Carousel Education provides high quality bespoke support that addresses current educational challenges and practices. Our vision is to enable school leaders and staff to provide the best possible outcomes for all their children. In addition to our resources, we aim to offer down to earth, interactive, innovative and practical solutions for school leaders.
Carousel Education provides high quality bespoke support that addresses current educational challenges and practices. Our vision is to enable school leaders and staff to provide the best possible outcomes for all their children. In addition to our resources, we aim to offer down to earth, interactive, innovative and practical solutions for school leaders.
In this unit of work children design and make a working model of a fairground ride that uses rotational movement and is driven by a pulley system. Applying their understanding of computer programming they use block code to control the movement and functioning of the fairground model. Using their experiences of visiting fairgrounds and theme parks and watching an animation of a theme park, children deepen their understanding of the different movements of fairground rides and how they can be themed as part of the experience. They learn how a pulley and drive belt system works and how they can be used to transfer movement, change the speed and direction of movement. Children design a fairground ride model that uses rotational movement and make a wooden box structure for their model before adding a pulley and drive belt system. They use a Crumble Kit motor as part of an electrical system and apply their knowledge of block coding to control the speed and direction of the motor. Using their designs for guidance, children decorate the fairground model. For the evaluation part of this unit of work children evaluate the overall project and the processes they undertook to create the fairground model.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: Investigating Fairground Rides & Investigate Task 2: Investigating Pulley Systems
Focus Task 1 – Making a Base for the Model
Focus Task 2 – Fairground Ride Designer
Design and Make - Group Designing Session
Design and Make - Making the Model
Evaluation: Evaluating the product, project and processes.
In this project, children apply their knowledge of cooking and nutrition to design and make a main course pasta Italian meal. Children investigate the different places where people ‘eat out’ and conduct market research to find out about favourite restaurants. They research the traditional cuisine of Italy and find out about different pasta meals. Using this research, children are tasked with adapting a tomato sauce recipe to create a pasta-based main course. They apply a range of cooking skills to make their pasta dish and organise a taste test session to evaluate the food that they have made. Using the results from the taste test they take on the role of a restaurant critic and review some of the pasta dishes that the class have made.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: All About Restaurants
Investigate Task 2: Favourite Restaurants
Focus Task 1: Making Basic Tomato Sauce
Design and Make: Designing the Pasta Dish
Design and Make: The Big Cook - Making the Pasta Dish & Taste Testing
Evaluation Session: Writing a Restaurant Review
In this unit of work children learn about structures by designing and making a model treehouse. They begin by visiting a local playground to look at different types of playground equipment. Their shapes and structures. Having discussed their favourite playground activities and equipment, they draw a plan of their ideal playground. Children create 2D and 3D structures using drinking straws and pipe cleaners and are taught different ways of making these frame structures stronger, stiffer, and more stable. Having discussed what a treehouse is and the different types of activities that can take place in a treehouse, children draw a labelled drawing of their treehouse design. Working in groups they use their designs to help them make a model of their treehouse and apply their learnt knowledge to make them strong, stable, and stiffer. They evaluate their own models and those of their peers using the design specifications and identify what they like and what they would improve about the products they have made.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: Visiting the Local Playground
Focus Task 1: Making Straw Shapes & Investigate Task 2 – All About Treehouses
Focus Task 2: Playground Models
Design & Make: Designing Treehouses
Design & Make: Making Treehouses
Evaluating Treehouse
In this unit of work children learn about structures by designing and making a model of a monkey enclosure for the local zoo. They begin by visiting a local playground to look at the different types of playground equipment, their shapes and structures. Having discussed their favourite playground activities and equipment, they draw a plan of their ideal playground. Children create 2D and 3D structures using drinking straws and pipe cleaners and are taught different ways of making these frame structures stronger, stiffer, and more stable. Using information from either a visit to a zoo or from watching a video of different monkeys and primates in zoos, children design a new enclosure for monkeys. They use their ideas and designs to help them create a model of a monkey enclosure applying different skills and techniques to make their structure strong, stiff and stable.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: Visiting the Local Playground
Focus Task 1: Making Straw Shapes and Investigate Task 2: Monkeying Around
Focus Task 2: Playground Models
Design and Make: Designing Session
Design and Make: Making Session
Evaluating Session
In this unit of work children learn about structures by designing and making a model of a new piece of play equipment for the local playground. They begin by visiting a local playground to look at the different types of playground equipment. their shapes and structures. Whilst at the playground they also focus on different types of movement created by the equipment, particularly linear and rotational movement. Having discussed their favourite playground activities and equipment, they draw a plan of their ideal playground. Children create 2D and 3D structures using drinking straws and pipe cleaners and are taught different ways of making these frame structures stronger, stiffer, and more stable. Using their experience of visiting the playground, children design and make a new piece of play equipment applying different skills and techniques to make the structure strong, stiff and stable.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: Visiting the Local Playground & Focus Task 1: Making Straw Shapes
Investigate Task 2: Playgrounds in Motion
Focus Task 2: Playground Models
Design & Make: Designing Session
Design & Make: Making Session
Evaluating Session
Orrery is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 9-11.
