Hello and welcome to this Design and Technology lesson.

This lesson is called "Strengthen Packaging" and it's part of the "Shell Structures: Packaging" unit.

My name's Mrs. Fletcher, and I'm here to help and guide you through this lesson.

In this lesson, we'll be looking at the different techniques that can be used to increase the strength of packaging, and we'll be using those techniques to strengthen your own piece of packaging as well.

So let's have a look at what we'll be learning about today.

The outcome of today's lesson is I can ensure my packaging is strong.

So that means we're going to be looking at some different techniques that we can use to increase the strength of our existing packaging to make it stronger so that it can protect the product that's inside.

There are some keywords and phrases that we're going to see in today's lesson, so let's have a look at those together before we get started.

So first of all, we've got the word strengthen.

Can you repeat that after me? Strengthen.

Well done, and to strengthen means to make something stronger.

So that's what we're going to be looking at in today's lesson, how to strengthen packaging.

Then we've got the word reinforce.

Can you repeat that? Reinforce.

Well done, and to reinforce something is to make something stronger again, but it's to make it stronger by adding additional parts to it.

So we're going to be looking at how that can be done in today's lesson.

Then we've got the word shell.

Can you repeat that? Shell.

Well done, so not the pretty kind that you find on the beach this time, but the word shell in this lesson refers to the outer structure or the outer surface of an object.

So that's what we'll be looking at, the outer shell of our packaging.

And then we've got the word accurately.

Can you repeat that? Accurately.

Well done, and to do something accurately means to do it correct and exact with no mistakes.

So this is particularly important when we're doing something like measuring.

We need to be exact and measure accurately.

So that means there's no mistakes.

Okay, well done.

So let's have a look at today's lesson.

There are two parts to this lesson.

First of all, we're going to be looking at methods of strengthening packaging that are used, and then we're going to be looking at measuring and joining our own reinforcements to add to our existing packaging designs.

So let's get started with strengthening packaging.

Packaging is the material that is used to wrap, cover, or protect a product.

And different types of products may have different types of packaging.

So some things might be packaged in boxes, some products may come packaged in bags, or they could even come packaged in wrappers.

Sometimes that packaging needs to be strengthened, so it needs to be made stronger in order to protect the product that's inside.

So some fragile products, so products that are easily breakable like eggs for example, may need some extra protection from the packaging to make sure they don't get broken.

Strengthening packaging makes it stronger and it gives more protection to the product that's inside.

Lucas has an interesting fact here.

He said, "Did you know that cereal boxes are only made from paperboard, which is a thin card made from lots of layers of paper?" So paper on its own is not very thick, but it's made stronger by layering it up.

Thank you, Lucas.

A quick check then before we move on.

What does Lucas want to do here? So he's saying, "I need to strengthen the shell of my packaging design." What does that mean? Does he want to make something smaller? Does he want to make something stronger? Or does he want to make a new design? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well, the keywords strengthen and shell were what we needed to focus on here.

He wants to make something stronger, so that word strengthen, strengthening the shell, he wants to make something stronger.

Well done if you got that correct.

So there are some different ways that we can strengthen and reinforce, which means to support packaging.

Packaging can be reinforced from both the inside and the outside using different materials and different methods.

A plastic wrapper, not a very strong type of packaging, but it can be supported by having a cardboard insert inside it.

So that offers more strength, reinforces that outside packaging.

A strong material could be used such as a corrugated card, which once it's folded, becomes very, very strong indeed.

So sometimes it's a type of material that we use that can add strength to a packaging design.

The material choice then can be very important.

Choosing strong materials such as corrugated card for the shell or for reinforcement, so that's other parts that we might add to the packaging, can make that packaging much, much stronger than it was to begin with.

The shape of the packaging can also be important and it can be designed specifically to add strength.

So if we look at this carton here that's used for eggs, the supports have been built into the shape of the packaging.

So once the product, the eggs have been inserted, those cardboard supports in between each egg are what is making that packaging stronger.

So it's there from the start, it was part of the shape of the design.

