Lesson video

Hello, my name is Mrs. Bishop and welcome to our design and technology lesson.

Today, we are studying a unit called keep it safe: shell, solid and combination structures.

I'm so happy to see you again and I'm looking forward to beginning today's lesson.

I hope you're keeping well and that you are in a safe and calm place.

So when you're ready, let's begin.

Today is going to be a brilliant day because we are going to design, make and evaluate our structures.

I don't know about you, but I'm really excited to start.

In today's lesson, you will need some equipment.

The first thing you will need is a pencil.

Make sure it's good and sharp, so that you can draw nicely with it.

The next thing you might need is a ruler.

Your ruler can measure in centimetres or millimetres.

Whichever one you have to hand.

Next thing you might need is some card or paper, and you make sure that that's plain card or paper, or it could also be recycled card or paper.

You will also need some scissors and you must remember that scissors must be used under the supervision of a parent or a carer.

And finally, you might need some tape, that could be masking tape, or it could just be some sticky tape, whichever you have to hand.

If you don't have these pieces of equipment, you may go and get them now.

Now, let's look at what we are doing today.

The first thing you should have done was your intro quiz.

If you haven't had a go at that, pause the video now, and go and do that now.

Then you can come back and join us.

The first thing we're going to look at today is our design specification.

We're going to look at what factors that we need to include in our design specification, so that we can make a product that is really suitable for the users.

The next thing we will look at is making our structures.

So really going to get our hands in today and start making different things.

So hope you're ready for that.

Then we shall evaluate our structures and we'll start to think about what we like, dislike and want to improve about them as we continue our making process.

Finally, today, I would love for you to complete your exit quiz, so you can prove to me all of the things that you've learned throughout this lesson.

In today's lesson there are some keywords and these are really important.

I will say the word to you, and I would like you to repeat it after me.

I'll also read a definition for you.

The first word is structure.

Can you say the word structure? Structure.

Structure is an object constructed in several parts.

And that's what we're learning about during this unit.

Design specification.

Can you say design specification? A design specification is a series of specific points that a product needs to meet.

And today we'll be writing our own design specification for our structure.

Making, making.

Can you say the word making? Making is to form together materials to create structures, and that's the bit we're going to do today.

I really can't wait! Next is evaluating, can you say evaluating? This means to assess how well a structure meets the specification.

So today we will write a specification, begin to make our structure, and then we will also evaluate as we go along, thinking about how well our structure meets our specification, or how well it'll perform for our user.

Remember today we might make a prototype or a model of our structure.

You have to bear that in mind as we evaluate.

So, now that we know what we are doing today, let's begin.

I want you to start with thinking about what do all these objects have in common? First one I'm going to show you is a windmill.

The next one is a fabric bag.

Oh, I wonder what they could have in common? Let me show you the next one.

The next one is a bridge, and the final one I'm going to show you is a wooden box.

I want you to pause the video and have a think, what do they all have in common? Welcome back.

Could you tell me what they all have in common? Oh, thank you.

Well, let's see then what the answer is.

They are all types of structure.

And you can see lots of different types of structure in the picture.

Now, structures is what we've been learning about.

And I want you to think back to what we've learned before.

We've learned that there are different types of structures.

Can you tell me what they are? Oh, that's right.

There's shell, solid and combination structures.

We also created a detailed sketch of the type of structure we want to make.

And our structure might be a range of shell, solid and combination structures.

You might be making a model or a prototype of the structure.

And today, that's what we're going to start to do.

I wonder what type of structure you decided to make.

Did you decide to make some of these types of structures? Maybe you decided to make a purely shell structure, which could be something like a pencil case, or a packaging box or a bottle, or an igloo or a lunchbox.

What if the type of structure you're going to make is a purely solid structure? Such as a dog shelter, a wooden chair, a picture frame or a doll's house.

Perhaps you decided "I'm going to make a combination structure".

Such as a tent, which combines frame and shell structures.

There's the frame, is the bars in the tent.

And the shell is the covering, or the fabric in the tent.

Perhaps you decided to make a house, which would contain many different types of structure, wouldn't it? Inside it, to create that house shape and house design? Maybe you decided to make a sofa, or maybe you decided to make a bird's house.

I decided that I was going to make a dog's shelter.

It will be a prototype or a model of a dog's house, because I won't be able to make a real size one for my dog.

And that's fine.

That's what sometimes we do as designers, we make different prototypes to see whether or not the design would work.

And then after that, we go on to manufacture our real product.

Now, what I want you to do is refer back your design brief.

What did it say? Because this is really important today.

It might have said something like this.

I will design, make and evaluate a structure for a particular type of user to meet this purpose.

Mine said that I will design, make and evaluate a dog's shelter for my dog to keep them warm and safe.

It's very important that we look at our design brief because it tells us who the user is, and tells us the purpose of our product.

And it's very important that we think about that at all times whilst we're designing and making, otherwise our product might not be fit for purpose.

So what I want you to do, is I want you to read your design brief.

Can you identify the product that you will make, who the user of the product will be and the purpose of your product? This is a really important task so that when we start to make, we will make a product that's really fit for purpose.

Pause the video now to complete your task.

Welcome back.

The next thing that we are going to look at is our design specification.

What is a design specification and what will it say? Well, all designers use design specifications, and it tells them about the material, size, colour, location and manufacturer of their product.

It might also list other important points that are really vital when we start to make our product.

Sometimes our design specification changes as we start to make.

I want you to pause the video now and have a think, what might your design specification say? Welcome back.

Let's have a look at it together.

So, if I was making the design specification for a dog's shelter, it might look something like this.

