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Hello Year 9.

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I'm here today to talk to you about GCSE Engineering and how that might look if you chose it as an option to take forwards into Year 10 and 11 and also about what you might study and how that's assessed.

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So let's start to have a look.

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The first place to start though is I suppose is what is GCSE Engineering and what is engineering in general in case you're not too sure of what that term means.

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So engineering is all about how science and maths is applied to solve problems in the real world, both and also in school.

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So the job of an engineer is to find out how things work and find practical uses for any discoveries that might be made.

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So it's often you sort of hear about scientists and inventors coming up with these ideas

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that might make things better for us as human beings.

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That can be in terms of civil engineering projects, so like building work, that could be electrical consumables, that could be medical advances

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but it's often though the engineers in the background who are responsible for making those ideas and those concepts actually happen.

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So in GCSE Engineering at Swanmore, what we'll be doing is we'll be looking at how things work and the different tools and equipment and materials that we use, but we'll also be linking that to the scientific principles behind those.

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You'll also, rather than just focusing on what we're doing in school, there'll be a lot of studying of elements beyond school

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so, looking at real-world industry and looking at how different engineering principles that we're studying in class are used in the real world to manufacture and design everyday products.

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So, what will you study?

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Now there's a great deal of different areas that you study for GCSE Engineering, and that's because the way to think about GCSE Engineering is a sort of foundation qualification in the world of engineering.

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So what we'll do is we'll cover a broad range of different areas of engineering because there are lots.

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So just to name a few, you could go on and do automotive engineering, aerospace engineering, civil engineering, electronic engineering, and the list just goes on.

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So the idea of the GCSE is to give you a little bit of an insight into all those different areas so that as you develop your career in engineering, you can then go on to choose a specific area.

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So the bits that we'll be covering though will be we're looking at engineering materials.

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So that will be woods, metals and plastics

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developing your knowledge of those a bit more.

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But we'll also be looking at other materials like composites, we'll be looking at smart materials and ceramic materials and how those are used in different engineering applications.

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But also we'll be looking at how those materials work and how they might fail in certain applications.

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We'll obviously be doing a lot about the engineering manufacturing processes.

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So we'll be starting at the basics, talking about the different

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quantity methods. So we'll be talking about batch production, one-off production and mass production But then we'll be looking a bit more into those in terms of automated production and also just the different methods of manufacture that we use in school, but also that are used in the real world of engineering.

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We'll do a lot of studying on the mechanical, electronic, hydraulic and pneumatic systems, so a good example of this is

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in electronic systems, you'll be learning about programming.

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You'll be also looking at how you create your own circuits, how you make your own circuit boards and the science behind all of that.

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In terms of mechanical applications, you might have done the moving toy in year 8 where you've used a cam to make a part of it move.

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We'll be developing that knowledge and looking at different mechanical systems beyond just cams.

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There's also testing and investigation.

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So this might sound an odd one, not too sure what it means, but this is about once you've got a product or you're looking at an existing product, how do you test it, make sure it's safe? How do you make sure it works?

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So within this we'll be looking at destructive testing and non-destructive testing methods, talking about how evaluation can lead to improvements and that sort of thing.

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We'll also be looking at the impact of modern technology on engineering.

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So a good example of this is you may have seen our 3D printer or the laser cutter.

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We'll be looking at how those are used in industry and the impact that has on the quality of the products that you can then buy.

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But also we'll look at the impact upon the companies who put these things in place and also the workforce.

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Obviously a large part of this is also going to be looking at your practical engineering skills.

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So using hand tools, power tools,

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the heavy machinery around the room as well.

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And the way we study all of these different areas though is by undertaking a lot of smaller projects throughout the year and they have built up both practical and theory tasks.

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That leads on ultimately to the question we get asked a lot which is how much practical will I do?

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Now yes, GCSE engineering is a practical subject.

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I'm sure you've seen from

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Years 7, 8 and 9, that there's a lot of practical involved.

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However, we do need to now start to look at some of the principles and the theory behind the elements that we're studying, but you will still be doing practical.

