Chelmsford County High School for Girls
A foundation grammar school and specialist college
Subjects
Design & Technology - GCSE
We teach GCSE Design & Technology (Full Course) which consists of the following:
- Graphic Products
- Systems & Control (Mechanisms)
- Systems & Control (Electronics)
Coursework (60%) consists of a design and make task in the chosen area.
The titles of some of the Design and Technology courses have been modified or altered by the examination boards to reflect the recent changes to the National Curriculum. In particular, courses now called Systems and Control incorporate work previously studied in Resistant Materials or Electronic Systems or both.
In addition, these courses now include an element of ICT for control and feedback and for CAD/CAM. Broader social and environmental issues of product design are also studied.
Graphic Products
The coursework component covers all aspects of designing and making from conception to realisation of, for example, a range of gift boxes, a pop-up book or brochures for a particular series of products.
Students are given opportunities to develop their skills and confidence in designing, making and modifying products for identified needs.
Technical drawing is taught as a form of communication to support both design work and the requirements of the examination.
Wider aspects of product design such as social and environmental issues are also studied.
View GCSE Graphic Products Work 2005 here
Mechanisms
Students follow the full course design and make products in a range of materials including wood, metal and plastic. The course builds on earlier work in resistant materials so that products such as toys incorporate mechanisms and control. The final coursework task often centres around designing and making moving mechanical figures (automata) which offers an imaginative and wide range of possibilities.
During the course students undertake a good deal of practical work in which they learn an increasing range of techniques using tools and materials, mechanisms etc. As they begin to learn how industry produces many of the things we so frequently take for granted by studying production and industrial processes, they also learn how to incorporate CAD/CAM into their own work.
In addition to being both creative and technical, the course also encourages students to be discerning by looking at some of the social, moral and environmental issues of product design.
View GCSE Mechanisms Work here
Electronics
In this course, students extend tasks carried out at Key Stage 3. They will learn about new components which will allow them to carry out circuit design, e.g. computer programmable chips. They will learn how to design a range of circuits and they will consider manufacture of systems using these circuits in the industrial context. They will study and become skilled in the use of computer aided design and manufacture techniques. They will also consider the broader aspects of technology on society and the environment.
The coursework, will, in the case of the full course, be chosen by the student under the guidance of the teacher. A project which makes use of a programmable chip will form the basis of the main project.
Examples of project ideas include:
- a control system for a model greenhouse
- a multicoloured light display for use in advertising
- a simple musical toy for children
- an electronic timer for sporting activities
- an automatic scoreboard for netball
- an electronic thermometer for cookery
- a device designed to monitor aspects of the environment (e.g. rain, wind, temperature).