--- title: "Design & Technology" description: "22 topics for ages 5 to 16, in the order they build on each other." canonical: https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology source: https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology.md retrieved: 2026-10-19 --- > **Agent view.** This is the Markdown twin of the page, for tools and assistants. > When to use this site, and the call that answers each job: https://lightmysky.com/agent-instructions.md > API description (OpenAPI 3.1): https://lightmysky.com/openapi.json · Authentication: https://lightmysky.com/auth.md > Pricing: https://lightmysky.com/pricing.md · Catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms.txt · Full catalog: https://lightmysky.com/llms-full.txt > Every machine-readable file on this domain: https://lightmysky.com/.well-known/ai-catalog.json > Ask for Markdown with `Accept: text/markdown`, a `.md` address, or `?mode=agent`. # Design & Technology 22 topics for ages 5 to 16, in the order they build on each other. Page: https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology ## Designing & Making 14 topics, ages 5 to 16. https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/areas/designing-and-making - [Designing Products](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/designing-products-mt_fZo-OWjM-T): Design purposeful products for yourself and other users: say who a product is for and what it must do, gather ideas from looking and asking, set simple design criteria, and describe or draw a design that meets them - [Using Tools Safely](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/using-tools-safely-mt_8_IFOc79VA): Choose and use tools and equipment for cutting, shaping, joining and finishing (scissors, hole punches, saws, sandpaper, glue): match the tool to the material and the job, and explain the safety rules for each - [Strengthening Structures](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/strengthening-structures-mt_QnYDI3itJY): How structures stand up and how to make them stronger, stiffer and more stable: wide bases, triangles, tubes, folds and cross-bracing; why some shapes resist pushing and pulling, and how real bridges and towers use these tricks - [Design Briefs and Better Products](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/design-briefs-and-better-products-mt_QeNClHE0EG): Investigate and analyse existing products: work out who a product is for, what it does well and badly, how it works and what it is made from; use the analysis to write a design brief and criteria for a better version - [Design That Changed the World](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/design-that-changed-the-world-mt_6PWs6Qp8V6): How key designers, engineers and inventions have shaped everyday life: stories such as the printing press, the safety bicycle, flight and the telephone; what problem each design solved and how it changed the way people live - [Mechanisms That Make Things Move](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/mechanisms-that-make-things-move-mt_i6Je5hnxJz): A mechanism turns one movement into another: a push into a lift, a turn into a wobble, a small force into a big one. Levers, linkages, cams and cranks are the pieces a maker reaches for. - [Drawing a Design So Someone Else Can Build It](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/drawing-a-design-so-someone-else-can-build-it-mt_8ezErqUhZw): A design drawing is not a picture, it is an instruction. Views from more than one side, real dimensions and a stated scale are what let someone else make the thing without asking. - [Electronics in a Product: Switch, Sensor, Output](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/electronics-in-a-product-switch-sensor-output-mt_KNLW4qke5J): Most electrical products are the same three parts: something that decides, something that senses, and something that happens. A switch is a person deciding, a sensor is the product deciding for itself. - [Iterative Design and Prototyping](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/iterative-design-and-prototyping-mt_fYD3KaViOZ): Develop a design through repeated cycles: build a model or prototype, test it against criteria, use the results to find weaknesses, and modify the design; run the loop several times so each version measurably beats the last - [Systems: Input, Process, Output](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/systems-input-process-output-mt_bMNTQ-3a_u): Any made thing can be drawn as a block diagram: what goes in, what is done to it, what comes out. Drawing it that way shows where a fault must be before anything is opened up. - [CAD and Making by Machine](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/cad-and-making-by-machine-mt_jNf8g85YbY): A design drawn on a computer can be sent straight to a machine that cuts, prints or mills it. What the machine can and cannot do reaches back into the design, which is why the drawing changes once you know how it will be made. - [Designing for the People Who Use It](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/designing-for-the-people-who-use-it-mt_QPznzhuBNI): Bodies vary, and a product sized for an average nobody actually is will fail most people. Measured body data, reach and grip, and the needs of people with limited sight or movement all belong in the brief. - [Making One, Making Thousands](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/making-one-making-thousands-mt_0wbzsY10cQ): The cheapest way to make one of something is almost never the cheapest way to make ten thousand. Tooling, jigs and tolerances are the price of repeating a design exactly. - [The Whole Life of a Product](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/the-whole-life-of-a-product-mt_hyBZiDvDoX): A product's cost to the world runs from digging up the material to whatever happens after it is thrown away. Designers decide most of that at the drawing stage, including whether the thing can be opened and repaired. ## Food & Cooking 8 topics, ages 5 to 16. https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/areas/food-and-cooking - [Where Food Comes From](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/where-food-comes-from-mt_HTJsTS1XzU): Where food comes from: which foods are grown, reared or caught (wheat, apples, milk, fish); how ingredients travel from farms and seas to shops; seasonality, and why some fruits and vegetables are only picked at certain times of year - [Cooking and Food Preparation](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/cooking-and-food-preparation-mt_rEYrcOo7Vu): Prepare and cook mostly savoury dishes using a range of techniques: washing, peeling, chopping, mixing, boiling, frying and baking; follow a recipe in order, and know the hygiene and safety rules for handling food - [Reading a Food Label](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/reading-a-food-label-mt_1oQ_cPb_-T): The back of a packet states what is in it, in order of how much, and what a portion gives you. Reading it is how a shopper compares two products that both claim to be healthy. - [Why Food Goes Bad and How to Stop It](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/why-food-goes-bad-and-how-to-stop-it-mt_Nw5F4g18lY): Food spoils because microbes grow in it, and every preserving method is an attack on one of the things they need: warmth, water, air or time. Cooking, chilling, drying, salting and canning are the same idea applied differently. - [Planning Meals for a Whole Week](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/planning-meals-for-a-whole-week-mt_T_GY879Oa7): Planning a week is a design problem with real constraints: what is in the cupboard, who is home, how long each evening allows, and what has to be used before it spoils. A plan that ignores any of those falls apart by Wednesday. - [Cooking Methods That Carry Across Recipes](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/cooking-methods-that-carry-across-recipes-mt_-fGuaw1mON): There are only a few things heat can do to food, and every recipe is a combination of them. Someone who understands frying, boiling, roasting and baking as methods can cook without a recipe in front of them. - [Feeding Yourself on a Budget](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/feeding-yourself-on-a-budget-mt_C1XoXVJlgA): Eating well on a fixed amount of money is a planning problem, not a willpower problem. Unit price, batch cooking, and what actually gets eaten before it spoils decide the outcome. - [Processing, Packaging and Food Miles](https://lightmysky.com/learn/design-and-technology/processing-packaging-and-food-miles-mt_MOrYB3f7qg): Processing, packaging and transport affect a food's price, shelf life and environmental impact. Food miles measure distance, not the whole impact. Ultra-processed describes a classification based on ingredients and processing, not taste alone.