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Year 3 Shell structures: packaging worksheet

“Strengths and weaknesses of packaging” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 3 design and technology unit “Shell structures: packaging”, for children aged 7 to 8, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 9 to 16 of the year, 8 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Strengths and weaknesses of packaging

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 3 · Design & technology · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain why packaging materials have both strengths and weaknesses.

A Look back3 min

  1. 1.

    How many flat faces does a cuboid have?

  2. 2.

    Circle the word for the turning point of this lever.

    pivot
    pivotwheelstring
  3. 3.

    A tin is shaped like a cylinder. Circle the part a paper label wraps around.

    the curved sidethe flat top

B Watch me, then you4 min

Mia is posting a small toy car in a box. Should the box be made of card or glass?

A small toy car beside an open cardboard box on a table
Watch me

The toy needs a box that is light to post.

Card is light and easy to recycle.

Glass breaks easily, so card is the better choice here.

Now you
  1. 1.

    Sam is taking a drink to the park on a rainy day. Circle the material that stays strong when it gets wet.

    cardplastic

C Your turn7 min

Look at the shelf picture. Then answer each question.

A kitchen shelf holding a glass jar, a card box and a metal tin
  1. 1.

    Circle the material that keeps food fresh for years.

    cardmetalpaper bag
  2. 2.

    Circle the material that tears when it gets wet.

    metalglasscard
  3. 3.

    Write each pack in the column that fits it.

    glass jarcard boxplastic tub
    Breaks easilyTears when wetStrong
  4. 4.

    Which packaging would you choose for a bag of rice, and why? Use strength, weight or recycling in your answer.

Say it out loud: What changed from one question to the next? Which word in the question gave you the answer?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A card box and a glass jar side by side with a blank notepad beside them
Ola says: “When we critique packaging, we only write down the bad points.”
  1. 1.

    Is Ola right? Write why, then add one good point about card or glass.

E Think deeper4 min

A plain brown rectangular cardboard box on a white background.
  1. 1.

    Name one way to reduce, one way to reuse and one way to recycle this packet. Say which one you would do first and why.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet
StudyDen · Year 3 · Design & technology · Shell structures: packagingAnswers are on the grown-up page

For the grown-up

Strengths and weaknesses of packaging · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 6

2. pivot

3. the curved side

B

1. plastic If your child picks card, ask what happens to card when it gets wet. Plastic stays strong in the rain.

C

1. metal If your child picks card, remind them card is light and easy to recycle. Ask which material tins are made from.

2. card If your child picks glass or metal, ask what a wet card box would do. Card and paper tear when wet.

3. Strong: plastic tub · Breaks easily: glass jar · Tears when wet: card box If your child puts the glass jar under Tears when wet, ask what glass does when dropped. Check one card at a time.

4. Look for: Names a packaging material for rice and gives a reason about strength, weight, recycling, reducing or reusing.

D

1. Look for: Says Ola is wrong because a critique names good points too, and gives one strength of card or glass, such as light and easy to recycle. If your child writes another weakness, say a critique needs a strength too. Ask for a good point about card or glass.

E

1. Look for: Gives a reduce idea, a reuse idea and a recycle idea for a cardboard packet, then explains which comes first.

Words to use

Say“Which good point does this material have? Now tell me its problem.”
Instead of“Plastic is just bad packaging. There is nothing good about it.”

After the sheet

Gather a card box, a glass jar and a plastic tub from the recycling. A grown-up checks the jar for sharp edges. For each one, say a good point and a problem, then pick the most sustainable.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

7 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

  1. How Boxes Start Flat(with a plan)
  2. Bend, curl or score card(with a plan)
  3. Quick sketches and nets(with a plan)
  4. Assembling Packaging(with a plan)
  5. Strengthen the box(with a plan)
  6. Simple logos, strong brands(with a plan)
  7. Ways to promote(with a plan)

Every Year 3 design and technology worksheet

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