Lesson video

Hi, everybody.

It's so lovely to see you.

I'm really pleased that you have opened up today's design and technology lesson.

My name is Miss Larham and I am your design and technology teacher today.

I really hope you're looking forward to today's lesson.

I am.

We've got a problem to solve.

We've got somebody that we need to help.

Have you ever heard the story "The Three Billy Goats Gruff"? That's great if you have, don't worry if you haven't.

We're going to be helping out these goats today.

We've got a special job to do.

Do you think you'd be able to help me do that? Amazing, let's get started.

Today we are less than five of our structured unit where we have been learning all about freestanding structures.

Do you remember the last lesson when we made a free standing structure for Humpty Dumpty? I made a butterfly freestanding structure, didn't I, and I made sure that this tube was able to stand up all by itself.

I hope you still got yours.

Make sure you keep it safe.

Today we're going to be designing a bridge.

That sounds exciting, doesn't it? Let's see what equipment we will need.

In this lesson, you will need some paper, a pencil, some tape, some bricks, and some scissors.

And remember, because I'm asking you to use scissors, make you are supervised by a parent or a carer.

Let's take a look at what our lesson is going to look like today.

First, all together, we're going to start with our intro quiz and then it will be star words time.

Then we're going to look at bridges.

Then we're going to introduce the brief.

Then we're going to do some planning together.

After that, it will be your independent learning time.

And finally, all together, we will finish with our exit quiz.

That sounds like a busy lesson, doesn't it? It is time for our intro quiz.

I've got one big question for you.

Now, do you remember last lesson when we made our freestanding structure? And we wanted to fix this tube to this box here.

Do you remember that? Can you see the technique that I used? Now, what did Miss Larham call this box? Did she call it the base, or did she call it the wall? So did we attach it to a base or a wall? Have a few seconds to think.

What did we call this bit, base or wall? Do you think you know? Do you think you can remember? Okay, tell me now.

Well done for remembering.

We attached it to the base.

Well done if you knew that.

That's amazing remembering.

It is star words time.

Get those hands a flash for me.

Well done.

Let's practise saying star words in our quiet voice.

My turn, start words, star words.

Your turn.

Well done.

Let's try in our loud voice, are you ready? My turn, star words, star words! Your turn.

That was super loud.

Well done.

I think our voices are ready for our star words.

Let's see our first one for today.

My turn, brief.

Your turn.

Brief.

Well done for joining in.

Our next star word.

Freestanding.

Freestanding.

We know the word freestanding, don't we? We know that freestanding means can stand up strong and stable all by itself.

We know that word really confidently now, don't we? Let's see our last star word for today.

My turn, plan.

Plan.

Well done.

Now brief and plan, don't worry if you're not sure what they mean just yet.

We're going to be covering that later in our lesson, but we definitely know what freestanding means, don't we? Stand up strong and stable all by itself.

Well done.

So our lesson today is all about bridges.

Let me show you some photographs of some different bridges.

So on your screen now you can see some photographs of some different bridges.

Take a few seconds to have a really good look at the photographs on your screen now of all of these different bridges.

Well done for having a look.

Now what we're going to do is we're going to have a think.

Hmm, what do we already know about bridges? What do we already know about bridges? What information could you tell me about bridges? What you're going to do now is pause the video and have some time to think.

Come up with some ideas.

What do we already know about bridges? And then press play when you've got your ideas.

Off you go.

Welcome back and well done for having a think about what you know about bridges already.

I wonder, do you know why? Why do we have bridges? What is the purpose of a bridge? I wonder if you came up with that it provides a way to get over an obstacle, and this obstacle is usually very difficult or even impossible to cross.

So bridges help us cross over things that are hard to get across sometimes, even impossible, such as a canyon or a river or a stream, or even over another road.

So that's why we need them, to get over those things that we can't cross using our legs.

Now, I wonder if you noticed that some bridges are small and some bridges are very, very, very, very, very very long and very, very, very, very, very tall.

Some bridges are small and some bridges are ginormous.

I wonder, do you know what material bridges are usually made from? There's some clue in the pictures if you're not sure.

Did you notice that they're usually made of wood or metal or stone? They need to be a really strong material, don't they, especially if they've got trains or trucks crossing over them all day long.

Have you noticed that most of the bridges on the photographs have sides to them? I think they're there to keep everybody safe, aren't they, so they don't fall off the bridge.

We know lots about bridges already, don't we? Great job, everyone.

Now I have got a challenge for you.

A bridge challenge.

Now, can you build me the longest bridge you can from a single sheet of A4 paper and some building blocks? You may use your scissors, but no glue, no tape, and no other materials.

You need to make your bridge so it can hold eight cubes at its centre, to hold eight cubes in the middle of your bridge.

It's all right if you haven't got any cubes.

I might test mine out using my toy car.

I'm going to see if I can get started and then it will be your turn.