Sometimes tabs can be added to add thickness to the sides of a box or a package which will increase its strength, it will make it stronger.

Now, lamination is a technique whereby we add more layers to something.

So in this case, we're adding more layers to the outer shell of our packaging, and adding more layers to the shell can make the material much, much stronger.

And we can see here those three thinner layers can be glued together to make one thicker layer, which is much stronger.

And we saw this with the paperboard that Lucas talked about earlier when he said that it was made from several layers of paper.

So paper on its own is not very strong, but when it's glued together in several layers, it can make a much stronger material.

Adding a layer of a waterproof material can even protect the shell from moisture.

So we can change the way the shell works and how strong it is by adding layers to it.

Then there's a method of adding internal supports.

And an internal support means adding extra pieces to the inside of the packaging to add strength and protect the product.

So we saw it with the biscuit packaging earlier.

When a tray is inserted into the outer shell, it can strengthen it from the inside.

And sometimes you can add something like an insert which goes in between the products if there's more than one product in the packaging to protect them from each other and to add strength to the packaging overall.

A quick check then before we move on.

Is it true or false that packaging can only be reinforced from the inside? Is that true or false? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it was false, but why is it false? Well, we said earlier that packaging can be reinforced from the outside as well as the inside.

And outside strengthening techniques can be something like a sleeve or lamination where we're adding those layers to increase the strength of the outer shell.

Well done if you got that right.

So the first task then in the lesson today is to look carefully at your biscuit packaging prototype.

So you should already have made a prototype for your biscuit packaging design.

And in this lesson, we're going to look at strengthening that prototype.

So if you're going to choose one of the methods that we've just talked about in order to strengthen it, so you could choose to add lamination, which is adding additional layers to the shell of your packaging.

You may choose to add a sleeve to the outside, so strengthening the outside by adding an additional part.

Or you might choose to create an internal support that goes inside the packaging like the trays or the different insert sheets that we saw earlier.

You're going to choose one of those methods to suit your product and your packaging that you've already made.

You're going to first of all just sketch the existing design of your packaging, your prototype, and you're going to show where the reinforcements will go.

So you're going to show whether you're going to add it on the outside or insert it on the inside.

You might want to do an inside view of your packaging if you're showing us what the inside would look like.

It just needs to be sketched so we can see your ideas.

Pause the video while you complete that task and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Well, Lucas has decided to reinforce his packaging from the outside.

So he's chosen one of the methods that strengthened from the outside.

That was his prototype packaging shell.

So he had a cuboid type packaging box that he used for his biscuit product, and he's chosen this type of reinforcement, so he is added a sleeve to the outside.

And he's saying that, "I chose to add a sleeve to the outside of my packaging shell.

This will make the shell thicker and stronger." So that's the type of reinforcement Lucas has chosen.

You should have chosen one that suits your packaging design as well.

Time to move on to the second part of the lesson.

In this part of the lesson, we're going to measure and join those reinforcements that you've chosen to add accurately and make sure that they work on your prototype packaging design.

Now that we've decided how we will reinforce or strengthen our packaging shell, we need to look at the techniques that we can use to apply them.

So this is how we're going to do it now we've chosen one.

Reinforcements need to be measured and cut accurately to fit the packaging shell that they're designed for.

So we need to make sure they're exact The exact dimensions, the exact measurements of your packaging will tell us how big to make the reinforcements so it will fit on the inside or fit on the outside depending on what you've chosen to do.

These are the three ways that we're going to look at adding reinforcements to our packaging.

First of all, we're going to look at laminating a packaging shell, then we're going to look at creating a sleeve, and then we're going to look at adding an internal support.

So that's the three choices that you had.

We're going to look at each one on its own to see how to do it.

Before we do that though, a quick check.

Which of these is a method that's used to reinforce packaging? Is it elimination, lamination, or coronation? And Lucas is gonna give you a clue here as well.

He's saying that, "It's when we glue lots of thin layers together to make a thicker one." What do we call that method? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it was lamination.

That's the method of glueing lots of layers together to create a thicker one.