And I need to look at each point.

My first one says my structure needs to be waterproof.

Why might that be? Well, it needs to be waterproof so that the user, the little dog, stays dry and warm inside.

The next point says the dog's shelter needs to be the right size for a dachshund.

And so my structure needs to be that size because my dog is a dachshund.

Well, he's some sort of mixture of dogs, I think.

And I need to measure him and find out what size is he? What height is he? What length is he? He's quite long! Because I want my dog shelter to be the right size for him in particular.

My structure needs to be manufactured using a net.

Because it's a model or a prototype of a dog's shelter, I need to be able to think about what nets I'll need to use to create the parts of the structure.

The colour of the dog's shelter needs to be neutral.

And I'm thinking about the users here.

Other dachshunds might be girls, or boys, and I want to make sure that it can be used by either of them types of dachshund.

The structure will be able to be used indoors and outdoors.

Because, think about it, some people like to keep their dogs inside and some people like to keep them outdoors.

Of course, I've got to be careful because this will just be a model or a prototype.

So I probably won't want to put it outdoors because the rain might ruin it.

But if it was a real product, I would need to consider that point.

My product also needs to be strong and stiff to hold its shape because the user of this dog's shelter will want a product that will last, it's quite an investment.

It would be quite a costly item if I were to make it.

So there's an example of my dog's shelter.

And hopefully I can make one that's similar to that one.

Now, I want you to pause the video now to complete your next task.

I want you to write your own design specification for your structure that you're planning to make.

Think about the most important features of your structure, and how it needs to meet the needs of your user.

Also think about the context, or purposes that your structure will be used in.

What do you need to include in your design specification to make sure that your product can do those things? Now that we have written a fantastic design specification, we will start to make our structures.

Today we might be making a model or a prototype of our structure, and that's just what real life designers do.

The reason that they do not go and make the final structure straight away is because it might be costly, and take a lot of time because they might not have the measurements right or the materials right.

We do not want to make our final structure and for it not to meet our specification.

So it's very important as you're making today that you refer back to the size and shape that it needs to be, and how your structure will meet the needs of the user.

And as we make our prototype, we might edit it and improve it.

Perhaps to make it stronger or stiffer, or perhaps to make it a better size or shape.

So that's what I want you to think about as you make your structures today.

As I start my designing today, I really want to consider my design specification.

And one of the things on my design specification was that I needed to make my dog shelter the right shape and size for the dog.

I'm going to use this little model dog because I'm making a model or a prototype today of the dog's shelter.

And I'm going to really carefully measure the length of the dog.

I've got to measure him from the tip of his nose to his tail.

He's around 20 centimetres long.

And I also want to measure the height of the dog to make sure that he is going to fit comfortably inside of the dog shelter.

For the product that you're designing, you need to make sure that it's going to be fit for purpose and be the right size and shape for the person who's using it.

So I can see here that he is 14 centimetres tall.

I might want to make my dog's shelter slightly longer than that so that it will be easy for him to turn and move around.

So when I come then to start making my shapes for my dog's shelter, from recycled cardboard, I can use the ruler to measure the height that I need.

So I set the ruler, find 20 centimetres, and I can mark that off before I start to cut it.

That way I should get a more accurate shape and design today.

What I'd like you to do now, is I'd like you to begin to make your structure.

I've broken this up into three parts for you.

So you're going to start with marking out the shapes of your structure using a ruler and a pencil.

Do remember to refer back to your design specification as you make it.

The next thing I want you to do is under the supervision of an adult or a carer, use scissors to cut out the shapes in the structure, and remember, keep on referring back to your design specification so that you know you are making your product to be the right size and shape.

The next thing I want you to do is assemble all the shapes for your structure.

And again, I am asking you to refer back to your design specification, because it's very important that as designers we keep those users in our mind and we keep on thinking, will this structure meet the points for the user, and for the context that it will be used in? Remember our structure might just be a model or a prototype but those are used by designers to help us to make the final design.

So I want you to pause your video now to complete your task.

Welcome back.

I hope you've enjoyed making your structure today.

Could you hold it up for me to see it? Oh, they really are wonderful.

Perhaps you came across some different challenges as you were making it, and that's to be expected.

And that's why we sometimes evaluate our structures as we go.

That's our next thing that we're going to look at.

I want you to think about the structure you've made today.

And we're going to evaluate it using simple method.

I want you to look really carefully at it, examine it very carefully.

And I want you to think, what do you like about your structure? Try to find a few things that you like.

Maybe you like the shapes that you used, perhaps you liked the materials that you used.

Perhaps you liked the size of the structure and think that it'd be fit for the user.

I also want you to think, what do you dislike about it? What doesn't work about it? Have a really good look at it.

Maybe choose two or three things that you dislike about it.

And that leads me on to my next point.

What would you improve about the structure? So we're in a cycle here, where we're designing, making, evaluating, improving.

And I want you to think about how are we going to improve this next time we meet? And finally, you could ask someone else what they like or dislike about your structure, because that can provide important feedback that can help us to improve our structures and make them better for the users.

I hope you enjoyed doing that today.

So this is what I want you to do, I want you to pause the video and evaluate your structure so far.

And don't get too worried if it's not finished yet.

It's really important that we do evaluations as we make.

So what do you like about your structure? What do you dislike about it? And what would you wish to improve about it? Thank you everyone for joining me today.

I think you've done a fantastic job making your structures today.

Well done, and I hope you're looking forward to continuing to make them next time.

I know I can't wait! In the meantime, I hope you stay safe and happy.

And I look forward to seeing you again soon!.