Lesson video

Hi, everyone.

I'm Mrs. Courts and I'm very pleased to join you for today's lesson on Simple playground structures.

This is part of the Freestanding Structures Playgrounds unit.

In our lesson today, our outcome is: I can explore and create playground structures using construction kits.

To do this, we have got five new keywords.

I'll say them first and then you repeat them after me.

Hope you're listening very carefully.

Brilliant.

Freestanding, freestanding.

Excellent.

Freestanding is something standing up by itself.

Designer, designer.

Excellent.

A designer is someone who plans and creates how something should look and be made.

And structure, structure.

Super.

A structure is something that is made for a purpose, something that is formed and holds its shape.

Mock-up, mock-up.

Super.

A mock-up is making an example of something to test or to learn new skills.

And our final keyword today is building, building.

Super.

Building is making something new with different materials.

This could also be known as constructing.

Well done, everyone.

Great listening.

In our lesson today of simple playground structures, we have two parts, two learning cycles, and our first learning cycle is exploring a famous artist and designer.

This is Morag Myerscough.

She's a famous TV personality who is well known for her art and her designs.

Morag Myerscough is known for her use of bright, vibrant colours, and her use of shape.

As an artist and a designer, her designs and ideas are unique.

I wonder if you remember what that word unique means.

That's right.

Unique means one-of-a-kind.

So she is also known for her positive energy that's seen in her artwork and her creations.

As I read through these questions, have a little think, and you may wish to share your ideas with a friend or somebody near you.

So have a little look at the background.

Does it look fun and exciting to you? What do you notice? Can you spot any shapes in there? Well done.

And what is Morag Myerscough wearing and how might it represent her art and her designs? Well, these are some of Morag Myerscough's creations.

Well, they are made with different shapes and different sizes full of bright, bold colours and give positive feelings and energy.

We are ready for our check for understanding now.

And I wonder if you've been listening and looking really, really carefully.

Excellent.

So which of these are the work of the artist and designer Morag Myerscough? Is it A, B, or C? Pause the video now and have a little think.

Welcome back.

Did you manage to guess which two were the work of artist and designer Morag Myerscough? That's right, it's B and C.

Well done.

As we have a look at the next couple of slides, you may wish to stop and pause them at any point and have a look and a talk with someone near you.

So this is the village sculpture that's based at Compton Verney in Warwickshire.

What do you notice about the colours, the shapes, the sizes, the energy, and the vibrancy? This is a certain pavilion at Canary Wharf in London.

Again, what do you notice about the colours, the shapes, sizes, energy, and vibrancy? Here are two different structures.

So if you compare the two different play areas, what do you notice? Well, this first one has straight lines and blocks of colour with a wavy slide, but it isn't as bright.

And this design has bright fun design with lots of colours and lots of shapes.

We are ready for our next check for understanding now.

Are you ready? Super.

So Morag Myerscough's work is known for: A, its energy; B, being tall; C, being made with bright colours; and D, being made of wood.

Pause the video now and have a little think.

Welcome back.

So Morag Myerscough's work is known for its energy and its bright colours.

Well done, everyone.

We're ready for our first task now, Task A.

And I'd like you to have a look at Morag Myerscough's work.

I'd like you to think about, what do you like about her work, what makes her work unique, that means one-of-a-kind, and the features of her work, and how could you use her work in your own playground designs.

Pause the video now and complete Task A.

Welcome back.

I hope you had lots of fun exploring Morag Myerscough's work and discussing it.

Excellent.

Well, the Oak class talked about her work.

And Izzy said: Her ideas are very bright, fun, and exciting and she makes outdoor spaces become a lot of fun.

Well done, Izzy.

Jun says: I'm going to use bright, bold blocks of colours and lots of different shapes in my playground.

Excellent, Jun.

And Alex said: I really like the energy and fun that goes into her work.

My playground needs to be lots of fun.

Well done, Alex.

We're ready for our second part of our lesson now, which is called Exploring and creating structures.

Playgrounds are fun, exciting places where children explore, meet friends, and they play.

And within a playground, there are lots of different structures.

There are pieces of play equipment such as slides and swings, and the play equipment is all different shapes and sizes.

Andeep says: What is a structure? That is a good question, Andeep.

I wonder if anyone knows the answer.

What is a structure? That's right.

Well done.

Well, Jacob says: A structure is something that is made for a purpose, something that is formed and holds its shape.

Well done, Jacob.

Well done, everyone.

We are ready for our next check for understanding now.

So hope you're listening really, really carefully.