Design Brief: Design and Make an Orrery to teach younger children how the Solar System works.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
Mechanical Systems
Structures
Materials
In this project, children apply their knowledge of mechanisms and in particular cam mechanisms, to design and make an orrery. They learn that an orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system that shows how the planets orbit the Sun. They learn how a cam mechanism can change vertical rotation into horizontal rotation and apply this knowledge when designing their model. They create a wooden framework to house the mechanical system that works the orrery. They design and make a model of the solar system that will rotate as part of the model. Children decorate their orrery model using suitable images and theming. They evaluate their finished product against the design brief and design specifications and consider improvements they would make to their product. As part of the evaluation process, children create a Zine all about the orrery they have designed and made.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: What is an Orrery?
Focus Task 1 – Making a Cam Frame
Design & Make: Designing the Orrery
Design & Make: Making the Orrery
Design & Make: Decorating the Orrery
Evaluation: Evaluating the Orrery
In this unit of work, children apply their knowledge and understanding about healthy eating to design and make a pizza based on the key messages from the Eatwell Guide for healthy eating. Children begin by discussing the different ways that we eat food at home and outside the home. They conduct market research into their favourite pizzas and brainstorm what makes a good pizza. It is important that in lesson 2 they create a Margherita pizza by making bread dough and then adding tomato sauce and grated cheese, this is the basic recipe for all pizzas to which different toppings are then added (This is an example of adapting a recipe to create a new food product). In learning how to make a margherita pizza they acquire the essential skills and knowledge needed to make a pizza and this is essential when they come to designing and making their own pizza. They consolidate their understanding of the different food groups on the Eatwell Guide to healthy eating and use this knowledge to design a pizza that promotes healthy eating. They learn about pizza packaging and the invention of the pizza delivery bag by Ingrid Kosar. Having designed and made their Eatwell Pizza they become entrepreneurs and set up their own small business learning about business basics, marketing and budgeting.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1 – All About Pizza
Investigate Task 2 – What Makes a Good Pizza?
Focus Task 1 – Let’s Make Pizza, Investigate Task 3: Investigating Pizza & Investigate Task 4: Packaging Pizza
Design and Make - Designing Pizza
Design and Make - Making Pizza
Evaluation Session – Pizza Entrepreneur
Snack Dippers is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 5-7
Design Brief: Design and make a dips and dippers food product as a healthy snack between meals.
Sequence of Learning for Teachers
In this unit of work children extend their knowledge of food preparation by designing and making a healthy lunchtime snack. Children have the opportunity to try out some different supermarket dips and to investigate their packaging. They learn how to make Greek Tzatziki and take part in a taste test to find out what vegetables and biscuits make the best dippers. Using their knowledge of how to make Tzatziki, they adapt this recipe to make a dips and dippers product based on Indian Raita. They learn some messages about healthy eating and apply this knowledge when creating their dips and dippers product. As part of the evaluation, they design labelling for their snack product and create packaging for their product. Children can also create an advert to promote their product.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1 – Supermarket Dips
Focus Task 1- Making Tzatziki
Investigate Task 2 – What Makes a Good Dipper?
Design & Make: Designing the Dip
Design and Make: Making the Dips and Dippers
Evaluation session
Torches is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9.
Design Brief: Design and make a ‘hands-free’ headlamp for someone walking their dog at night.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
Structures
Materials
Electrical Systems
Sequence of Learning for Teachers
In this unit of work children are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge of creating simple electrical circuits to design and make a torch product. Using a range of electrical components, they create a hand torch that lights up when the switch is on. Children have the opportunity to develop brainstorming skills to investigate how a torch works and then use the same skills to develop ideas and to design their product. In this unit children are taught how cut-away drawings, labels and annotations can help to understand how a product has been made and functions. They use this knowledge to create an authentic ‘hands-free’ headlamp product for somebody who walks their dog at night. Having made their product and thinking about the appeal to the intended client, children design a poster to market and advertise their product.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: All About Torches
Investigate Task 2: Investigating Torches
Focus Task 1: Making a Torch
Design and Make: Designing the Headlamp Torch
Design and Make: Making the Headlamp Torch
Evaluation Session
Design Brief: Design and make sushi for a healthy lunchtime snack.
