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Year 7

Minimising material waste

I can use materials efficiently.

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New
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Year 7

Minimising material waste

I can use materials efficiently.

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Share activities with pupils
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These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Minimising waste is important for both economic and environmental reasons.
  2. Stencils and templates are used to ensure materials are used efficiently.
  3. 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.


To help you plan your year 7 design and technology lesson on: Minimising material waste, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

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.
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Teacher tip
equipment-required

Equipment

Paper and standard drawing equipment. Graph paper would be useful for Task C.

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Content guidance

  • Risk assessment required - equipment
supervision-level

Supervision

Adult supervision required

copyright

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.
Correct answer: It helps conserve natural resources and reduce landfill waste.
It makes more space for more factories.
Q2.
What does 'sustainability' mean when it comes to using resources?
Correct answer: Using resources in a way that they can be replaced for future generations.
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.
Correct answer: Natural materials come from the earth, while synthetic materials are man-made.
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?
Correct Answer: HIPS, PVC, High impact polystyrene sheet, High impact polystyrene sheets
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.
Correct answer: They are manufactured from fossil fuels, such as petroleum and natural gas.
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.
Correct answer: It increases costs due to the need for more materials and disposal.
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?
Correct answer: Measure and plan carefully.
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
Correct answer: measure twice and cut once
measure lots and cut
cut
Q3.
What are the benefits of using a stencil or template when manufacturing?
Correct answer: quicker
Correct answer: can be repeated
slower
can't be repeated
Correct answer: accurately repeated
Q4.
What is the purpose of tessellation in manufacturing?
To create irregular, overlapping shapes.
Correct answer: To arrange shapes without gaps or overlaps.
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
Correct Answer: nesting
Q6.
Which of the following shapes can tessellate on a flat surface without gaps or overlaps?
Circle
Correct answer: Square
Correct answer: Equilateral triangle
Regular pentagon