Well done if you got that right.

So in order to do all of these methods, we're going to need to get a few resources ready to use.

So you're going to need a safety ruler, a pencil, some glue, so you can use PVA or a glue stick for this.

You're going to need some scissors, some masking tape, and some recycled pieces of cards.

So using lots of recycled products can help us build these reinforcements.

You can use cereal boxes or anything like that that we can easily cut up and shape.

So let's start by looking at method one, which is laminating a packaging shell.

So if we take an existing shell like this one, so a kind of a cuboid shape, we need to accurately measure each side with each face of the packaging shell.

So we need to know the measurement of each of the faces that we're going to be laminating and adding strength to.

Then we need to accurately draw the shape of each of those faces onto some recycled card and cut it out.

So we draw all of the faces that we need and cut them out.

So if we've got a cuboid shape, we should have six different faces, so we should have six pieces of card.

Then we're going to carefully spread a thin layer of glue onto that card cutout, and we're going to position it in the right place so it lines up accurately, so exactly with the edge of the packaging.

So it covers the face that we measured and cut it out to cover.

Then we can repeat that on all sides until each face has an extra layer applied.

So your packaging shell should now have an extra layer on each side of it.

So let's just recap those steps.

If you've chosen to laminate your packaging shell, these are the steps you'll need to follow.

So you need to measure accurately all the pieces.

Draw them onto a piece of recycled card.

Cut them out carefully so they keep their shape and size.

Glue them, applying a thin layer of glue.

Position them onto your packaging so they line up with the edges of your packaging and then repeat that so that every surface has an extra layer applied.

If you've chosen to do method two, this is where we're going to create an additional sleeve to add onto the outside of your packaging.

So let's have a look at the steps you'll need for that.

So again, we'll use the same existing shell shape to show you how to do it, but you can adapt this for your packaging shape.

So for this one, again, you need to accurately measure all the faces, all the sides of the packaging shell that you want the sleeve to cover.

Now, it doesn't have to cover the whole of your packaging, it doesn't have to be as wide as the whole package.

It can just cover a small section in the centre if you just want to strengthen one part of the packaging.

So the next step is to add five millimetres to each of those measurements that you took in the first step.

And that's important because to create a sleeve, you need it to fit over your existing packaging.

So it needs to be slightly bigger so it's got room to fit over it.

If you make it the same size, it'll be too tight and it won't be able to fit over it.

So it's important to add those five millimetres onto each of the measurements.

Then you're going to draw the shapes next to each other in a net.

So this time, they can't be just separate on pieces of card.

They need to be together in a net because this is going to fold up to create the sleeve that goes on the outside.

So they need to be next to each other.

Then you're going to add a tab because we'll need to join the edges of the sleeve together so that it stays in the shape that we need.

So the tab is the extra material that's used for joining and it just needs to be on one end of your net.

And that's where you will join one side to the opposite side once it's folded over.

So add that on now.

So after you've done that, you're going to use a ruler to bend all the folds of the sleeves.

So this is where it needs to bend, where you've drawn the lines.

So you use the bending technique using a ruler to bend those folds, and then you're going to glue or tape the tab in place to hold the sleeve in its shape.

So the sleeve should now be the same shape as your packaging, but without any sides, and that's so the packaging can slide inside.

Once it's in place, you can slide the sleeve over your existing packaging shell.

So you can see there in that image, the white box is the existing packaging shell, and the grey sleeve on the outside has been slid on top of it.

Because it's slightly larger, it can fit over it.

So that's how we create a sleeve.

So let's just recap those steps if this is the method you are going to be using.

These are the steps you'll need to follow.

So you're going to measure each face that you want to cover with the sleeve and add five millimetres to each of those measurements.

Then you're going to draw those shapes in a net.

You're going to add a tab to one end where you're going to join the sleeve together.

You're going to bend those folds using the ruler and the bending technique.

Glue or tape the tab to keep it in place, and then slide the sleeve over your existing packaging.

So that's the steps for creating a sleeve.