Sequence of Learning for Teachers
In this unit of work, children apply their knowledge and understanding about healthy eating to design and make a sushi roll as a healthy lunchtime snack. Children begin by discussing the different ways that we eat food at home and outside the home. They conduct market research into their favourite take away foods and brands. They investigate sushi food through conducting a taste test. They make their own sushi roll following a recipe. In learning how to make a sushi roll they acquire the essential skills and knowledge needed to make maki and this is essential when they come to designing and making their own sushi roll product. They consolidate their understanding of the different food groups on the Eatwell Guide to healthy eating and use this knowledge to design a sushi that promotes healthy eating. Having made their authentic sushi product, they become food entrepreneurs and set up their own small business learning about business basics, budgeting, packaging and marketing their product.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1 – All About Restaurants
Investigate Task 2 – Investigating Sushi
Focus Task 1 – Making Maki
Design and Make - Designing Sushi
Design and Make - Making Sushi
Evaluation Session – Sushi Entrepreneur
Traditional Tales is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 5-7.
Design Brief: Design and make a book page about a traditional tale that includes a simple mechanism.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
• Materials
• Mechanical Systems (Sliders, Levers, Pop-Ups)
In this unit of work children design and make a page for a class book. The book page must have a movable element. Children are introduced to a range of mechanical systems such as sliders, levers, and pop-ups and how they can be used to create movement in book pages. Children apply this knowledge of different mechanisms when designing and making their book page which is based on a traditional tale.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1 – Investigating Mechanical Books & Focus Task 1 – Tortoise Trek (Movement using a slider mechanism)
Focus Task 2 – Puppet Show (Movement using a slider mechanism)
Focus Task 3 – Rocket Race (Rotational Movement)
Investigate Task 2 – Movement Around the School & Focus Task 4 – Pop Up Village (Pop Up Mechanism)
Design & Make: Creating the book page
Evaluation Session
This 2-part introductory webcast focuses on the nature of the subject and some of the challenges faced in developing a design technology curriculum.
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.
This 3-part webcast focuses on the curriculum in design technology.
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.
This webcast focuses on how EYFS can lay the foundations for future learning in design technology
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.
Mini Greenhouse is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9.
Design Brief: Design and make a mini greenhouse to provide the right conditions for seeds to germinate and grow.
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
Structures
Materials
In this project children learn about how greenhouses are used to grow plants and the conditions that are needed for healthy plant growth. Children learn about frame structures and the different techniques that can be used to make them stronger, stiffer, and more stable. They are introduced to using computer software to help in designing products and use this software to design a mini greenhouse to grow plant seedlings in. They further their understanding of frame structures by using their design to make a mini greenhouse using the Jinks method of constructing wooden frameworks. As part of the evaluation, they can plant, germinate and grow seedlings.
This knowledge, skills and understanding is delivered through the following six sessions:
Investigate Task 1: All About Greenhouses & Investigate Task 2: Investigating Frame Structures
Investigate Task 3: Understanding Structures & Focus Task 1: Making a Wooden Frame
Focus Task 2: Introducing Computer-Aided Design
Design & Make: Designing Greenhouses
Design & Make: Making a Mini Greenhouse
Evaluation Session
This 2-part webcast focuses on how five principles of effective DT can be used to develop the curriculum in design technology and as part of the rationale for teaching the subject in primary schools.
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.
This 2-part webcast focuses on how five principles of effective DT can be used to develop the curriculum in design technology and as part of the rationale for teaching the subject in primary schools.
This webcast is part of a series of webcasts written and delivered by Laurence Keel for PrimaryDT that covers design technology in English primary schools. Once complete, these webcasts will cover all aspects of design technology in primary schools. These webcasts are designed to support school leaders, subject leaders and teachers in delivering high quality outcomes for children in this subject. These webcasts can be used for individual professional development or used as part of whole-school professional development in design technology.
Free resources to accompany these webcasts can be downloaded from the PrimaryDT website.
Windows is a Design Technology unit of work aimed primarily at children aged 7-9.
Design Brief: Design and make a page for the class book inspired by the work of Jeannie Baker
The package provides the medium-term plan, six lessons (each lesson has a MS Powerpoint presentation). Any additional resources are provided as PDFs or as Powerpoint Presentations. This unit of work fulfils the National Curriculum (England) Design Technology requirements for this age group in the following strands of learning:
Materials
Mechanical Systems
In this unit of work children create a page for a class book based on the books created by Jeannie Baker. Each page is a photograph of a window frame that has been made by pairs of children using a simple hinge mechanism. Children use collage techniques to create a view from the window in the style of Jeannie Baker. Children learn about the hinge mechanism which is a simple linkage mechanism of two levers connected by a pivot. Children create a wooden frame for their window and apply their skills of working with cardboard to create the windows. In creating the window children consolidate their knowledge of structures and simple mechanisms and also develop their understanding of how designers use models as part of the designing process.
Sessions:
Investigate Task 1: Window by Jeannie Baker
Investigate Task 2: Investigating Windows & Focus Task 1 – Model Window
Investigate Task 3: Understanding Structures & Focus Task 2 – Making a Window Frame
Design and Make: Designing the Window
Design and Make: Making the Window
Evaluation Session