New
New
Year 7
Minimising material waste
I can use materials efficiently.
New
New
Year 7
Minimising material waste
I can use materials efficiently.
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Lesson details
Key learning points
- Minimising waste is important for both economic and environmental reasons.
- Stencils and templates are used to ensure materials are used efficiently.
- Nesting is used to ensure materials are used efficiently.
Keywords
Accurate - correct and precise, with no mistakes
Efficient - using materials in a way that minimises waste
Tesselation - arranging identical shapes in a repetitive pattern without gaps or overlaps
Nesting - arranging varying shapes onto material to make the best use of space
Common misconception
Minimising waste means reducing the size of a product.
Using materials efficiently can be achieved by reducing size, but also by working accurately. This can be done by using stencils / templates, tesselation and nesting.
It would be a good opprtunity to share the stencils and templates you use, such as a circle template. Demonstating nesting on CAD would also be useful.
Teacher tip
Equipment
Paper and standard drawing equipment. Graph paper would be useful for Task C.
Content guidance
- Risk assessment required - equipment
Supervision
Adult supervision required
Licence
This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on
Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).Lesson video
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Starter quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
How does reducing waste benefit the environment?
It increases pollution and harms ecosystems.
It makes more space for more factories.
Q2.
What does 'sustainability' mean when it comes to using resources?
Using only the cheapest resources available.
Using resources without worrying about their long-term availability.
Q3.
What is a key difference between natural and synthetic materials?
Natural materials are made by humans, synthetic materials are found in nature.
Natural materials are less durable than synthetic ones.
Synthetic materials are always cheaper than natural materials.
Q4.
Which polymer is commonly used in school for vacuum forming?
Q5.
Where do most synthetic polymers come from?
They are made from minerals found in the Earth.
They are produced from natural materials like plants and animals.
They are sourced directly from renewable resources like water and wind.
Q6.
How does material wastage impact production costs?
It decreases costs because more materials are used.
It lowers costs by reducing the amount of material needed.
Exit quiz
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6 Questions
Q1.
What can you do before starting a project to help minimise material waste?
Buy more materials than you think you'll need.
Use as many different materials as possible.
Resize the parts you need.
Q2.
Which statement is a phrase to help measuring and marking out accurately?
measure and cut
measure lots and cut
cut
Q3.
What are the benefits of using a stencil or template when manufacturing?
slower
can't be repeated
Q4.
What is the purpose of tessellation in manufacturing?
To create irregular, overlapping shapes.
To add texture to a material.
To shrink shapes to fit into smaller spaces.
Q5.
is the process of arranging different shapes on a material in a way that minimises waste
Q6.
Which of the following shapes can tessellate on a flat surface without gaps or overlaps?
Circle
Regular pentagon