Design a Royal carriage
Designing a new Royal carriage that is electrically powered
Royal carriages have long been a part of history and tradition in the United Kingdom. Famous for the horses that draw them as well as their luxury velvet interiors and the fairytale that surrounds them. The carriages must be comfortable for travel as well as regal. They must accommodate the needs of the Royal family to be used for formal events as well as wedding transport. King Charles III is known for his commitment to environmental issues and passion for a greener world so could the new carriage be electrically powered?
This is one of a series of resources that are designed to allow learners to use the theme of a celebration to develop their knowledge and skills in Design & Technology and Engineering. This resource focusses on designing an electrically powered Royal carriage for the event.
Activity: Design a Royal carriage
The teacher will first introduce the design brief and explain that the carriage must be electrically powered, show the King’s Cypher, reflect the history and traditions of the Royal family, include features to aid comfort and make use of modern, lightweight materials. Learners will then take time to design their carriage and (if possible) teachers can show how an electric motor can be powered using batteries and then charged using a solar panel.
This activity can be simplified (particularly for less able students) by providing a template for the carriage or partially completed design idea. Teachers could also provide a wiring diagram to help with assembling the electrically powered motor circuit.
Use the handout for learners to sketch their ideas for the new Royal carriage making sure to annotate their design to show how it meets the design criteria.
As an extension students could design a mechanical system to covert the rotary motion from the motor to the movement of the carriage and/or produce a functional scale model of their proposed design and test how well it works.
This activity is designed to take between 35-55 minutes (45-75 minutes with optional solar power battery activity).
Tools/resources required
- Pens, pencils and coloured pencils
- A4 or A3 paper
- 3 V motors
- Rechargeable AA batteries
- AA battery packs
- Red and black wires/crocodile clips
- AA solar battery charger
The engineering context
Engineers have a moral and ethical responsibility to ensure that their designs are sustainable and do not negatively impact on the environment. This includes using renewable energy wherever possible to power systems and devices.
Electrical, electronic and control engineers need to have knowledge, understanding and skills associated with circuit assembly, including following wiring diagrams.
Suggested learning outcomes
By the end of this free resource students will be able to design an electrically powered royal carriage for the King’s coronation; understand the benefits of solar energy; and produce designs to meet given criteria.
Download the free Design a Royal carriage 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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