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So as I said, the theory lessons are then supported by practical tasks. S you learn about the theory behind what we're going to do and then you'll have a go at doing it yourself.

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But that obviously does mean that not every lesson is going to be a practical lesson.

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Now it does vary throughout the year.

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So for some projects you might do a chunk of theory.

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So you might do two or three weeks of theory work, then two or three weeks of practical work.

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You might do a lesson of practical, lesson of theory.

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You might even do a lesson where there's a little bit of theory at the beginning and then practical for the rest of it,

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but if you were looking at that as a whole year,

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what you would have is a split of about 50/50.

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So about half your time you'll be doing practical work and then the other half you'll be doing theory work to support those practical elements.

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When doing practical work though, you will start to use a much broader range of materials and tools compared to what you've already done.

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So for example, you'll use a lot of hand tools that you've already used as well as using more different ones,

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but we'll also be making use of the heavy machinery that you see around the workshops.

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So if you've ever sat there in a technology lesson, looked around the workshop and wondered what some of the equipment we never seem to use is, in engineering you'll be starting to actually use that equipment.

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So the picture on the right, that's of a milling machine.

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So the picture on the right, that’s of a milling machine, understanding how that works and also using it practically.

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Now that does mean that because we're using more of this heavy machinery, the sort of people that do well at GCSE engineering are those who've got a level of maturity in the workshop, who can be sensible, because I'm sure you can appreciate that as the machinery gets bigger, there is a slightly higher risk.

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Obviously that is controlled, but we do rely on the maturity of our pupils in GCSE Engineering.

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You'll also use a lot of computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing.

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So you won't just use hand tools,

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you'll also use the computers to help you.

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and the idea is that over time, you're learning which your stronger areas,

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so when you come to how the course is assessed, you know which tools and equipment to pick.

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So what do you need to be successful at GCSE Engineering?

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So you need to be someone who obviously has an enjoyment of practical work.

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Although I said that there is a split of theory to practical, if you really hate doing practical work, it's probably not going to suit you.

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You also need to be someone who's open to exploring different solutions and different contexts and materials.

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So what I mean by that is you need to be open to trying new things, working with different materials, different tools,

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Some projects you might find really hard, others you might find a bit easier, but you need to have that

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drive and determination.

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You also need to have an enjoyment of exploring different design solutions.

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So what I mean by that is you might be set a problem and you've got to come up with a range of different design solutions to solve that problem.

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Now sometimes these will be done by hand.

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So you might do some hand sketching, you might do some card modelling, that sort of thing.

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But you also need to be open to using computers to do drawing and designing as well.

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So we use 2D design that some of you might have used and also Google SketchUp.

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So you do need to have that sort of desire and willingness to use both hand drawing media but also computer aided design.

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You also need to be inspired and motivated to look at different engineering sectors.

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So for example, if you've already decided that you want to go on and work in automotive engineering or aerospace engineering, you do need to have a sort of open mind in terms of the different areas of the course that we cover.

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Even if you don't know what area you would want to go in, you still need to have a sort of open mind in the sense of there might be areas of GCSE engineering and projects that you don't enjoy as much as other ones,

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but it's about gaining those skills and understanding of those different areas.

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You also need to have an enjoyment of physics.

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So a lot of the projects that we do and when we look at how these are applied to real world situations, they are based around scientific principles, in particular physics.

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So it helps if you have an enjoyment of physics as well and an understanding of physics.

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That doesn't mean to say that you have to be someone who's going to do

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the three different sciences.

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You don't have to be someone who's doing triple science, that's fine, just someone who enjoys that element of science.

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Finally though, and probably one of the more important areas, is you need to have a good understanding of maths.

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So a lot of what we do in terms of the theory is we look at the scientific principles

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and then we look at how those are reinforced by the application of mathematical principles.

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So you do need to have a good grasp of it.

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The exam in the summer of year 11, 25% of that has maths-based questions in it

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so you need to be quite confident with maths and have a desire to continue using maths in a subject beyond your maths lessons.

