This session the children are using their prior and newly built technical knowledge to design and make a mechanical system.
What is a mechanical system?
Year R children had a range of materials and tools to help them construct a bridge across a choice of gaps varying in width. They used their cutting skills, problem solving skills and knowledge of construction to build a selection of bridges.
What equipment did you use?
How did you build your bridge?
Which material did you find the best?
KS1: were given a wide range of materials and tools to test. In a later session they will design and make their own pop-up page. They tested to find out which materials they thought were the best to fold, the easiest to punch holes in and the one they could cut.
Which material did you choose and why?
What material did you find the least suitable and why?
Can you give 3 items you will need for your pop-up design?
KS1 made a slider representing the Gingerbread man running away. This task demonstrated how a slider moves.
What tools did you need?
How did your slider move?
KS2: are focussing on gears, pulleys and levers. To understand how gears, work the children used quercetti gears to build a two-gear system. They proceeded to add more gears of various sizes to see what effect this has on the rotation.
Can you explain what happens when the two gears of the same size are turned?
How will more gears effect the rotation of the others?
What changes when you rotate a big gear and a small gear together?
KS2 also investigated how pulleys work. They made a lift that raised a paper cup up while carrying a quantity of pencils.
What is a driver?
What is a follower?
How can you change the pulley to rotate in different directions and not in the same direction?
Did your pulley system work?
What would your next steps be?
To identify levers and linkages the children made a mechanical system that demonstrated the motions.
What is a lever?
How does a linkage work?
Can you explain the difference between a pivot and a linkage?
Did your mechanical system work?
What would you change next time?