True or false? A structure is something that is made for a purpose, something that is formed and holds its shape.

True or false? Pause the video now, have a little think.

Welcome back.

So true or false? A structure is something that's made for purpose, something that is formed and holds its shape is true.

Well Done.

Why? Brilliant.

Within a playground there are lots of different structures.

They are pieces of play equipment such as slides and swings, which are made for a purpose.

And the purpose is for children to enjoy playing on and exploring them.

Well done, everyone.

The play equipment should be made from stable and strong structures.

Aisha says: Children have lots of fun climbing and moving around the play equipment and therefore it needs to be strong enough to keep them safe.

Well done, Aisha.

Some structures are freestanding and others are not.

Freestanding means they stand on their own without being attached or supported to another structure.

The chair is freestanding because it is not attached to anything else.

The radiator is not freestanding because it's attached to the wall.

You do sometimes get freestanding radiators, but most of them are attached to the walls.

Play equipment is often fixed to the ground using anchors to stop it from moving.

These anchors are often like large tent pegs and can be made of wood or metal, and some are set into concrete to hold the equipment even more firmly.

Playgrounds must be checked regularly during building and when in use to make sure they are safe.

And playgrounds are used a lot, so they often need to be repaired to make sure they're stable, strong, and freestanding.

We are ready for our next check for understanding now.

So I wonder if you are listening really carefully.

Excellent.

Playground structures need to: A, be strong; B, fall over easily; or C, be freestanding.

Pause video now and have a little think.

Welcome back.

So playground structures need to be strong and freestanding.

Well done, everyone.

The playgrounds look very different because they all have different equipment made to different sizes and different shapes.

Andeep says: Some have curved shapes and others straight sides.

And Jacob said: Playgrounds all have different parts and different features.

Well done, everyone.

These pieces of play equipment are designed in bright colours to make them interesting and attractive to children.

A playground designer will gather people's thoughts and opinions to make the playground that will suit the needs of a large number of people.

This slide is made of plastic because it's safe to slide down and will last a long time.

The main part of this play equipment's made of wood, which helps it to blend in with the environment and it is easy to assemble.

That means to build.

Not all play areas are brightly coloured.

Instead, the wood is coated to protect it from the weather and to help it to last longer.

Construction kits are a good way to make mock-ups and they help us to explore ideas about how playground structures are made, move, and are joined together.

Here is a swing, some monkey bars, and a roundabout.

You might have recognised them.

Some pieces of play equipment are designed to move.

Here's a mock-up of a swing.

The seat hangs from ropes or chains that moves forwards and backwards.

Here is a mock-up of a roundabout, the piece of play equipment that turns around on a pivot point.

And here's a mock-up of a seesaw.

A seesaw moves on a pivot point.

Some pieces of play equipment are designed to stay still.

Here are some mock-ups of monkey bars and a mock-up of a climbing frame.

Both of them are freestanding structures and they're both made from construction bricks.

We're ready for our next check for understanding now, so I hope you were listening really carefully.

Excellent.

So playground equipment needs to be something and something.

Is it strong and sturdy, is it tall and wobbly, freestanding, or fall over? Pause the video now and have a little think.

Welcome back.

So playground equipment needs to be strong and sturdy and freestanding.

Well done.

We're ready for our next task now, Task B.

And I'd like you to firstly, using a range of construction kits and materials, build a playground.

You might choose to work as a group to create different parts each and then compare your playground mock-ups to each others.

What's different? What parts do you like? Which parts were more difficult to make? And finally, how did you make your playground interesting? Pause the video now and complete Task B.

Welcome back.

I hope you had lots of fun creating your mock-up playgrounds.

Well done.

Well, Aisha said, "I enjoyed making a mock-up model of playground equipment.

I created one using building bricks, monkey bars, and a climbing frame.

I might add a slide next time," she said.

"The other mock-up used a construction kit.

It was harder to put together, but I really liked the framework.

I ran outta time, but realised it didn't have a slide and it was harder to add a platform to." Well done, and well done to everybody for your hard work today.

We've reached the end of our lesson for today on Simple playground structures, and I wonder if you can give me a thumbs up if you feel you understand and you know these points.

That Morag Myerscough's designs are fun and bright in outdoor spaces.

Well done.

And within a playground there are lots of different structures.

Excellent.

And play equipment should be made from stable and strong structures.

Super.

And finally, construction kits can be used to make quick mock-ups of structures.

Well done.

Well done for all of your hard work today and I hope you've had lots of fun.

And I'll see you soon.

Bye.