← Year 6 design and technology worksheets

Year 6 Products and people: inspirational design worksheet

“Design for everyone” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 6 design and technology unit “Products and people: inspirational design”, for children aged 10 to 11, 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 17 to 24 of the year, 8 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Design for everyone

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 6 · Design & technology · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain how accessible design and bold colour can help more people.

A Look back3 min

1.
Circle the mechanism shown in the picture.
leverpulleywheel and axle
2.
Circle the 3D shape in the picture.
cubecylindercone
3.
Circle the mechanism shown in the picture.
leverpulleywheel and axle

B Watch me, then you4 min

Ola is much shorter than her friends. Her classroom chair is the same height as everyone else's. How could the chair change to suit her?

Watch me

A plain school chair with a small lever under the seat, seen from the side

Problem: the seat is too high for Ola to rest her feet.

Change: add a lever under the seat so the seat can be lowered.

Who it helps: shorter pupils, and anyone who sits for a long time.

Now you

1.
A bus step is high for young children. Write one change that would help them get on.
2.
A jar lid is hard to twist for someone with weak hands. Write one change that helps.

C Your turn6 min

Look at the objects in the picture. Each question changes one feature. Circle the choice that suits more people.

A classroom chair, a plain bottle and a door handle in a row

1.
Which handle is easier to grip for someone with weak hands? Circle one.
a thin metal bara big soft loop
2.
Which chair seat suits a shorter pupil? Circle one.
a seat fixed at one high heighta seat that can be lowered
3.
Which label helps the most people? Circle one.
small words in one dark colourlarge picture symbols in bold colours
4.
Which seat is more comfortable for a long sit? Circle one.
a flat hard seata seat with soft padding

Say it out loud: What was different about the choice that helped more people? Say it to your grown-up.

D Spot the mistake3 min

A plain wooden chair painted with bright stripes and curved shapes

Kit says: “A chair only has to hold you up, so its colour and pattern cannot change how anyone feels.”

1.
Yinka Ilori is a London designer who makes chairs and benches in bold colours and patterns. Explain in one or two sentences why Kit is wrong.

E Think deeper4 min

Think of someone you know who finds one everyday thing hard to use. You can make up the person if you prefer.

A screw-top jar, a tall stool and a round door knob in a row

1.
Name the everyday product and describe one change that would help this person. Explain who else would benefit from the change.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Design for everyone · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. lever They may have picked the pulley, which is a wheel with a rope. Point to the bar and the pivot it turns on. A lever is a bar that turns about a fixed point.

2. cylinder A cone comes to a point at the top. A cube has six square faces. Ask them to count the flat faces, then look for the round curved side.

3. pulley If they chose the lever, ask where the pivot is. A pulley has a wheel with a rope or belt running around it.

B

1. Look for: A change that makes getting on easier for a small child, such as a lower step, a handrail or a fold-down step.

2. Look for: A change that gives a better grip or needs less force, such as ridges, a bigger tab or a ring pull.

C

1. a big soft loop If they chose the thin bar, ask which one a small or weak hand could hold tightly. A wide, soft loop spreads the grip.

2. a seat that can be lowered If they picked the fixed high seat, they may think one size fits everyone. Ask who this seat would leave out.

3. large picture symbols in bold colours If they chose the small words, ask who could not read them from a distance. Symbols and bold colour help more people at once.

4. a seat with soft padding If they picked the hard seat, ask how long a pupil could sit on it before it became uncomfortable.

D

1. Look for: Says colour and pattern can change how people feel, for example making them happier, so a chair does more than hold you up.

E

1. Look for: Names a product, one change that helps a person with a need, and explains at least one other group who would benefit.

Words to use

Say“Who would this change help, and who might it leave out?”

Instead of“Tell them the chair is fine as it is, so there is nothing to change.”

After the sheet

Pick an everyday object at home, such as a jar or a door handle. Ask who finds it easy and who might struggle. Sketch one change with bright colour together. An adult should do any cutting with sharp tools.

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:

Testing and adapting a prototype(with a plan)
Form and function(with a plan)
Upcycling old clothes(with a plan)
Drawing from every side(with a plan)
Three views of a box(with a plan)
Polymers and plastic toy bricks(with a plan)
Diagrams from every angle(with a plan)

Every Year 6 design and technology worksheet

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