Lesson video

Hello, my name's Mrs. Taylor and I'm really pleased you can join me today.

Our lesson is Identify Environmental Impact, and this is part of the unit Iterative Design: Nature.

The outcome for today's lesson, I can investigate a context, identify design opportunities, and assess the environmental impact.

We have four keywords: nature: everything in the world not made by humans, design opportunities: a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

Design fixation: considering only one possibility, and sustainability: using resources wisely so future generations can also meet their needs.

We have three learning cycles: explore the context, identify design opportunities, and assess the environmental impact.

Let's begin with explore the context.

A context is a situation where something happens or exists.

This is the starting point for designers to solve problems. Contexts can be explored using different methods, including mood boards and user journeys.

We are going to use a mind map.

Our first check.

True or false? Mind maps are the only way to explore a context.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Let's see what you came up with.

That's right.

The answer is false.

There are many different ways to explore contexts, including mood boards and user journeys.

The context we are focusing on is nature.

Nature refers to anything which is naturally occurring and not manufactured by humans.

This includes animals, plants, weather systems, the earth, and oceans.

We have another check.

Can you complete this sentence? Nature refers to anything which is.

occurring and.

manufactured by humans.

Pause the video.

Have a go.

Well done.

Let's see what you got.

Nature refers to anything which is naturally occurring and not manufactured by humans.

Brilliant.

Here is a mind map exploring the context of nature.

We begin with the word nature in the centre, and then we branch out and add keywords.

Here we have weather, sea life, birds, plants, and animals.

For each of those keywords, we can add further detail.

So here we have weather, sun, rain and wind, sea life, fish, shellfish, invertebrate, plankton.

Birds, flightless, or birds of prey.

Plants, trees, flowers, vegetables, and animals, wild, domestic, or extinct.

Mind maps are a good starting point for exploring a context.

To develop this, we can consider each word in more detail.

Alex explains one of the words in more detail linked to his own experience.

"Shellfish.

When I visit the beach with my family, we collect shells from clams and other shellfish to decorate our sandcastles." Jun and Sofia also use their own experiences to explain one of the words in more detail, Jun talks about domestic animals.

"I have a dog called Freddie.

If it has been raining, his paws get wet and muddy after a walk.

This makes a mess on the floor." Sofia says, "Sunny weather.

The sun streams through the lounge window and I can't see the screen of the TV as the sun reflects off it.

I have to close the curtains on sunny days if I want to watch TV." We move on to your first task.

Part one is to add eight more words to the mind map, and part two is to choose six of those and explain them in more detail with some information from your own experience.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic.

Let's have a look at some of the answers you may have come up with.

One is to add words to the mind map.

You could have added house plants, areas of outstanding natural beauty, nature reserves, national parks, flood defences, pollution, cat, dog.

And number two, choose six words from your mind map and explain some details from your own experience.

We have six examples here: Trees.

"We have a lot of trees in our garden.

In autumn, the leaves become slippery underfoot when they get wet." House plants.

"In our kitchen, we have a window box full of herbs." Sea life pollution.

"I watched a TV documentary about polymer products polluting the oceans and affecting sea life." And continued.

National parks.

"I went on holiday to a cottage in the Peak District.

There are a lot of dry stone walls in farmers' fields instead of fences." Domestic animals.

"Our cats have scratched the outside of the back door whilst they wait for us to let them in." Wild animals.

"The zoo we visited has a conservation programme to breed animals that are close to extinction." Well done.

And now we move on to the second learning cycle, Identify design opportunities.

A design opportunity is a gap or a need where a new or improved product would be beneficial.

Another way of identifying design opportunities is to consider problems which can be solved.

When working on an iterative design task, we must consider a range of design opportunities.

Let's have a check.

What is a design opportunity? A: a gap, B: a need, or C: a space? Pause the video and have a go.

Amazing.

Let's look.

It's.

That's right, it's a gap or a need.

Design fixation is where you consider only one possibility.

Consider Jun's dog, Freddie and his muddy paws.

Jun might say he's going to design a dog towel.

If he only designed a dog towel.

This is design fixation.

If Jun said he needed a pet cleaning station, this would be a design opportunity as there are many options to consider.

Options such as when and why the animals need to be cleaned, alongside considering different animals.

And another check.

If you only consider one design possibility, this is called: A: design fixation, B: design feature, or C: design formula? Pause the video.

How did you get on? Let's look.

That's right.

It's A: design fixation.

Well done.

We can use the information from a context mind map and additional details to identify design opportunities.

For example, nature and plants, house plants.

In our kitchen, we have a window box full of herbs.

The word plants and additional details about house plants and herbs in the kitchen might lead to a design opportunity.

The design opportunity could be how to identify different herbs.

Sofia identifies a different design opportunity.

"The design opportunity could be a moisture indicator to help you know when to water the herbs." Alex identifies a different design opportunity as well.

