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Using our KS2 lesson plan and template, learners will design and make their own prayer mat for Ramadan using string, wool and colouring pencils while nurturing an understanding of the religious festival of Ramadan In 2024 Ramadan starts on Sunday 10 March and ends on Monday 8 April. It is estimated that globally 1.6 billion Muslims will take part in Ramadan and will fast from sunrise to sunset for one lunar month. In this lesson activity learners will look at what Ramadan is, what happens during Ramadan and what is important to Muslims during Ramadan. They will look at existing prayer mats and design a prayer mat using a provided template suitable for the KS2 level. We’ve created this design activity to support the teaching of key topics within design & technology (D&T), religious studies and art. This could be used as a one-off lesson activity to develop designing and sketching skills or an understanding of Ramadan. Alternatively, it could be used as a part of a wider scheme of work to develop designing and modelling skills in design & technology and engineering. Tools/supplies needed: Paper and card Drawing implements: colouring pencils or pens, pencils and rulers Scissors Optional, if available – examples of actual prayer mats For extension activities: glue sticks, string, wool, selection of materials The Engineering context All designers and engineers need to be able to produce ideas related to certain themes and follow a design brief. This ensures that the products they design will meet the needs of the end users, customers or clients. Suggested learning outcomes It is important for learners to understand all types of religious festivals as part of their religious education. This resource combines religious education with art and design and technology with the aim that the learners will be able to generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches and pattern pieces. Specifically, children will learn the main considerations and features for designing a prayer mat for Ramadan and be able to design a prayer mat that reflects Ramadan using shapes and patterns. Download our activity sheet and other teaching resources for free All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please do share your highlights with us @IETeducation.

Through this fun and engaging STEM activity, learners will understand how aerodynamic and streamlined shapes are used in our day to day lives and the design, technology, and engineering principles behind them. This is a free resource aimed at secondary school children. Students will have the opportunity to learn about aerodynamic forces and aerodynamic design and how these design principles enhance speed and efficiency in a product. A brilliant engineering activity for kids. Students will start to understand the basic principles of aerodynamics by looking at familiar products that have been designed with ‘speed’ in mind and through identifying features common to these products. Later, they could start to explore the requirements of aerodynamic design through testing simple shapes in a wind tunnel and through water. The activity focuses on students acquiring an understanding of aerodynamics through testing, experimenting, and developing. This activity is designed to be taught through science and design and technology simultaneously, as a cross-curricular project. However, it can also be tackled independently from each subject. What do the images have in common? Why have they been designed in that shape? Could they be split into themed groups? As an extension students could be asked to consider the social/economic and technological benefits (and drawbacks) of each example. This will give some reasoning behind the development of the final design and illustrate how there are many different factors affecting the design. The engineering context Aerodynamics refers to the way air moves around things. Anything that moves through the air reacts to aerodynamics. Aerodynamics acts on aeroplanes, rockets, kites and even cars! Suggested learning outcomes By the end of this activity students will be able to identify areas where aerodynamics is used in real life and they will be able to describe the social/economic and technological effect of the work. All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. The activity sheet includes teachers’ notes, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Please share your classroom learning highlights with us @IETeducation

Simple sliders and levers can be used to create movement in a picture. This activity teaches participants how levers and sliders work and how they can be used to create an engaging moving picture in a card or a book. How can I teach levers and sliders? This could be used in Key Stage 1 as a stand-alone activity or as a KS1 introduction to a design and technology project, such as: a greetings card - for example, a Christmas card where Santa’s sleigh moves across the sky a story detailing a journey – for example, inspired by a book they are reading (such as ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’); alternatively, this could be a fictional journey of their own devising the development of the book could be carried out as a class activity where each table or group of pupils works together to produce one or two pages, contributing to the book produced by the full class. This could also be linked to a story-writing activity in literacy a moving display - for example, charting the different activities carried out during a day, where the slider or lever indicates the changing time. On completing either model, pupils could also apply colour to their mechanism or add details to the background. Tools/resources required Copies of the moving pictures handout, printed on card, 1 per pupil (plus spares) Plain card (for the simple slider and lever backgrounds) Split pin-type metal fasteners (1 per pupil plus spares – see image in presentation) Scissors Sticky tape Glue sticks Optional Coloured pencils Hole punches (ideally single hole punches) Pre-made models of each mechanism, for demonstration Download the activity sheets for free! The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. All activity sheets and supporting resources for this KS1 DT activity are free to download and are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs. Please do share your learning highlights with us @IETeducation.