← Year 5 design and technology worksheets

Year 5 Pulleys and gears: electric vehicles worksheet

“Who is a design for?” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 5 design and technology unit “Pulleys and gears: electric vehicles”, for children aged 9 to 10, 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

Who is a design for?

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 5 · Design & technology · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain who a product is for and why that matters when designing it.

A Look back3 min

1.
A lever turns around one fixed point. What is that point called? Circle one.
pivotwheelspring
2.
Is a triangle frame stiff or wobbly? Circle one.
stiffwobbly
3.
How long is this card strip? Write the length in cm.

B Watch me, then you4 min

Dorothée Pullinger was an engineer. In the 1920s she ran a car factory in Scotland that made the Galloway car. She asked who it was for.

Watch me

A small, light car parked on a quiet street, drawn from the side

She asked who would drive the car. Many drivers would be women.

So the Galloway was made small, light and easy to drive.

Every choice in a design should suit the people it is for.

Now you

1.
A new school bag is for Year 5 children who cycle to school. Write one thing the bag must do.

C Your turn8 min

Answer each row. Think about what each part of a design has to do.

1.
This square frame wobbles. Which shape added across it makes it stiff? Circle one.
trianglecirclewavy line
2.
Write each card in the right column.
thick cardtissue paperlolly stickkitchen foil
Stiff enough for a frame Too bendy for a frame
3.
Number these design steps from 1 to 4 in the right order.
1. Test the model and note what to change
2. Write who the product is for
3. Draw two ideas and pick one
4. Build a simple model
4.
Electricity from the battery powers the ___, which turns the wheels. Circle the missing word.
motorsteering wheeldoor

Say it out loud: What changed between the first and last question, and what stayed the same?

D Spot the mistake3 min

A 1920s open-top car shown in side view on a plain white background.

Kit says: “Only men were early car engineers, so no woman ever designed a car.”

1.
Why is Kit wrong? Write one reason.

E Think deeper4 min

A simple electric car seen from the side on a plain background

1.
Look at the electric car in the picture. Name one group of people it might leave out. Say how you would ask them what they need.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Who is a design for? · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. pivot

2. stiff

3. 8

B

1. Look for: A sensible feature for cycling, such as tight straps, a reflective strip or a flat-backed bag, linked to the child's group.

C

1. triangle If they choose the circle, ask them where it would press on the corners. A circle cannot brace the corners of a frame.

2. Too bendy for a frame: tissue paper, kitchen foil · Stiff enough for a frame: thick card, lolly stick If kitchen foil goes in the stiff column, ask them to press it with one finger. Foil bends easily, so it cannot hold a frame up.

3. 1 Write who the product is for · 2 Draw two ideas and pick one · 3 Build a simple model · 4 Test the model and note what to change If they put building first, ask: how would you know what to build? The brief comes first, so the design has a goal.

4. motor If they circle steering wheel, ask: does a steering wheel get power from the battery? The motor does that job.

D

1. Look for: Names Dorothée Pullinger or the Galloway and says a woman designed a car, so the claim that no woman did is false. If they only say Kit is wrong, ask them to name one woman who designed a car and what she did.

E

1. Look for: Names a group that could be left out and a sensible way to ask them, such as a survey, interview or trial ride.

Words to use

Say“Who was this made for? Tell me one thing that person needs from it.”

Instead of“Just tell them the answer and move on.”

After the sheet

Pick a cereal box or a lunch bag from the kitchen. Ask who it is for and what it must do, then write a two-line brief together. A grown-up does any cutting with scissors.

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:

Pulley size and speed(with a plan)
Switches that open and close(with a plan)
Circuits as Simple Maps(with a plan)
Measuring for a chassis(with a plan)
Assemble an Electric Vehicle(with a plan)
Shaping for less drag(with a plan)
Add a switch(with a plan)

Every Year 5 design and technology worksheet

The worksheets plan opens a printable sheet for every lesson in Years 1 to 6, each with its answers on a separate page for you. It costs £6.99 a month or £59 a year for the whole family, with no free trial.

The full StudyDen plan adds the lessons themselves, marked as your child works, with the worksheets included. It is 7 days free, then £29.99 a month.

Get the worksheets Try the full plan free

Both start with a free account; you choose the plan when you sign up.