Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

Welcome to your design and technology lesson for today.

I hope you're really excited to get started with the lesson, but first let's introduce ourselves.

My name is Ms. Lauren and I'm your design and technology teacher.

Would you be able to tell me what your name is? Amazing, it's really lovely to meet you.

We got a really busy lesson ahead, so let's get started.

So we are on lesson six of our structures unit and we've been learning all about free-standing structures.

And do you remember last lesson, we were helping out the "Three Billy Goats Gruff", weren't we? They had a disaster.

Their bridge crumbled as they started to cross the river.

So we were really helpful and designed them a new bridge, didn't we? But today, we're going to be looking at from idea to prototype.

So idea is what we've got in our head and a prototype means a model of that idea that we have in our head.

Let's see what equipment you will need for today's lesson.

In this lesson, you will need some spaghetti.

So the dried spaghetti pasta.

You'll also need some marshmallows but don't worry if you haven't got marshmallows, I don't have marshmallows today.

I'm going to use some Blu Tack instead.

So you might need marshmallows or Blu Tack or even playdough, something that the spaghetti will stick and hold into, okay? And then you will need a toy car or a few toy cars.

I've got mine ready.

So if you need to pause the video and go and collect any of those things, now is the time to do it and I'll see you in just a moment.

Off you go.

Welcome back, and thank you for collecting everything you need.

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

So first altogether, we're going to do our intro quiz and then it will be star words time.

Then we're going to look at the brief, and we we'll do our talk task, and we're going to look at supports, and it'd be your independent learning time, and finally all together, we will finish with our exit quiz.

It is time for our intro quiz.

So I've got one big challenge question for you today.

Now we've been talking lots about free-standing structures, haven't we? But, hmm.

Who can remember, what does free-standing mean? Does it mean that it can stand up all by itself or does it mean it cannot stand up by itself? So, free-standing can stand up by itself or cannot stand up by itself? Have a few seconds to think.

Are you ready to tell me? Can stand up by itself or cannot stand up by itself? Tell me now.

Amazing.

Free-standing means it stands up all by itself.

Well done, I knew you'd remember that.

It is time for our star words.

Let's check to see if our voices are ready.

I'm going to say star words and then it will be your turn.

Are you ready? Super, my turn.

Star words, star words.

Your turn.

Sounds like your voices are ready.

Let's see what's our first star word is for today.

My turn, support.

Support.

Well done, let's see what's our next star word is.

My turn, brief.

Brief.

Well done, do you remember when we used the word brief in our last lesson? Remember that brief outlines the problems that we need to solve.

So what did our product have to do to solve that problem? Next star word, my turn.

Prototype.

prototype.

Well done.

We've heard of the word prototype already today, haven't we? Remember, prototype is making a model of our product.

And finally, oh, it's a tricky one.

My turn, aesthetics.

Oh, that was tricky, wasn't it? Let's try again, aesthetics.

Well done.

Aesthetics means the way something looks or feels.

and normally it's a pleasant positive look that it has.

Well done for joining in.

Now, let's take a look at our brief for today's lesson.

Our brief today links really closely with what we were learning about last lesson.

Do you remember we were learning about bridges? Today, our brief is linked to bridges again.

Lets see what it's going to be this time.

Have you ever heard of the song "London Bridge is Falling Down?" Do you think you could sing the first verse with me? Let's try.

Ready? ♪ London bridge is falling down ♪ ♪ Falling down, falling down ♪ ♪ London bridge is falling down ♪ ♪ My fair lady ♪ Well done for joining in.

But this is going to help us with our brief today, London bridge is falling down.

We need to make London bridge stronger and more stable so it doesn't fall down.

Should we have a look at our brief, all the things we need to do to make sure London bridge does not fall down? Let's see.

Let's take a look at that brief now.

First, we need to make a bridge that won't fall down.

Remember, London bridge is falling down.

Our bridge won't fall down.

We need to make a prototype from spaghetti and marshmallows.

Remember, prototype is making a model of our product and remember you've got your spaghetti and you've got your marshmallows or your Blu Tack or playdough.

So we're going to use those to make a model.

Make the bridge aesthetically pleasing.

There's that tricky word again, aesthetically pleasing, hmm! That means we need to make it really interesting and really attractive to look at.

Someone will look at your bridge today and then go, "Wow, that looks amazing." That's what we're aiming for.

And we need to make a bridge fit the purpose.

So we know what bridges are used for, don't we? We discussed that last lesson.

So we know that a bridge helps us to cross over something that normally would be very difficult or even impossible.

So bridges help to cross things that normally we wouldn't be able to cross.

So when we make our bridge, we need to make sure that it can be crossed over.