Now, if you wanted to add an internal support, so that's strengthening your packaging from the inside, a little bit like we saw with the cardboard insert in the plastic wrapper of the biscuits, then these are the steps you'll need to follow for that.

So first of all, again, you'll need to accurately measure the base, so the bottom, and the sides of your packaging shell.

And that's because this is going to insert inside as a tray.

It doesn't need a top.

This time, you need to take five millimetres off the measurements, and that's because it needs to be slightly smaller than your prototype so that it will fit inside.

If it's the same size as the prototype, it'll be too tight and it won't fit inside.

So we need to take five millimetres off each of the measurements that you've made.

Then you need to draw those shapes as a net again, making sure that the base measurement is in the centre and that the side measurements are on each side of that base piece so that when you fold those sides up, the base will stay at the bottom and the sides will be at the side, and then you can cut it out.

So if you're making one like you can see in the image at the top, then it should look like that third photograph there with three pieces, the base one in the centre.

Once you've done that, you can use a ruler again to bend the fold of the card, creating this shape.

So we're creating a tray to fit inside the packaging, so using that ruler and bending technique, and then you'll be able to slide the new support inside your existing packaging shell.

So you can see here the white box is the existing packaging shell and the grey piece made from recycled card has been folded and now slides inside, so that will strengthen the box from the inside.

So let's recap those steps if you're going to be using this method to reinforce your packaging.

So first of all, you need to measure the base and sides of your packaging.

And don't forget, you need to take five millimetres off to make it slightly smaller so it'll fit inside.

Then you need to draw those shapes onto card, cut them out, bend the fold using the bending technique with a ruler, and then insert it into your existing packaging.

A quick check before we go onto doing that task then.

What does accuracy mean? Does accuracy mean guessing, estimating, or being exact? Pause the video and have a think.

Welcome back.

What did you think? Well done if you said it's being exact.

If we are measuring accurately, if we are using our accurate measuring, then we are being exact.

We're not making any mistakes, we're not guessing, and we're not estimating.

Well done if you got that right.

So for the final part of the lesson, you are going to be following the steps for your chosen method to create the reinforcements that you chose earlier.

For each of the method, whether you're doing the laminating, creating a sleeve, or adding an internal support, you will to first of all measure accurately using a ruler.

You'll need to make sure you draw those shapes onto the card using a ruler as well to make sure they stay accurate.

You'll need to cut or fold along the lines that you have drawn, and you'll need to join accurately if necessary depending on the method you're using in order to keep that reinforcement in place.

So it's very important that we are very accurate so that the reinforcement will fit onto your existing packaging design.

And as Lucas is reminding you here, "You can use recycled card to create your reinforcements." So it's a good idea to recycle some different bits of card, and you can choose the thickness you want to use in order to create your reinforcement.

Pause the video while you complete that task and come back when you're done.

Welcome back.

How did you get on? Well, Lucas has followed the steps to create a sleeve because remember he decided to reinforce his packaging from the outside, and he followed the steps.

He measured, he drew the shapes, he added a tab, he bent the folds to make sure it would go into the shape that he needed.

He glued the tab and then he slid his sleeve into place.

So he followed those steps because he chose to reinforce from the outside using a sleeve.

You needed to have followed the steps for the method you are using.

And hopefully you have reinforced your packaging design as well.

So we've come to the end of the lesson now, and hopefully you've learned a little bit about how we can strengthen packaging to protect the product inside.

We've learned that packaging can be reinforced from the inside and from the outside, and we saw some different examples of those.

We've learned that a prototype shell structure, so that's our packaging design, can be strengthened with recycled materials.

So particularly when we're doing a prototype, it's a good idea to use recycled materials that don't waste resources and can be recycled for use again in the future.

And we've also learned that packaging reinforcements need to be measured and joined accurately.

That word accurately has been a key in today's lesson.

When we're making something like this, it's very important that we use the exact dimensions, the exact measurements, in order to make this prototype work.

Well done, and thank you for joining me with this lesson.

I hope to see you again in the future.

Goodbye for now.