Plastic Project

INVESTIGATE

Unit Question: Are Plastics suitable to make a fun product from?

Context or Scenario: You are a plastics product designer have received the letter above Write a Scenario to Explain what the managing director of Plastics-R-Us wants you to do in this project.

Read the Scenario that you have written and decide which are the most important and relevant points contained in it. Some example questions to ask yourself could be:

1. Why am I designing a product?

2. What does Plastics-R-Us want me to do?

3. What can I use to provide what they want?

4. Where will the product be used?

5. Who will use the product?

6. Where do I find information?

8. What are the limits on this project? (closing date, tools, skills.)

Write a design brief based on this Scenario this should FULLY EXPLAIN what you are going to create.

You can now begin to RESEARCH your project, some topics for research could be: (there may be more)

1. What is Plastic?

2. Are there Existing products ?

3. How do I create the product using tools in the D.T. lab?

4. Research existing methods of designing your product?

5. What level of D.T. skills do I need to have?

6. How can I learn these skills?

7. A very important part of working in D.T. is paying attention to safety so, What are the safety rules and

how should you apply them in your practical work?

ACKNOWLEDGE all research that is taken from sources such as the internet, books, people you interview Include all references in a BIBLIOGRAPHY.

CRITICALLY discuss your research. (do you agree with other people’s views) make comments on each piece of research you include in the project.

Decide which Area or Areas of Interaction are relevant to this project (see AOIs) and EXPLAIN FULLY why they are linked to this project.

Write a DESIGN SPECIFICATION by creating a list of the following:

1. What is ESSENTIAL for my Plastic Product?

2. What is DESIRABLE for my Plastic Product?

Design a TEST to be used to discover if your Plastic Product design fits the Specification this can be a set of QUESTIONS used to find out if your Plastic Product design will meet all the essentials and what is desirable, also say how you will use with the results of your test.

DESIGN

• • Using Microsoft Word or Paint to outline in words and a diagram what your plastic product will

    • look like.

    • You will need at least Two Designs.

  • Choose one Design which matches your Specification best. (the specification is the Essentials in Investigation)

  • Look at each of your two designs and say which one you think is the best and matches all your essentials.

  • Say why your choice fits the specification.

    • Make a list of all the reasons you think your chosen design is best.

  • State how the design you have chosen will link to the Area of Interaction.

    • Look at the AOI Area of Interaction you have chosen and see if it is a good match to what you are doing. Look at the Unit Question and say if your Plastic Product will answer it.......

PLAN

• Begin by producing a Resource List - all the things needed for your project.

• For example: These could be things like your drawings, the plastic, tools, books/manuals, your diary, your teacher

• and even your friends to help evaluate

• Create a Step-by-Step Time related Plan include resources from your list and an estimate of how long each step takes.

• For example: Write down each major step in the creation of your product describe the step in detail and list what resources you will need to perform the step. In order to begin creating with plastic you could watch a you-tube video or ask the teacher. Continue with all the steps you think you need and then add time estimates to each step. Check your diary to see how long you have to complete the project and which days you will be in school.

• Use a Gantt Chart to show your plan which shows the steps with dates and time for each step.

• Once you have listed all the steps you need to create a Gantt chart using MS Excel set out each step on the left side and show by colouring the boxes how long each step takes and the dates you will be doing them. This will give you an indication of what you should be doing during each day of create and will tell you if you are ahead of time, on time or behind.

• Evaluate the Plan by deciding which parts you will need to spend more time on or those parts you may not understand and will need more information in order to complete them.

• Finally look at your plan and decide which steps you need to concentrate on most. Say which steps you think will be the most difficult and therefore you will have to learn all about them first. Say if you think anyone else can follow your plan if it is clearly written and easily followed.

CREATE

• Create your plastic product.

• Follow your plan and be sure to follow the specification.

• You created a plan in Criterion B so be sure to follow it that is what it is for. Be sure to check your specification and if it is not exactly correct then you can change it in Create.

• Make any changes to your specification that you may find don’t fit or can be improved.

• Test your design to see if it is according to your specification.

EVALUATE

• • Ask a friend to act as a judge and grade your design. Ask your friend to act as a user and test your Product design. Try to be honest, you are not graded on the friend´s opinions or comments but on the fact that you carried out the tests properly no matter what the results.

• Did everything look good??

  • Do you need to make any improvements?

• Evaluate each stage of the design cycle and try to suggest improvements or further work that may be needed.

  • Evaluate your performance at each stage of the design cycle and suggest any improvements or further work that may be needed.

• What did you discover in relation to the Area of Interaction linked to your project did you learn anything you didn´t know before you started the project?

  • Does the project answer the unit question?