So it's got a deck for cars or for people or any type of transport to go over.

So it won't fall down, we're going to make a prototype.

It needs to be aesthetically pleasing, so really great to look at, and it needs to be fit for the purpose.

So it needs to work like a bridge.

That sounds like lots of things to think about, doesn't it? But I think we can do it.

Now, we're going to do our talk task, and our talk task today is going to help us to make sure that when we make our prototype of our bridge, that we have everything we need for it to be successful.

So let's see what we're going to do.

So now I'm going to show you some photographs of some different bridges.

I want you to take a good look at these photographs and think about, what do you like about this bridge? What don't you like about the bridge? Can you spot any shape? And are the shapes there to make it look good, or are they there to do a just special, important job? Let's see the first photograph.

Have a good look.

Have some little time to think what do you like, what don't you like? What shapes can you see? And are the shapes there do a good job, a special job, or are there to look good? Let's see the next picture.

Okay, this bridge actually opens so boats can go through.

What do you like about it? What don't you like? Can you see many shapes? Can you find any shapes for me? And are those shapes there to make it look good or to do an important job? Next bridge.

Wow, I can see lots of shapes in this one, can you? Do you like this bridge? Do you not like it? What shapes can you see? And are they there to do an important job or are they there to look good? A few seconds to have a really good look.

Okay, next picture.

This is a different type of bridge, isn't it? So have a good look.

What do you like about it? What don't you like? Can you see any shapes? Are they the same shapes that you could see on the other bridges or are they a bit different? And are those shapes there to make it look good or to do a really important job? Here's another picture.

This is the Tower Bridge in London.

Do you like this bridge, or is there anything you don't like about it? Can you see any shapes for me, and are those shapes there to make it look good or to do an important job? Have a look for me.

Well done for having a look.

And here's another bridge and this bridge is in London as well.

Do you like it? Is there any parts you don't like? Can you spot any shapes? And are those shapes the same shapes we've been spotting all of this time? Do you think it looks good, or they're shapes that help do an important job? Have a few seconds to have a look.

So, here are all the bridges that we have just looked at.

And what you're going to do now everybody, is you're going to pause the video and you're going to talk about the bridges that you can see here.

You're going to talk about, what did you like about they're design? What didn't you like? What shapes did you see? Do you think the shapes were there because they looked good or because they were doing a good job? So pause the video now, have a chat about all of those questions and then press Play when you're ready.

Off you go.

Welcome back and well done for having some talk time.

I wonder what sorts of things you talked about? I wonder, did you notice a really similar shape that we could see in all of those bridges? Let's see if we can spot it.

Have a look.

What shape can you spot on all of the bridges? It's even on this bridge as well.

I wonder, did you notice that there are triangles in all of the bridges and even on this one here, where the supports go into the water? There's even some diagonal supports as well, making that triangle shape.

There's lots of triangles on this bridge, isn't there? And this one, shape here, can you see the white support beams? They have a triangle shape and even the supports that are in the water have got one going straight and one heading in.

They're lots of triangles.

Now I wonder, do you think those triangles are there to make it look good or do you think those triangles are there to do an important job, to make the bridge strong and stable so it doesn't fall down? What do you think? To look good or to support the bridge? What do you think? Tell me.

They're there to support the bridge, to make it strong and stable.

Some of the bridges look really awesome though, don't they? Those triangles are there to do a really, really important job and hold up parts of the bridge and make it strong and stable.

Well done, everybody.

I'm going to show you why triangles are the strongest shape.

Now let me show you why the use of triangles is really important in bridge structures to make them strong and stable.

Let's have a look at the square shapes like I have here.

You can see this shape is not stable.

It doesn't stand up very well by itself.

It can move really, really easily with a very gentle force.

Now watch what happens if I make this square into two triangles.

Hmm.

I have added a bar across the diagonal of my square.

So I've made a triangle here and a triangle here.

Now, I can't move, I can't squash I can't tip over this square at all.

This bar across the middle here that makes it into two triangles has stopped this square from moving so freely and so easily.

But triangles make it rigid.

So I can't move it even if I push it really hard, I can't move that square anymore.

Triangles help shapes to be strong and rigid so they don't move.

That's cool, isn't it? It is almost time for us to get started with making our prototype of our bridge using our spaghetti and marshmallows.

Let's just double check we're really confident with bridge supports before we get started.

So let's take a look at some photographs of some bridges again, and let's see if we can find the supports.

Have a look at this first picture.

Can you see the pillars that's coming out of the water and holding up to the deck? Can you see how they are big, strong structures and there's two of them with a bar on top? And that's to make sure it can hold the weight of the people walking over that bridge.

