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SavannahYear 8
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Design & TechnologyGenerating and communicating design ideas25 min★★ difficulty

Communicating a design: sketches, plans and CAD

An idea in your head is invisible to everyone else. Designers use a toolkit of drawing and digital methods to make it clear enough to build.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Design: Develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, detailed plans, mathematical modelling and computer-based tools

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, detailed plans, mathematical modelling and computer-based tools

Key learning points

  • • Annotated sketches
  • • Detailed plans and modelling
  • • Computer-based tools

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 14 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

communicatedesignannotatedsketchesdetailed

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 14

Watch first

Communicating a design: sketches, plans and CAD

An English teaching video on this topic from KS3-5 Design & Technology. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, detailed plans, mathematical modelling and computer-based tools

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 14

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Annotated sketches

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 14

Learn

Annotated sketches

A quick freehand drawing with notes pointing to materials, dimensions and how parts fit together communicates an idea fast. Annotations answer the questions a viewer would otherwise have to ask, such as 'what is this made from?' or 'how does it move?'

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 14

Learn

Detailed plans and modelling

Working drawings show exact measurements, often from more than one angle, so a maker can produce the product accurately. Mathematical modelling — calculating loads, angles or costs — checks that a design will actually work before any material is cut.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

What does an annotated sketch add to a plain drawing?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 14

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

Why use mathematical modelling in design?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 14

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Computer-based tools

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 14

Learn

Computer-based tools

CAD (computer-aided design) software lets designers build accurate 2D or 3D models, test how parts fit, and send files straight to CAM equipment such as laser cutters or 3D printers, saving time and reducing wasted material.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

What does CAD stand for?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 14

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 14

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

Mathematical modelling — calculating loads, angles or costs — checks that a ____ will actually work before any material is cut.

13

Mastery quiz

Part 13 of 14

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Communicating a design: sketches, plans and CAD

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. What does an annotated sketch add to a plain drawing?

  2. 2. Why use mathematical modelling in design?

  3. 3. What does CAD stand for?

14

Lesson round-up

Part 14 of 14

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Report

Why the first prototype broke

A team designed a phone stand from 3 mm plywood. The brief said it must hold a 200 g phone at 60° and survive being knocked. The first prototype looked right but snapped at the joint after two knocks.

The team tested again and found the grain of the plywood ran across the narrowest part of the joint, so the wood split along it. They widened the joint from 8 mm to 20 mm, turned the piece so the grain ran along the load, and added a small fillet at the corner to spread the force.

The second prototype survived twenty knocks. It used 15% more material and took four minutes longer to cut — a trade-off the team recorded in their evaluation.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the fault in the first prototype and explain why it happened.
  2. List the three changes the team made and what each one does.
  3. Write an evaluation of the second prototype against the brief, including the trade-off.

  • Design sheet

    Diagram

    Sketch two ideas with measurements and notes, then photograph the sheet.

    2 labelled sketches

  • Evaluation

    Writing

    Write how well your idea meets the brief and what you would change next time.

    6–8 sentences

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover

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    Develop and communicate design ideas using annotated sketches, detailed plans, mathematical modelling and computer-based tools

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