Now I think I'm going to use my building blocks to hold up the parts of the bridge that we're going to walk over or drive over, so that's what I'm going to use my building blocks for.

Remember, we've only got one piece of paper.

We've got to make it long, so we should make as long as possible, so I'm going to put my piece of paper on.

Let's test it with my toy car, check that it holds it.

Oh my, it doesn't hold a toy car, does it? I wonder, do I need to do anything with my piece of paper to try and make that stronger? Do I need to do anything with my building blocks to make it stronger so it can hold my toy car? I might try folding my paper in half.

Let's see what happens then.

Check with my toy car.

Still doesn't work.

I wonder what I could do with my paper and my blocks to make sure that it holds that toy car.

I'm going to have to keep thinking.

It's your turn.

See if you can manage better than I can.

Press pause, try and make that bridge for me that holds those cubes or that car, and then press play when you have a go.

See you soon.

That was really tricky, wasn't it? Did you manage to make me a bridge that could hold up some cubes or a car? I managed to give it a go.

The first thing I did is I made these two towers a little bit shorter.

And then I thought, hmm, I'm going to cut my paper to make two different parts.

And I thought, hmm, I know triangles are super strong, going to see if I can use that.

So I put that in between my two brick towers with the rest of my paper, and then put that on top, and then put my car on.

And it held it.

This triangle bit here is helping to hold up that bit that was really weak and fell down.

And then I thought, hmm, the challenge was to make the longest bridge and this is quite a short bridge.

So I gave it another try.

This time I had a go at folding my paper.

And when I put the bricks I took off before, I turned around and put them the other way.

And I made this shape here and I put them over the top of my bricks so this time it's longer.

Then I put my car in the middle.

And it held.

So I managed to make two, and this was the longest bridge I could make because this was the longest part of my paper.

I hope you managed to make me a bridge as well.

Great effort and great perseverance.

Now, we're going to look our brief.

Now a brief in design and technology is where we talk about the problem that our design is going to solve.

So should we find out what our problem is? Okay, now I'm going to tell you a story.

Once upon a time there lived three billy goat gruff brothers.

There was the littlest goat.

The middle goat.

And the great big goat and he was the biggest and oldest of all of the brothers.

Now the goats, they lived on a hillside and they spent all day eating grass and drinking from the nearby river.

The munched, munched, munched all day long.

But one terrible day, the goats noticed that they had eaten all of the grass.

There was no grass left for them to eat.

The littlest billy goat started to cry.

"What are we going to eat? There's no grass left for us to eat." But the biggest Billy goat brother said, "Don't worry, little brother.

Look, look over there.

Look at that meadow full of juicy, fresh, long green grass.

All we have to do is cross over the bridge over the river then we can eat all of the grass on the other side of the river." So the three billy goats gruffs, they headed off towards the bridge.

Now this bridge was a very old stone bridge.

It had been there for thousands of years and the biggest billy goat gruff brother, he took one step onto the bridge ready to cross to find the new grass.

But disaster struck.

As soon as he stepped onto the old bridge, it started to crumble.

It shook and it cracked.

And then all of a sudden the bridge collapsed into the river.

Luckily, the biggest billy goat gruff, he stepped off just in time.

But now what are the brothers going to do? They can't get over the river.

The bridge has disappeared.

It's crumbled and floated away in the river.

What a disaster.

Now, I'm wondering everybody, do you think we can help the billy goats gruff get to the fresh grass on the other side of the river? Fantastic, let's see how we can help them.

Do you think you can help the three goats gruff get across the river? Brilliant, I'm so glad you are able to help.

That's fantastic.

Now let's have a think about that brief.

A brief means all the things we need to design to help to solve the problem.

Remember the problem is the goats can't get to the fresh green grass because they can't cross over the river.

So we're going to design them a bridge, a bridge that can help them get over the river.

Now the bridge must go all the way over the river.

It must be freestanding.

What does freestanding mean again? That's right.

Freestanding means strong as stable and stand up all by itself.

Well remembered.

Now we could use a wall.

We know lots about walls, don't we? Or a frame structure, and we know about frame structures too, don't we? You must make sure we can get on the bridge and off the bridge.

And if you want an extra challenge, you could build sides to your bridge to help keep us safe.

We're going to have some pause time now.

So what you're going to do is you're going to pause the video to complete your task.

And you're going to talk about ideas for your bridge.

Think and talk about a bridge that you have seen.

So we've seen some in our photographs, haven't we? And you might have seen some when you've been out and about.

What was it made from? How did people get on and off it? How was it freestanding? What shapes could you see in its design? There's lots of things I'd like you to think about there, okay, so pause the video, think about all the things you know about bridges and then press play when you're ready.

I'll see you soon.

Welcome back and well done for taking some time to have a think about what you know about bridges already.

That's going to really help us with our designing, isn't it? Let's just remind ourselves of the design brief and all of the things that it needs to include so we can do a little bit of planning together.