"The kitchen window ledge in my house is quite high.

The problem is that I can't reach it easily.

I think the design opportunity is a way of accessing the window box safely." Task B, identify a design opportunity for each line of the table.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic.

Let's see how you got on.

For trees.

"We have a lot of trees in our garden.

In autumn, the leaves become slippery underfoot when they get wet." A design opportunity could be an efficient leaf collection system.

House plants.

"In our kitchen, we have a window box full of herbs." And the design opportunity could be making the herbs accessible to wheelchair users.

Sea life pollution.

"I watched a TV documentary about polymer products polluting the oceans and affecting sea life." The design opportunity could be reusable packaging for foods.

And continuing.

National parks.

"I went on holiday to a cottage in the Peak District.

There are a lot of dry stone walls in farmers' fields instead of fences." The design opportunity here could be a way of teaching people from the cities about the Countryside Code.

Domestic animals.

"Our cats have scratched the outside of the back door whilst they wait for us to let them in." The design opportunity could be a system for the cats to notify us they want to come in and a place for them to wait in comfort.

Wild animals.

"The zoo we visited has a conservation programme to breed animals that are close to extinction." The design opportunity here could be a way of teaching young children about animal conservation.

Fantastic.

Well done.

We now move on to the third learning cycle, Assess environmental impact.

It is important that designers consider the environmental impact of their designs.

Considering the environment may affect iterations of the design.

Sustainability.

This is a quote from the United Nations in 1987 defining sustainability: "Meeting the needs at the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." And this means to use resources wisely so they don't run out.

Thinking about avoiding fossil fuels and use many more renewable resources.

Here we have a check.

What is sustainability? A: only using recyclable materials and stopping all human activity that affect nature.

B: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations.

Or C: using as many resources as we want without thinking about the future.

Pause the video and have a go.

Well done.

Let's look.

That's right.

It's B: Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations.

Well done.

Environmental considerations might affect the design of a product.

Designs need to consider a product's environmental impact before, during, and after its use.

Here we have another check.

Environmental considerations may affect the design of a product: A: before use, B: after use, C: during use, or D: when it is not in use? Pause the video and have a go.

That's right, it's A, B, and C.

Well done.

We can use subheadings and questions to help us identify the environmental impact of a design opportunity.

Here are some subheadings: manufacture, function, cost, form, materials and size.

Subheadings and questions help us frame our thoughts.

Manufacture.

We might ask the question, how much energy would the machinery consume? Cost.

We might ask the question, how would a sustainable product affect its price? Materials.

We could ask, where are the materials coming from? For function, we could ask the question, can the lifespan be increased? Form, we could say, would the package use materials efficiently? And size, could it be small so that fewer materials are used? Here we have a check.

Which environmental considerations of a design opportunity could we consider? A: ergonomics, B: materials, C: aesthetics, and D: function.

Pause the video.

Well done.

How did you get on? That's right, we could consider materials and function.

Alex, Sofia, and Jun consider the environmental impact of this design opportunity.

A way of teaching people from the cities about the Countryside Code.

The Countryside Code is a code published by the government to promote a safe and sustainable way to enjoy parks, waterways, coasts, and the countryside.

For example, take your litter home and leave no trace of your visit.

Let's see what Alex, Sofia, and Jun considered.

Alex thought about material.

"If this product were a printed product, the choice of material would be important.

It would need to be sustainable and also biodegradable to ensure that litter is not left in the countryside." Sofia thought about size.

"If this product were a sign in the countryside, then size would be an important consideration.

We don't want an eyesore in the countryside that detracts from the natural beauty.

The national parks have strict rules about signage." And Jun, he thought about function.

"If this product were an educational toy and power was required, it could use rechargeable batteries or use a USB charging port and cable." Here we have Task C.

Select one of the design opportunities you identified earlier.

Choose three subheadings, and for each subheading, explain what the environmental impact of the design opportunity could be.

Pause the video and have a go.

Fantastic.

Let's see how you got on.

Part one.

Select one of the design opportunities you identified.

So here we have a system for the cats to notify us they want to come inside, and a place for them to wait in comfort.

And the three subheadings that were chosen are: function, form, and materials.

And here we have an explanation of what the environmental impact of this design opportunity could be.

So for example, function.

This design opportunity might need to be powered.

This could be rechargeable or mechanical.

Form.

The shape of the design could be curved, but these are less efficient to manufacture and use more materials.

Materials.

This product will need to be waterproof.

This makes polymers suitable, but they are not sustainable.

Timber with a waterproof surface finish would be better.

Well done.

Here we have a summary of today's learning.

Mind maps can be used to explore a context and can be developed by considering each word or image in more detail.

A design opportunity is a gap or a need.

We must avoid design fixation.

We must also consider the environmental impact of our design opportunities.

Environmental considerations might affect the design of the product before, during, or after use.

Thank you very much for joining me today.

Well done.