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The sort of things that you need to know about: you need to know about standard form,

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You need to be okay with working with fractions (so the adding multiplication etc of fractions),

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you also need to be able to rearrange formulas, you need to be quite good with Pythagoras theorems, and also you need to have a good understanding of how to present data and do calculations based on data (so producing charts, graphs, looking at ratios, percentage increases, that sort of thing).

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If you're unsure,

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of whether your maths understanding is going to be suitable for the GCSE Engineering course, then please by all means do come and speak to us and we can show you some of the maths that is involved so you can get a better idea before you choose.

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So how is it assessed?

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So it's assessed in two ways.

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The first way is a NEA, a non-examined assessment.

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So this is essentially a piece of coursework

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and it's worth 40% of your overall GCSE grade.

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So how this works is in the summer of year 10, so on the 1st of June, you'll receive a problem set by the exam board.

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Your task between the 1st of June and April of year 11 is to research the problem you've been set.

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You're then going to design and develop a solution to that problem.

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You're then going to manufacture it, so you're going to make a physical product,

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and then you're going to test and evaluate your solution.

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This is all done in class, you're guided through this and there's a lot of support and sessions to help with this work.

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But then the final 60% of the GCSE, that is assessed as an external exam paper,

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it is a long paper, it's a two hour one in the summer of year 11.

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It's a theory-based paper so there's no practical element in this

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and it's used to test your subject knowledge.

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So the NEA is sort of there to test your practical skills and your designing skills

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and then the external paper is then there to test your theory skills.

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So that is where you've got that mathematical element and that physics element in that.

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Now if you want to have a bit more of a look at

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GCSE Engineering, what it entails.

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The exam board that we use is AQA.

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So there's a link here that links directly to the page on the AQA website about GCSE Engineering.

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But what you can do as an alternative is if you just search for AQA GCSE Engineering, it will take you to that page and you can get a better understanding of what the course entails.

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So what can you go on to do?

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So you've done your GCSE in engineering, what can you do next?

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So there's a lot of different options available to you in terms of moving forwards if you want to go into a career of engineering.

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So there is an A level in engineering that is available.

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However, if you are someone who enjoys the practical side of engineering,

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then you might find that this A-level route isn't necessarily for you, as it delves even deeper into the physics and mathematical principles, and it's more about the theoretical elements of engineering, the designing and the modelling.

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If you wanted to do more hands-on stuff to do with engineering, there's also a lot of vocational engineering-based courses at our local colleges,

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So they are equivalent to A-levels and also they enable you to go on to higher level apprenticeships and also university if you chose to go that way.

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They are all normally based on a more practical and theory balance, so similar to how we've got a balance between the two.

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If you go down these vocational courses, there's a sort of similar balance of the learning of the theory and the application of that.

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So

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It does depend on how you learn and what you find best

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and obviously the other option you've got is there are apprenticeships that you could do at local companies and also national companies.

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So we've had people before do the GCSE engineering course and then go on and get an apprenticeship at...

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I've had some people who've gone on to work for Mitsubishi

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And all sorts of companies like that.

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So there is the apprenticeship route as well.

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So just to finish off, here's a few examples of projects that pupils have done for their GCSE projects.

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Now these ones all look very similar and the reason for that is because the project that they were set to make these

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products for was a security device.

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So these are all different security devices.

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So you've got the box with the white front on is a safe with a key code on the front.

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You've then got various door entry alarms that are disguised as something else.

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So you've got one there that looks like a light switch, one that looks like a fire alarm that could go on the wall next to a door, but then alert someone if someone broke into your room, for example.

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And then the blue one at the bottom, that again is a sort of personal security alarm.

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So if you were out and you got into trouble, it's something that you could have on you and activate if you needed it.

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So that brings to an end this presentation on GCSE engineering.

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If you do have any questions, then please obviously come and ask us in the technology department.

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Both myself and Mrs.

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Illsley are available to answer your questions about engineering.

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So do your research and hopefully if it sounds like something you're interested in, you will be able to pick GCSE Engineering.

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Thank you for listening.