So let's remind ourselves of all the things our bridge must have to be able to meet the design brief.

So remember the bridge must go all the way across the river, so we need to design it so it's long enough to go all the way across the river.

And remember the bridge must be freestanding.

So when you design it, you need to make sure you've used some techniques that this bridge can stand up all by itself.

So for that you might use some of your building blocks, might you? Or I wonder, if you have any of these tubes, this cylinder shape, remember our technique from last lesson where we can fix this to a base.

I wonder if that might hold up a bridge well.

And remember, you could use a wall so you could use your building blocks to incorporate a wall into your bridge.

Do you remember what the strongest brick pattern is? Well done.

It's the staggered joint brick patterns, so you can include some of that.

You might also include a frame structure into your bridge.

And do you remember frame structure is where we join our thinner components, so this straw-shaped, to make a structure.

I wonder if we might be able to include some frame structure too.

Now remember we to be able to get on the bridge and off the bridge.

So remember bridges are quite a unique shape, aren't they? They arch over so you can come on the bridge over the top, and off where it goes up, straight and down, so we need to make sure we design a way to get on and off the bridge.

And remember, if you'd like an extra challenge, you can build sides to your bridge to help keep the goats safe so they don't accidentally fall off and into the river.

So let's remember all of these things when we do the next activity.

So now I'm going to design the bridge for the billy goats gruff, so I've got my paper, my ruler, and I've got a pen.

The first thing I'm going to think about is how I'm going to make my bridge freestanding, so how it's going to stand up by itself.

And I think I am going to use the tube shape because it attaches really well to the base and it will hold lots of weight.

So I'm going to draw my tube on each side each, each end of the bridge.

Okay.

So this is going to help it be freestanding.

Now I've got to think about the walkway where the goats are going to walk, so I'm going to add in the walkway.

And for this, I'm going to use some card.

I'm going to label that.

It's a little bit stronger than paper.

And I've got to remember to get on and off the bridge.

I'm going to do some diagonal card as well coming on and off the bridge.

Okay, so all the time I'm checking my design brief so I can get on the bridge and off the bridge.

These tubes will help to make it freestanding.

And I remembered when I was doing Miss Larham's bridge challenge earlier, by posting something strong and stable in the middle where the weight is going to be really important.

And I'm going to use a bent arch shape.

And what I'm going to do is I'm going to bend a piece of card into this arch shape.

So when them goats are walking across here in the middle where the bridge was weaker, adding in this arch will help to hold that weight.

I'm going to label that as well.

I'm going to use bend some card.

So can you say how I'm writing in my labels as well? Now what I'm going to do is I'm going to think about the challenge to adding in those to keep the goats safe.

And I'm going to incorporate some of my frame structure now.

So these are going to be my paper straws, the ones that we used when we made our frame structure.

Be joining those together.

At the moment, you can still get underneath, still fall off really easily.

What else I'm going to do is I'm going to add in some more straws.

And I'm going to add in triangle shapes.

I know triangles are super strong.

All the way across, keeping everybody safe.

And I'll label that as well.

Paper straws.

Okay, so here is my bridge design for the three billy goats gruff.

Now it's going to be your turn.

So what I would like you to do is make your bridge design, the one that you would like the goats to use to get over the river.

Okay, so pause the video, create your design and press play when you are done.

Off you go.

Welcome back, everybody.

I hope you managed to finish your bridge design.

Now, before we go, we just need to check our bridge design includes all the things from our brief.

Let's just check.

So let's have a really good look at your design.

And we're going to check, does it go all the way across the river? Give yourself a thumbs up if it does.

Well done.

Check for me, is it freestanding? So is the bridge going to stand up by itself? If it does, give me a thumbs up.

Well done.

Check, can you get on the bridge and off the bridge? If you remember that, gave me a thumbs up.

Super.

And does the bridge has sides to keep us safe? If you managed to remember to include some sides on your bridge, give me a thumbs up.

Well done.

Now, don't worry if you couldn't give a thumbs up to all of those because what you might like to do now is pause the video and change your design.

So if it's not freestanding yet, make some changes to your design to make sure that it is.

If you forgot to go on and off the bridge, don't worry.

You can pause the video now and make those changes.

So well done on your brief design, everybody.

Now, before you go, it's time for our exit quiz that we're going to do all together.

So the first question is, who were we helping today? Who were we helping to solve that problem? Can you remember? Have a few seconds to think who you were helping.

Are you ready to tell me? Tell me now.

That's right, today we were helping the three billy goats gruff.

Well remembered.

And what did we design for the goats? What were we designing today? Have a few seconds to think.

Are you ready to tell me what we're designing today? So you can tell me now.

That's right, we designed a new bridge for the goats today.

Well remembered.

Now, make sure you keep this bridge design really safe because we will need that next lesson.

I really, really look forward to seeing you then everybody.

Bye.