Glossary

This glossary is based on the terms you will find in the National Curriculum Orders for Design & Technology or Information Technology in the Nuffield Primary D&T materials or in a range of other currently available texts / catalogues / websites.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W XYZ

identifying needs

the process of looking at the behaviour and conditions of people and other living things and identifying what they need to be healthy, comfortable, interested, at ease etc.

image board

a collection of pictures, cut-outs from magazines or newspapers, quick sketches, especially taken photographs, to do with people. Pictures of the people themselves, where they live, where they work or go to school, what they do in their leisure time, all contribute to an image board

implementing improvements

the process of making things better than they are at the moment, usually in response to an evaluation of a product or situation in which shortcomings have been identified

individual work

some Nuffield tasks should be done individually - look for the special individual work icon

information sources

places to look for information that will be useful in helping to understand a design brief and develop design ideas e.g. books, magazines, radio and television programmes. the internet. Pupils can also use people as information sources

insulation

a material that is used to prevent heat transfer. It will keep cold things cold and hot things hot. Or a material that does not conduct an electric current and is used to cover wires that are carrying an electric current

investigate

to find out by personal enquiry and experiment. Many small tasks in Nuffield D&T are investigations