TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Requirements & Constraints: Making Model Parking Garages
The difference between an architect and an engineer is sometimes confusing because their roles in building design can be similar. Students experience a bit of both professions by following a set of requirements and meeting given...
Other
The Design Museum: Lesson Plan: Redesign Your Kitchenware
Young scholars will learn about the unique kettle invented by designer Philippe Starck. He designed the Hot Bertaa kettle to be different from everything else available. There was no lid to pour the water in, no handle, and no way of...
Other
The Design Museum: Can You Redesign an Object to Make It Easier to Use?
Grant Douglas has cerebral palsy and needs assistance to eat. While he was sitting at home being fed cornflakes by his mum, the phone rang. She answered it and as she talked, Grant could see his cornflakes getting soggier and soggier....
REMC Association of Michigan
Remc Association of Michigan: 21 Things4 Students: 15. Design Thinking
Design Thinking is a process for designing something to solve a problem. It shares a lot of similarities to the Engineering Design Process you might learn in a STEM class and the Scientific Method you learn in science. However, it tends...
Other
Branksome Hall Asia: Design and Inquiry: Invention and Innovation
A comprehensive resource on invention, innovation, and creativity. Explores the field of product design, marketing, innovation strategies, collaboration of stakeholders, product life cycle, and Rogers' elements of innovation. Includes...
Library of Congress
Loc: The Work of Charles and Ray Eames: A Legacy of Invention
Husband-and-wife design team, Charles and Ray Eames, revolutionized postwar America with loads of practical inventions and designs for everyday living. Exhibition tells the story of their lives and careers.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Young Inventors
In this stills collage adapted from the National Science Teachers Association/Craftsman Young Inventors Awards, see several inventions by students in grades 4-7 and read about some of the challenges they faced during the design process.
TryEngineering
Try Engineering: Program Your Own Game
Teams of students learn about the work of software engineers as they design a simple computer game using free software available in multiple languages.
Other
Milwaukee Art Museum: Design a Better Bag
Students explore the creative process and understand the invention/innovation process through examining how paper bags are constructed. Teams of students work cooperatively to design, innovate, and then build their own paper bag models...
Other
Milwaukee Art Museum: Design a New Product
Teams of young scholars work cooperatively to choose the ten greatest inventions from a list of likely candidates and compile the list in a graph. Teams of students work cooperatively to design, invent, and build a model of something...
Other
Milwaukee Art Museum: You Can't Sell This Thing
Introduce learners to new product trademarks, logos, packaging, and advertising. Teams of students will design and create a logo or trademark, packaging box, and poster for original products.
Other
Ties Magazine: Safe Design Takes on Risk
A printable article that reviews an art exhibit at the MoMA in New York. The article highlights a few of the product designs from the exhibit that each deal with the idea of safety. There is also a link to the online exhibit if you'd...
Other
Design at Apple
Jonathan Ive, vice president of industrial design at Apple, discusses the design of the iMac, iPod and other innovative products.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Engineer a Sneaker
The goal is for students to understand the basics of engineering that go into the design of a sneaker. The bottom or sole of a sneaker provides support, cushioning, and traction. In addition the sole is flexible and can have some fashion...
Other
Kids Think Design: A Design Resource for Kids, Parents, and Teachers
A fantastic resource for future designers. Students can tap into their creative juices through various interactive activities and by learning about professionals in their field of interest. Design fields include fashion, graphic,...
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Dress for Success
In this design activity, students investigate materials engineering as it applies to weather and clothing. The students will design and analyze different combinations of materials for effectiveness in specific weather conditions....
Other
Business Insider: 16 Everyday Objects That Are Perfectly Designed
An industrial designer shares his examples of products that are designed so well that it would be pointless to tinker any further with them. Teachers should be aware that one product is a handgun. Many of the others are examples of...
Other
Popular Mechanics: 7 Everyday Objects With Brilliant and Simple Designs
The best designs are usually the simplest, but just because they're simple doesn't mean they're easy to come up with. Here are seven examples of objects that aren't particularly sophisticated but have a subtle, genius simplicity to their...
Other
Intercom: How to Make Product Improvements to Existing Products
Product improvement is the process of making meaningful product changes that result in new customers or increased benefits realized by existing customers. The two most popular ways to make product improvements are to add new product...
Other
Smashing Magazine: Product Design Principles: How Does Your Product Stack Up?
The purpose of this article is to answer the question, "What do the greatest product designers consider to be the most important product design principles, and how can we apply them to our products?" In this article, you will learn six...
Other
Ergonomics4 Schools: The Learning Zone: Product Design
There's a lot more to product design than simply making something look good! A successful product is one that people find easy to use, it does the things that they want it to do, they like to use it and the look of it is appealing to...
Other
Ergonomics4 Schools: The Learning Zone: Aesthetics
The term 'aesthetics' concerns our senses and our responses to an object. If something is aesthetically pleasing to you, it is 'pleasurable' and you like it. If it is aesthetically displeasing to you, it is not pleasurable and you don't...
Other
Ergonomics4 Schools: The Learning Zone: Product Evaluation
A product is a term for any item that has been manufactured and is useful to you. You are a consumer when you buy it or use it. Evaluation of the product means that its suitability and safety for use by consumers are checked out. All...
Practical Action
Practical Action: Eco Design Web
Eco Design web is a useful evaluation tool that can help pupils from 5-18 years evaluate their own products, designs, or an existing product. The pupils can develop their own or use pre-developed evaluation criteria to assess one or...