Section A - How to effectively answer this section of the exam.
Section A is regarded as the design section of the exam paper, with section B testing you on your theory knowledge. The question is generally structured the same every year. Its structure can be broken down as so:
- Choose a target market for those provided (that is the person you are designing for)
-Choose a product (that is what you are going to be writing about and drawing - choose wisely!)
-Write a design criteria (that is a list of points your product must do. Think specification. Think ACCESS FM).
-Draw your design and annotate.
-Evaluate your design against the design criteria written earlier in the section A question.
You will practice multiple years worth of section A questions in lessons to be prepare you for the exam. The attached slide show below explains clearly how to best answer this section. Remember it is worth 30 marks which is 25% of the whole paper.
- Choose a target market for those provided (that is the person you are designing for)
-Choose a product (that is what you are going to be writing about and drawing - choose wisely!)
-Write a design criteria (that is a list of points your product must do. Think specification. Think ACCESS FM).
-Draw your design and annotate.
-Evaluate your design against the design criteria written earlier in the section A question.
You will practice multiple years worth of section A questions in lessons to be prepare you for the exam. The attached slide show below explains clearly how to best answer this section. Remember it is worth 30 marks which is 25% of the whole paper.
In section A of the exam you may be asked to write a design criteria, justifying your reasons. Just remember your course work and the specification you have written. The easiest method to remember is ACCESS FM. Each letter breaks down into a design criteria. You will be required to write up to three criteria points in section A, so look at the image below which breaks it down with possible reasons.
Section A - The Design Question.
The context: Pattern and structure found in nature can inspire the design and manufacture of products.
There are many ways that this can be tackled and during lessons you will look at these with your subject teacher. The following power points will help you to understand what Biomimicry is, products that have been inspired by nature, how to effectively use an image board to generate ideas and strategies for innovative design.
So what is Biomimicry?
Thank you to @nic_dooley for providing some of the included resources.
Design Strategies.
Understanding different methods of designing is essential and a valuable skill. In terms of section A within the exam you might be
asked to produce a design for a
product based on an image board.
Knowing a range of design strategies
will help you.
- Geometric shapes
- Combining different shapes together.
- Morphing.
-Using natural forms.
Repeated Patterns (Motifs).
The theme for this years exam is how "pattern and structure found in nature can inspire the design and manufacture of products".
In section A you will be provided with a mood board of different images which will be based of the pre-release theme. From these images you will have to create a design idea. You might be asked to create a motif which is a repeated pattern. There are many methods a pattern can be created and during lessons you will learn and practice these. The presentation below and attached worksheets will enable you to revise, print and practice these techniques.
In section A you will be provided with a mood board of different images which will be based of the pre-release theme. From these images you will have to create a design idea. You might be asked to create a motif which is a repeated pattern. There are many methods a pattern can be created and during lessons you will learn and practice these. The presentation below and attached worksheets will enable you to revise, print and practice these techniques.
Printable pattern worksheets.
repeated_pattern_worksheets.pdf | |
File Size: | 409 kb |
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Section A Worksheet 2.
Section A is worth 25% of the whole paper. It is a vital part of your success in the AQA PD paper and therefore practice makes perfect. Attempting many repeated pattern questions will speed up your ability to produce one in the exam and will make the process more familiar to you. Applying the pattern that you produce to an every day product and annotation of the materials, manufacturing methods, dimensions, ascetics etc. will all be useful as exam preparation.
section_a_worksheet.pdf | |
File Size: | 525 kb |
File Type: |
section_a_worksheet_-_student_worksheet.pdf | |
File Size: | 112 kb |
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section_a_worksheet_-_staff_example.pdf | |
File Size: | 276 kb |
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Section A Worksheet 3.
A section A worksheet which is brilliant for practicing and final preparations before the exam. Thank you very much to Nick Dooley-Edwards @nic_dooley for the resource. In terms of the summer paper you may need to produce a design from a set list of products or choose your own. it is important that you have an idea in mind and are able to quickly think of and sketch a design.
REMEMBER don't be drawn into spending too much time on this section.
And remember practice makes perfect!
REMEMBER don't be drawn into spending too much time on this section.
And remember practice makes perfect!
section_a_revision_sheets.pdf | |
File Size: | 249 kb |
File Type: |
This work by Helen Dunn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.