Design & Technology Enrichment

Take part in different experiences

• Building on children’s cultural capital can involve exposing children to knowledge which is outside of their daily experiences.
• It is important to widen these experiences to ensure each child is exposed to or aware of as many opportunities in their lives as possible.
• It is important for children to gain the ‘essential knowledge’, wide experiences and universal reference points. This allows them to succeed in their own individual journeys.
• Through taking part in different experiences, and safely interacting with a wide range of people, children can gain a wider knowledge of the world they live in. This therefore builds on children’s existing cultural capital and extends it.

How have key events and individuals in design and technology helped to shape the world?

How many designers or inventors can you name?

What did they each create?

The Wright Brothers

The Wright brothers, also known as Orville and Wilbur Wright, were American siblings and great technological innovators.  They are credited with inventing the airplane having made the first successful human flight with a craft powered by engine.  To help design the wings for planes, they studied how birds flew and used their wings.

Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell was interested in the idea of transmitting speech from one place to another.  Watch this video to find out more about him and his marvellous invention: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n_5jG_9fAE&t=3s&safe=active

Stephanie Kwolek

Stephanie Kwolek was an American-Polish chemist who worked with synthetic (humanly-constructed) fibres.  She invented Kevlar, an incredibly light but very strong material.  Kevlar is most commonly known for its use in bulletproof vests, which have saved thousands of lives. However, it is also used for everything from bicycle tires to boat sails!

Ruth Handler

Ruth Handler designed the Barbie doll, a popular toy all over the world.  While watching her daughter play with paper dolls, she set out to invent a 3D doll that children could play with.  Ruth named the doll Barbie, after her daughter Barbara. She also designed the male doll Ken, which she named after her son.  The Barbie doll is still one of the bestselling toys in the world.

Mary Anderson

Mary Anderson invented windscreen wipers.  On a rainy journey to New York, she noticed other drivers having to open their windows and look out in order to see where they were going.  She invented a swinging arm with a rubber blade that could be operated by the driver from inside the vehicle to solve the problem.

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs designed the iPod in 2001 to satisfy the demand for music on the move. It was very popular because it was small and stylish. From this, Jobs launched iTunes so that customers could download music on to their iPod.  Jobs went on to design the iPhone, iPad and many other products for the company, Apple before he died at the age of 56.