birthdays.
"You clean the house ready to celebrate and eat special food" Mathew.
"You get presents and treats" Lucy.
"It is the year of the dragon" Loui-Tony.
"i like Chinese food- I eat rice and noodles and chicken" Mireya.
"You eat Chinese food with chopsticks" Myah.
Year 5 - Holi vanilla biscuits
Date: 23rd Feb 2024 @ 3:49pm
Today has been a busy day in year 5. We have learned about food hygiene, evaluated existing biscuits, designed, made and decorated biscuits to celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi. Now all we need to do is eat them!
Date: 22nd Feb 2024 @ 8:43pm
What a great day we had in Year 6 today! Over the last couple of days we have been researching pizzas and looking at recipes in order to design our own pizza. Today we worked in groups and pairs to make from scratch the pizza dough and the sauce. We then split the dough into equal parts and rolled/stretched it out to create a thin base. Once this was done, we added the sauce and then picked a range of different toppings to add. We were very impressed with the results and they tasted amazing!! We are going to evaluate our pizzas tomorrow and say what we liked about our prodct and what we would add/change.
Year 2- Exploring Moving Vehicles
Date: 22nd Feb 2024 @ 2:04pm
This week, we have begun our Design Technology unit 'Mechanisms- Moving Vehilces'. We started by exploring a variety of moving vehicles and discussed how they move. We learnt that the wheels are connected by an axle which allows the cars wheels to move freely at the same time. We will use this knowledge to help us when building our own car.
Year 5 - Aspire-ing Carpenters
Date: 8th Feb 2024 @ 11:58am
This week pupils visited Aspire Academy to begin contruction of their frame structures. We were able to use the workshop and have expert teaching. Pupils learned the names of the equipment and had a go at measuring, sawing and sanding the wood.
Date: 1st Feb 2024 @ 2:03pm
Rowan class visited Aspire Academy yesterday as part of our Design and Technology unit. We have been working on frame structures this half term and the children were able to use the workshop at Aspire to start to build their frame structures, using all of the appropriate equipment. The children worked really hard and produced some great work using measuring and cutting skills.
Date: 1st Feb 2024 @ 1:29pm
Today we started our DT journey based on cooking. We will be creating our own wraps/pittas. We started the day by focusing on what it meant to have a healthy balanced diet and created a presentation. We then taste tested a variety of foods. Finally, we designd our wraps/pittas ready to make next week! Keep your eyes peeled for our final products!
Nursery Try to Catch The Gingerbread Man!
Date: 31st Jan 2024 @ 11:21am
Nursery had their work cut out when they read the story "The Gingerbread Man". We ran as fast as we could but we just couldn't catch him! So, instead we explored the ingredients we needed to make gingerbread and then made our own Gingerbread Men. We practised ordering numbers 1 - 5, followed instructions to draw a gingerbread man and used tweezers to add buttons on gingerbread men. We never did catch the Gingerbread man!
