Design a sustainable transport system
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can design and annotate a drawing of a sustainable transport system for an urban environment.
Key learning points
- Understand what makes a transport system sustainable.
- Use drawings and annotations to communicate ideas.
- Explore how art and design influence the future of urban life.
- Consider environmental impact, functionality, and design aesthetics.
Keywords
Sustainability - using resources in a way that protects the environment and ensures they are available for future generations
Infrastructure - the basic physical systems (like roads, bridges, transport) needed for a city to function
Concept drawing - a visual representation of an idea, often used to show early design ideas
Common misconception
Sustainable transport is just about electric vehicles.
Sustainability includes more than just power sources - it also involves materials, passenger capacity, energy use, and reducing pollution across a whole system.
Teacher tip
Encourage creativity but keep sustainability at the heart - prompt pupils with open questions like “How does this help the environment?” to guide design thinking beyond appearance.
Equipment
Pencils, pens, erasers, coloured pencils or markers, rulers. Images of real-world and conceptual transport systems (printed or digital). Tablets/computers for digital sketching (if available).
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Doing what with ideas can help explain the function of a design clearly?
Q2.Which of the following is an example of a green space in a city?
Q3.Why might cities be hard for wildlife to live in?
Q4.Wildlife-friendly features in cities, like bug hotels and bird-friendly bus stops, do what?
Q5.What do animals need in their habitats to survive?
Q6.Put these steps in the correct order to design a wildlife-friendly urban space:
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.What is a key feature of a sustainable transport system?
Q2.Which of these ideas shows a misconception about sustainable transport?
Q3.Which of these is most likely to be included in a concept drawing for a new transport system?
Q4.Why is annotation important in a design drawing?
Q5.Put the design steps in the correct order:
Q6.Match each keyword with its correct definition:
Notes explaining a drawing
Physical systems needed for a city
Visual idea sketch for design
To help you plan your 6 art and design lesson on: Design a sustainable transport system, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 6 art and design lesson on: Design a sustainable transport system, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 art and design lessons from the Urban Life: Drawing and design unit, dive into the full primary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.