Create a stone garden display
Create a stone garden display for the school entrance to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III
In this activity learners will make use of the theme of the King’s coronation to design a rock garden in the style of a flag or other item to commemorate the event. They will consider the design brief for the criteria, use a template to produce a design on paper, consider the scale for the final display and produce the final display.
This is one of a series of resources that are designed to allow learners to use the theme of King Charles III’s coronation to develop their knowledge and skills in Design & Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. This resource focusses on designing a rock display for the school entrance that commemorates the event.
Activity: Create a stone garden display
The teacher will first explain what a commemorative stone garden or display is with suitable examples which learners will discuss to state what is good about each example and what could be done better. Learners will then discuss which images should be used, for example, a Union Jack flag or a crown. The teacher will then lead the learner through the stages of design, scaling up, making and installing their stone garden where the class will come together to assemble their display in the designated area at school.
This activity can be simplified (particularly for less able students) by supplying regular sized pebbles and cutting out the paper rocks to be the same size as these pebbles, then missing out the maths scaling part of the activity. To help, learners could also be provided with images for inspiration, e.g. flags, crowns, school entrance locations, etc.
Use the handout for learners to cut out the 2D paper stones, sketch their design ideas onto them and assemble their stones into their garden design.
As an extension students could create a border around their display incorporating flowers and plants and/or design a new flag to represent the whole of the United Kingdom.
This activity is designed to take between 100-180 minutes to complete depending on the level of complexity that teachers require of the students (see differentiation section in activity lesson plan).
Tools/resources required
- Coloured paper – red, blue and white
- Scissors
- Glue sticks
- Alternative: coloured pencils or paints
- Paint (water based acrylic paint)
- Brushes and water to clean them
- Gloves and overalls
- Stones and small cobbles
- Paint suitable for outside use
The engineering context
All designers and engineers need to be able to produce ideas related to certain themes and follow a design brief. This ensures that the products they design will meet the needs of the end users, customers or clients.
Using natural materials is becoming more common in the built environment. It is important for engineers to have a working knowledge of different natural materials and their potential applications.
The coronation of King Charles III is a great opportunity for engineers to showcase the best of what the United Kingdom has to offer in terms of their design skills!
Suggested learning outcomes
By the end of this free resource students will be able to design and produce an attractive stone display to celebrate the King’s coronation; produce designs that meet a given brief; and be able to use measurements and scaling when designing.
Download the free Create a stone garden display activity sheet below!
All activity sheets and supporting resources are free to download, and all the documents are fully editable, so you can tailor them to your students’ and your schools’ needs.
The activity sheet includes teacher notes, guidance, useful web links, and links (where appropriate) to the national curriculum in each of the four devolved UK nations; England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
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