Design Technologies

Unit Objectives

• Understand how scarecrows support food and fibre production.

• Explore technologies used in agriculture and their impact on communities.

• Consider sustainability in design choices.

• Follow a structured design process.

• Select and safely use appropriate materials.

• Communicate design ideas clearly.

• Evaluate their design using criteria.

Learning Intentions

• Understand what food and fibre production involves.

• Identify technologies used in agriculture.

• Recognise how these technologies meet consumer and community needs.

Success Criteria

• I can name different technologies used in farming.

• I can explain how these technologies help farmers and communities.

• I can organise my ideas in a mind map.

While watching the video think about: 

🎯 What food and fibre production is.

🎯 Examples of food and fibre.

🎯 What farmers need to grow food and fibre.

Be ready to share! 

💡 Hot Tip- Use a whiteboard

Class Discussion

🎯 What is food and fibre production?

🎯 Examples of food and fibre.

🎯 What do you think farmers need to grow food and fibre?

Mind Mapping

🎯 As you are learning, fill out the mind map to help you retain information.

Farming equipment helps farmers in many important ways by making their work faster, easier, and more efficient. 

Irrigation

Irrigation is the process of supplying water to crops or land to help plants grow, especially in areas where there isn’t enough natural rainfall.

Turn and Talk

🎯 Why do you think farmers use irrigation?

Farmers use irrigation to make sure their vegetables still get enough water to grow healthy and strong.

Greenhouses

Have a look at the images.
🎯 Can you tell me what a greenhouse is?
Use some descriptive language.

A greenhouse is a special building made mostly of glass or clear plastic
that helps plants grow by trapping heat and sunlight.

Turn and Talk

🎯 How do you think they help farmers?

Greenhouses help farmers by creating a controlled environment for growing plants. 

🌿 Protect Plants from Weather

🌿 Extend Growing Seasons

🌿 Improve Plant Growth

🌿 Reduce Pests and Disease

🌿 Save Water and Resources

Scarecrows

Turn and Talk

🎯  How does farming help the community?

🎯  What does sustainability mean?

Mind Mapping

Complete the missing sections of your mind map.

What is something new you have learned today?

Food For Thought

How can we make a scarecrow sustainably?

Learning Intentions

• Understand how scarecrows help protect crops and support food production.

• Explore how scarecrows meet community needs.

• Consider sustainability and safety when choosing materials for design.

Success Criteria

• I can describe how scarecrows help farmers and communities.

• I can identify materials that are safe and good for the environment.

• I can explain how to use materials and tools safely.

What do you remember about scarecrows?

Let's play a Kahoot together.

How can scarecrows support the community?

Sustainable means using things in a way that doesn’t
hurt the Earth, so we can keep using them for a long time.

It’s about taking care of nature, saving energy, and not wasting
things—so people, animals, and plants can live happily now and in the future.

What are the 3 R's?

Turn and Talk

What about the term... 

biodegradable?

Sustainable Materials Should:

Come from nature or be recycled

🌿 They should be made from things that grow again
(like bamboo or cotton) or reused (like recycled paper or plastic).

Be safe for people and animals

🌿They shouldn’t have harmful chemicals or cause pollution.

Break down or be reused easily

🌿 They should either biodegrade (break down naturally)
or be used again in new ways.

Use less energy to make

🌿 Making them shouldn’t waste electricity or water.

Last a long time without hurting the Earth

🌿 They should be strong and useful,
but not damage nature when we’re done with them.

Share

Share how you sorted an item. Explain why that material is sustainable or not sustainable.

Learning Intentions

• Identify different farm animals used in agriculture to inspire their scarecrow, aligned with the 2026 theme, The Diversity of Animals in Agriculture.

• Understand the key features and role of their chosen animal.

• Choose materials that are safe, sustainable and suited to representing their chosen animal.

Success Criteria

• I can choose an animal in agriculture to inspire my scarecrow design.

• I can identify at least three features of my animal I want to show.

• I can choose materials that are safe, sustainable and help show my animal’s features.

Working in groups of 4, see if you can find the answers.

✏️ Set up your whiteboard with a 3x2 grid.

🎯 Find an animal for each grid.

🎯 Write their key features or role- if any.

Flow Chart

Level 1: Let's choose 3 different animals from above.

Level 2: What makes each animal visually distinct? 

Level 3: Link what materials could represent these animals? 

What do we need to think about when
building something like a scarecrow?

Turn and Talk

Share with your group from before one of your chosen materials.

🎯 Why is it a good choice? 

🎯 What makes it sustainable and/or safe? 

🎯 What would you use it for?

Learning Intentions

• Understand the stages of a design process.

• Plan a sequence of steps to design a scarecrow.

• Begin preparing for their own scarecrow project.

Success Criteria

• Understand the stages of a design process.

• Plan a sequence of steps to design a scarecrow.

• Begin preparing for their own scarecrow project.

Each group will share something from their planning sheet.

After listening to others, reflect with your group.
Is there anything you want to modify in your planning process?

Learning Intentions

• Create a visual design of their scarecrow.

• Use technical terms to annotate their drawing.

• Communicate their design decisions clearly.

Success Criteria

• I can draw my scarecrow design clearly.

• I can label my drawing with materials and features.

• I can use technical words to explain my design choices.

Why do designers label their drawings?

What is the purpose of an annotated drawing?

Turn and Talk

Why annotate?

Watch me draw a scarecrow design and how to annotate it.

Help me come up with annotations and any technical terms which need to be included.

Come together in your groups and share your design with your group.

On a whiteboard, write notes to share with the cohort.

🎯 What do you like about each other's design?

🎯 What is the same? What are the differences?

🎯 What materials are you going to look for over the holidays?

Each group has a turn sharing details of their group reflection.