Simpsons' good design website - Bart.zip
Simpsons' bad design website - Homer.zip - Includes good and bad design worksheet

A good introduction to good and bad web design. I designed this and ran it at my first school where pupils designed web pages rather than presentations to consider good and bad design.

This zip file contains two websites - Homer Simpson's (bad design) and Bart Simpson's (Good design). Pupils surf through both sites and compare good and bad features on the worksheet contained in this zip. This zip also contains a helpsheet to close the task down for pupils who are struggling with the task. Could be taken over one or two lessons depending upon ability.

Back to top

Travel website template.zip
This is a template file that contains four linked pages - Index, France, Spain and Italy. Pupils need to complete the hyperlinks on the index page - getting them to create hyperlinks on every page can be difficult for some to grasp.
After doing this and getting to grips with backgrounds and inserting images, I moved pupils on to hotspots/imagemaps, creating hover-states on images and inserting weather data feeds. There are two images of the Trevi Fountain in Rome in the Italy images folder of this zip file - I used these to demonstrate the hover state. There's also a european map file in the root that is ideal for creating the imagemap.
Weather-forecast.com can be used demonstrate how external weather data can be pulled into the travel website - scroll to the bottom after following that link.

Back to top

Y7 ICT charts/graphs starter activity
A 5-minute starter activity which tasks pupils with identifying the different areas of a chart and encourages them to consider what information is missing from a chart.

The context of this activity is that this was used on the first lesson where we looked at creating charts using a spreadsheet.

Back to top

Pocket money model.xls
Gets across the basic principles of modelling and spreadsheets in a way that pupils can relate to. I put this on the whiteboard and demonstrated it for a few minutes but it could be extended into a bigger activity.

Back to top

Citizenship modelling.xls
Linked to Citizenship - pupils need to create two simple formulae to calculate the yearly cost of smoking in a spreadsheet. This then opens up a new area of a spreadsheet using =IF statements where pupils need to use modelling techniques to consider the opportunity cost of smoking.

Back to top

Simpsons spreadsheet homework.doc
A simple Simpsons-themed homework that requires pupils to identify features of a spreadsheet and consider how spreadsheets are used in real life. I ran this with lesson one in unit 7.4 - nice and simple to get them started with an open-ended second question.

Back to top

Calendar.xls - using the fill handle
Pupils open this file and then add in new worksheets to create seven tabs (front page followed by six months). They then use the fill handle to complete months of the year, days of the week and dates. Pupils recognise that the fill handle sees patterns.

As an extension I get my pupils to create hyperlinks from the front page to each month and add in notes for family and friend birthdays. Download the completed Teacher's calendar resource for reference.

Back to top

Poor Data.xls
Mock results from a free-text response questionnaire that pupils need to total using the =COUNTIF function and then chart. The context of the mock questionnaire is surveying customer needs opening a coffee shop.

This exercise encourages pupils to consider the most appropriate ways to collect data for entry and the benefits of validation.

Back to top

European travel websites.zip
This download includes two HTML files, one file contains an interactive Google map with pins in each European country - this has been designed to be run locally and will need to be adapted if ran from a web server. Each pin, when clicked, presents a link the relevant travel board's website. The second file is a low-tech alternative in case the school's servers prevent access to http://maps.google.com.

This resource was used to help pupils recognise how information is processed in particular ways to meet the needs of the audience and the various ways that we can present weather data.

Back to top

8.3 Information reliability and validity resource.zip
This download includes two presentation files (lesson objectives and a pupil resource template) and one worksheet. The activity is planned for two lessons; after previous work to look at bias, top-level domains and keyword searches using search engines.

Pupils conduct research for two sides of an argument (fox hunting or gun ownership) in lesson 1 and record it on pages three and four of the attached worksheet. They should apply what they learned about bias to present the two differing sides of their argument, creating a bibliography of sources as they progress. In lesson two pupils should put these resources into the presentation template and deliver their presentations to other group members.

The first activity in the resource worksheet is planned to last 10-15 minutes. It requires pupils to conduct NOT, OR and SYNONYM searches using a search engine in order to provide evidence of level 5.

Back to top

Gantt chart.xls
A Gantt chart resource split over two worksheets. On the first worksheet pupils recognise how to sequence instructions in the correct order in order to leave the house in the morning. This data is then pulled into the second worksheet using =IF statements - pupils assign times to each task by highlighting cells and filling with colour in the style of a project plan/Gantt chart.

Pupils compare sequencing instructions in this way to sequencing instructions in a flowchart. They also find out that you can run tasks in parallel on a Gantt chart.

Back to top

Flowol helpsheet.doc
A Word document that lists the sensors in the Flowol Greenhouse mimic and explains what they do. Page two of this document includes instructions about what flowcharts pupils need to create and a skeleton of the solution for the water flowchart to assist pupils who are struggling.


Back to top

A better garden centre model.zip
This download includes a flower modelling spreadsheet and worksheet for pupils together with completed teacher files. There is also a small website and report file where pupils need to extract data from - this step can be removed for weaker groups.

In my opinion, and with the groups I have worked with, the National Strategy resources for modelling in this unit are too open-ended and feature plants that pupils will be unfamiliar with. This resource requires pupils to construct their model by using data from several sources and then answer questions with it.

A good modelling exercise is to spend 5 minutes getting pupils to find the eight flowers that will generate the most profit and write pupils answers on the board.

Back to top

Humans versus Computers model.zip
A spreadsheet model and accompanying worksheet that serves to develop pupils' modelling skills whilst reinforcing the humans versus computers theme that runs through the unit. The model compares the cost of a gardener to manage a greenhouse with the cost of a computer system to run the greenhouse over four years.

The modelling aspect requires pupils to use the =IF function in Excel to make the spreadsheet more user friendly and write formulae to total up costs.

The first tab in the spreadsheet is an introduction to the =IF function where you can explain it in English then show how that transfers to 'geek speak'. I hide the 'geek speak' rows until I've explained the concept in plain English.

Back to top

QCA Killers Pepford gig.doc
Pupils use this resource to plan a gig in the QCA test's fictional town of Pepford. They need to create formulae and use goal seek on the spreadsheet, create a word processor document, surf the web and send emails.

It brings together the majority of the office-style applications into one task and around it you can get pupils to extend their skills by adding in things like headers (called master pages) on docs, use formatting and use read receipts for emails. Bit less mind numbing than the QCA's test materials!

Back to top

www.bubbl.us - online mind mapping tool
This link is a useful third-party mind mapping tool called bubbl.us. Pupils can register with the site to store their own interactive mind maps. Maps may be integrated into third-party websites or downloaded as an image.

I've used the collaborate features that are integrated into this resource to collate ideas for a photography project and give structure to a creative process.

Back to top