Sign In
Sign In
Register for Free
PrimaryDesign & Technology

DT KS1 – Develop products with famous inventors

What's included?

PDF lesson plan

Key Stage

KS1

Age

Years 1-2

In teaching, we often talk about preparing children to work in jobs that don’t yet exist. This KS1 DT lesson does just that.

Linking famous inventors and inventions of the past with problems that need solving in pupils’ own lives creates a stimulating, engaging context in which the children can generate new ideas.

Learning to refine their thinking also helps pupils develop their own resilience and problem-solving skills.

Meanwhile, pitching their inventions provides a motivating real-life application for this lesson.

KS1 DT national curriculum

The national curriculum for DT in England states that when designing and making, pupils should be taught to:

Design

  • Design purposeful, functional, appealing products for themselves and other users based on design criteria
  • Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas. For example, through talking, drawing, templates, mock-ups and, where appropriate, information and communication technology

Make

  • Select from and use a range of tools and equipment to perform practical tasks, for example, cutting, shaping, joining and finishing
  • Select from and use a wide range of materials and components, including construction materials, textiles and ingredients, according to their characteristics

Evaluate

  • Explore and evaluate a range of existing products
  • Evaluate their ideas and products against design criteria

What they’ll learn

  • To generate, develop and communicate their ideas through drawing and modelling
  • How to create designs and mock-ups
  • To select from a wide range of materials according to their properties
  • To understand how some inventors and inventions have changed the world

Abby Ball worked as a primary school teacher across both Key Stages for 16 years. She currently lives in Somerset with her husband Tim and their cat, Otta. Follow Abby on Twitter @abbyballwrites and see more of her work at abbyball.substack.com

DOWNLOAD A FREE RESOURCE!
DT KS1 – Develop products with famous inventors
PrimaryDesign & Technology

You'll also receive regular updates from Teachwire with free lesson plans, great new teaching ideas, offers and more. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)

Which sectors are you interested in?

By signing up you agree to our Terms & Conditions and privacy policy

Explore teaching packs

Pie Corbett Ultimate KS2 Fiction Collection
Pie Corbett Ultimate KS2 Fiction Collection
Fire up KS2 pupils' imagination with this collection of 20+ fictional stories, written by literacy expert Pie Corbett. Each ... more
20 x resources
Pie Corbett KS2 Non-Fiction Collection
Use Pie Corbett’s non-fiction texts to inspire your KS2 pupils to get writing. Each resource contains an original text in ... more
6 x resources
Pie Corbett KS2 Poetry Collection
Inspire KS2 pupils to be creative and express themselves with this pack of Pie Corbett poetry. Each of these Pie Corbett Tal... more
7 x resources
WAGOLL classroom resources
WAGOLL Packs from Real Authors
Peer inside the mind of award-winning children's authors and help pupils understand how to create engaging characters, capti... more
7 x resources
Art KS2 inspiring medium term plans
Art KS2 Inspiring Medium Term Plans
Get pupils' creative juices flowing with these expert medium-term art plans for KS2. Each resource consists of a full half-t... more
6 x resources
Magical Harry Potter Teaching Ideas
Magical Harry Potter Teaching Ideas
Spark pupils' imaginations with these inventive and exciting teaching ideas, all themed around the wonderful world of Harry ... more
11 x resources