So when we make our bridge, we need to make sure that the deck has been held up.

I wonder, will you just have one on each side or do you think it's important, like the picture we can see on your screen, to have one in the middle as well to hold up that deck? Let's see the next picture.

And this picture has lots of triangle shapes, doesn't it? For it to support? So this support that is holding up the deck is a diagonal shape.

It's a triangle shape.

So that could be really important, couldn't it? The holding up all parts of your bridge.

And all of the beams that we can see on the bridge as well have been held up with triangle shapes.

They can take the weight really, really well.

And our last picture.

Again, there's lots of triangles supports in this picture, isn't there? Like I said before, the pillars that are in the water, one is straight and one is diagonal to make it as strong as it can.

And remember, you can see the triangle shapes with the white beams, can't you? This helps to keep everything upright and rigid and for the bridge to be strong and stable and to be able to hold the weight without swaying and moving.

Let's take a look at those three pictures as a whole.

Here they are.

So remember, your bridge today needs support.

It needs to be held up so the deck has something to hold on and we need the sides to be triangle shapes to stop it from moving and swaying, which is very weak, isn't it? We need the triangle shapes to make it rigid.

Wow, we have done lots of learning about bridges today.

Let's put all of that knowledge in our hat.

Put it in.

Tie it up tight, because now all of that knowledge we are going to use to make our spaghetti bridge.

Shall I show you how to get started, and then it will be your turn? So I have made a start with my spaghetti bridge and I have started with the supports that are going to hold up the deck of the bridge.

And I'm going to use triangle shapes because I know that they are super, super strong.

So what I do with my spaghetti, I have snapped it to be the correct size.

And then I'm going to use my Blu Tack.

You can use your marshmallows or your playdough.

And you put the spaghetti, you squash it inside of the Blu Tack.

Now can you see how I've used three bits of spaghetti for one component? Putting more than one piece of spaghetti will make it stronger.

So I've done that, especially for the support at the bottom.

So I've started with the support at the bottom to be able to put my deck on top.

Let me show you.

I have managed to put my deck on top of my support here.

At the moment, it is still a little bit wobbly so I might need to do some changes to solve that problem on the supports that hold up the deck.

I might add in another triangle, or I might add in some A-frames, so another bit of spaghetti to make a capital A shape.

I wonder if that might help.

Now, what I'm going to do is to make some bridge supports on my deck.

So I'm going to use my bits of spaghetti to make some triangle shapes to go across the sides of my bridge.

Now, I put a beam across the top as well.

So that's what I will do next.

Now everybody, it's going to be your turn.

Do you think you can build me a stable bridge using your spaghetti and your marshmallows or your Blu Tack or your playdough? Don't forget to keep testing whether your bridge is strong and stable.

So I'm going to put my toy car in the middle.

It does hold it, but it did wobble a little bit.

So it's not super, super stable at the moment.

Good luck, everybody.

So pause the video, make me your spaghetti bridge and then press play when you're ready.

Off you go.

Welcome back everybody.

I hope you had great fun building your spaghetti bridge.

I had great fun and I almost couldn't stop because I wanted to keep adding more and more but I decided to stop here.

Now, before you left me, I just had two little triangle shapes, just my supports to hold up my deck.

But while you were busy working, I've added in some extra triangle shapes to make it even stronger to hold up the deck.

I've also added some sides to my bridge and I have included as many triangles as I could, 'cause remembering triangles help our structures to be strong and stable.

Now don't forget to test out your bridge to see if it can hold your toy car.

There we go.

Well done if you've managed to build yourself a spaghetti bridge today and it can actually hold your toy car.

That's really amazing learning.

And a big, even bigger well done if you remembered to use lots of triangles in your support for your bridge today, great job.

It is time for our exit quiz.

So before you go, I've got one big question that I would like you to answer.

Today, we've been looking at the structure, bridges.

We've learned lots about how bridges are supported to make them strong and stable.

Can you remember what shape is included on bridges to make sure that it's strong and stable and doesn't fall over or fall down? Can you remember that really strong shape? Have a few seconds to think.

Have you got the shape? Do you know what shape makes it strong and stable? Tell me now.

Triangles.

Well done if you've remembered that triangles are included on bridge structures to make sure they're strong and stable and that they are rigid, so they don't fall over, and they can take all of the weight of the things that are crossing over the bridge.

Well done.

If you would like me to have a look at your spaghetti bridge from today, you can share your work with Oak National and if you do that, I will get to see the work that you have done today.

If you would like to, please ask your parents or carer to share your work on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, tagging @OakNational and #LearnwithOak.

Well done on another amazing lesson, everybody.

I can't wait to see you next time, bye.