Digital Design Thinking

Overview

This lesson is the fifth in a 7-lesson unit, Engineering Sustainable Solutions. Students use digital technologies (such as a simple CAD-style tool, drawing app, or online design template) to develop and refine a design for a sustainable solution addressing a specific environmental challenge identified in earlier lessons.

Learning intentions

• Students will use digital tools to create a clear design of a sustainable solution.
• Students will identify how the design reduces environmental impact (e.g., waste, energy use, water use, pollution).
• Students will test ideas using simple constraints (materials, function, cost, and sustainability) and improve the design.
• Students will communicate the design using diagrams and labels that match a real-world build.

Success criteria

• I can create a digital design (sketch/model) that shows the key parts and how they work.
• I can explain how my design supports sustainability (what changes and why it matters).
• I can use feedback to improve my design and describe what I changed.
• I can produce clear labelled diagrams (including dimensions if appropriate) so someone else could understand my plan.

Curriculum links

• Science (Stage 3): Design and test solutions by using scientific knowledge to support the design of sustainable outcomes.
• Science: Use and develop knowledge and understanding of engineering design processes, including constraints and iterative improvement.
• Digital technologies: Use digital systems/tools to create and communicate ideas, and refine designs based on evaluation.
• Cross-curriculum capability: Critical and creative thinking when generating, comparing, and improving design ideas.

Lesson structure (45 minutes)

1. 0–5 min · Retrieval and purpose. Teacher displays two earlier design notes (a “before” model and an “improvement” comment) and asks: “What sustainability goal did we choose, and what must our design achieve?” Students turn-and-talk, then share one sentence about their environmental challenge and intended sustainability benefit.

2. 5–12 min · Mini teach: design in digital form. Teacher models how to use a digital tool to: add labels, show dimensions/scale (where relevant), and represent key features (e.g., inlet/outlet, panels, sensors, supports). Teacher also shares a simple checklist: clarity, features, sustainability link, and accuracy. Students follow along on a sample screen or paper representation, circling “what to include” for a strong digital design.

3. 12–25 min · Guided creation (Part 1). Teacher sets up stations or whole-class tool access and demonstrates one workflow step: creating the base shape, adding components, and naming parts. Students create their digital design draft, ensuring it matches their chosen sustainability goal and includes at least two labelled features (and dimensions if they have them).

4. 25–33 min · Peer critique using “Glow and Grow”. Teacher provides feedback sentence stems on the board: “Your design shows…”, “I can see how it works because…”, “A sustainability strength is…”, “One improvement could be…”. Students swap with a partner and give one “Glow” and one “Grow” comment, referencing the sustainability goal and clarity of parts/labels.

5. 33–42 min · Improve and finalise (Part 2). Teacher prompts iteration: “What will you change now that you know how someone else understood your design?” Teacher walks around to support students in refining labels, adding missing features, or correcting mismatched parts. Students revise their digital design and update labels/diagrams, then write a brief reflection: “I changed… because…”

6. 42–45 min · Exit check. Teacher collects a quick snapshot: students submit or show their final digital draft and read aloud (or write) one sustainability justification sentence. Students complete a one-minute check: “My solution reduces ____ by ____.”

Resources

• Student devices with access to an appropriate digital design tool (CAD-style, drawing app, or design template)
• Teacher demo device/projector
• Design checklist (clarity, parts, labels, sustainability link, constraints)
• “Glow and Grow” feedback cards or printed stems
• Note pages for recording the sustainability goal and one improvement decision
• Headphones (optional) for focused building time

Assessment

• Teacher observation during creation: students’ ability to represent key parts clearly and connect the design to sustainability.
• Peer feedback quality: whether “Glow/Grow” refers to features, function, and sustainability rather than only appearance.
• Exit ticket: one sustainability justification sentence plus a confirmation that the design includes labelled features.

Differentiation

• Support: Provide a partially completed digital template with labelled placeholders (e.g., “Input”, “Filter”, “Outlet”, “Power source”) and a scaffold checklist.
• Support for language learners: Offer sentence starters for sustainability links and feedback (“This helps because…”, “I notice that…”).
• Extension: Challenge students to add an additional constraint to their design (e.g., estimated material count, simplified cost reasoning, or a durability/maintenance feature) and justify their choice.
• SEN: Allow options for showing design clarity (2D annotated diagram in addition to 3D shape, or simplified labels) and provide step-by-step tool instructions at the station table.