Lesson video

Hello, thank you for joining me for your Design and Technology lesson.

My name is Mrs. Conway, and I will be guiding you through your learning today.

So today's lesson outcome is, "I can finish products effectively." And these are our key words: disguise, finishing technique, and decoration.

I'll go through each one of these in more detail as we work through the lesson.

So the first thing we're going to look at is disguising pneumatic components.

The local Science Museum are creating a new display called "Products that use Air." The exhibition will help primary school pupils explore how air can be used to make things move.

They have invited local schools to design pneumatic, or moving air, animal toys to use in the interactive display.

Now, these pupils have made the basic structure of their moving animal toys, and embedded a simple pneumatic system to make it move.

So Izzy's just explaining, "I'm using a bottle and balloon system to open a crocodiles mouth." And Jun is just explaining, "I'm using a syringe system to make the eyes of a crab move up and down." Now the components or parts of the pneumatic system can be disguised to improve the look and effectiveness of the product.

Now the components could be changed, or added to, or covered up, to make them less visible, and that's what disguised means.

Now the visible components need to be disguised, so kind of hidden or covered up in some way.

Okay, so what does the word disguised mean? Is it A, cover up or hide, B, visible or on show, or C, remove or take away? Pause the video here just to take a moment to think about your answer.

And the correct answer, the word disguise means to cover up or hide.

That was answer A.

Well done if you got that right.

Now, changing components.

You may be able to change some components for new ones which fit the design better or are more disguised.

Now Izzy's just explaining, "I changed a green balloon for a red one, so it'll all be disguised as the crocodiles tong." That's a great idea.

You can also add to components.

So by adding extra detail or decoration to a component, this can help to disguise it.

So Jun has just explained, "I reuse the supports from the egg box, and some cardboard circles, to cover the syringes and make them look more like eyes." This is a really great way to hide the top of the syringes.

And you can also cover up components as well.

So covering up components can completely hide them, which will improve the look of the product overall.

So Jun is just explaining, "You can cover the tubing with a masking tape or paper so it could be painted over and then hidden." Another really great idea that you might be interested in using yourself.

Okay, true or false? Disguising components can improve the look and effectiveness of the product.

Is that true or is it false? Pause the video here just to take a moment to think about your answer.

It was true.

Hiding the components lets us focus on the design and the movement, the output, rather than how it works.

And the design and the movement is the important bit after all.

It's gonna be over to you now to have a go at a task.

I'd like you to decide which parts of the pneumatic system in your moving animal need to be disguised.

So can they be changed to suit the design, be decorated to look like part of the animal, or be covered up completely? I'd like you to choose suitable techniques to decorate or cover the components.

Pause the video here to have a go at this task, and good luck.

Right, how did you get on with your decisions? Now, by changing, decorating, or covering components, you can help to disguise them and improve the look and effectiveness of the product.

And hopefully you've come up with some really good ideas of how you can do that for your product and your design.

So next we're going to look at the finishing techniques that we can use.

So next we're going to look at the finishing techniques.

Now a pneumatic moving animal toy can be finished to improve the way it looks.

So here's an example of an unfinished product, which is what yours might be looking a little bit like at the moment.

And there on the right is a finished product.

Now the finished product should work well, and perform as intended in the design.

There are different things to think about when deciding how to finish a product.

So materials is one of them.

You may also need to joining methods, and also color.

What colors are you going to use? Now you can use your design ideas to help you choose your finishing colors or materials or joining methods.

So you might just need to dig out your design idea to remind yourself of what you wanted your final product to look like.

Another quick question for you.

What are finishing techniques? Are they, A, ways to work more quickly, B, final steps to give a product its look, or C, design drawings with annotations.

Pause the video just to take a moment to think about your answer.

The correct answer, it was B.

So finishing techniques are final steps to give a product its final look.

Well done if you got that right.

Now a wide range of techniques can be used to add extra detail or decoration to a product, including things like papier-mache.

Papier-mache is covering with layers of paper or tissue and glue.

Paint, to cover or add details.

Collage, which is where you're sticking extra bits to the product.

And drawn details as well, using things like pencils or paint pens or felt tips to add details, like we saw with the crab eyes.

Now it's a good idea to cover up any holes or any uneven surfaces with masking tape or paper before decorating.

And you can see I've done that in this little picture here.

So there was a hole inside of the egg box, but that's been covered up with masking tape.

So when that's painted over, you won't see that hole anymore.

This makes a really smooth surface to work on, and improves the look of the final product.

The body can be painted directly, or papier-mache can be used to cover the body before painting.

And this can help to smooth the surface.

Or in some cases you could use it to actually add texture.

Layering color tissue paper with glue can smooth the surface and add color at the same time.

So let's look at some top tips for adding papier-mache or tissue paper layers.

Now, you use the tissue paper, kitchen roll, or newspaper, all of those things will work.

You then mix PVA glue with a little bit of water to make it thinner and easier to spread.

And then you spread the glue on the surface of the box first, then add the tissue paper, or whatever paper you are using, and then spread more glue on top of it.

You can also add extra details or features by drawing, painting, gluing, stapling, or taping to the main body.

And you can see some examples here, where you can see some eyes being drawn on with a felt-tip pen, and you can see some little claw crabs being stapled on there, and the teeth for the inside of the crocodile are being glued on the inside.

To do any of these things, you do need to wait for the papier-mache or the paint on the main body to dry completely before adding detail.

Now that's really important, because when you're excited, or you're feeling a little impatient, you might wanna just add all these details on straight away.

But this could ruin it, and it is best to wait for the paint to dry completely first.

Okay, another quick question for you.

What is papier-mache? Is it A, adding details using pens or collage, B, painting a surface with paint, or C, gluing strips of paper to a surface? Pause the video here just to take a moment to think about your answer.

The correct answer was C.

So papier-mache is when you are gluing strips of paper to a surface.

Well done if you got that right.

Now, the finished product should match your designs, unless you made changes or adapted them along the way.

And here you can see a lovely example of a crap.

And you can see it working here as well.

So as the syringe is being pushed on a simple pneumatic system, the two smaller syringes that are connected by a Y-connector on the other end are making the eyes of the crab go up and down.

And I love the idea.

It should also function and work correctly, just like this crab is doing in the example.

Okay, it's going to be over to you now to finish up, and your finishing touches to your moving animal toy.

So this is what I'd like you to do.

I'd like you to neaten up your moving animal toy ready to add the final finishing techniques.

So to do this, you need to consider covering any holes with masking tape or paper, and also remove any loose or unwanted material.

You're then going to choose suitable technique to cover the main body of your moving animal, either paint only, papier-mache, and then paint, and layered colored tissue paper.

Lastly, you're going to choose suitable techniques to add any final details or decoration to your moving animal.

And I always think this is the most fun part, because this is seeing it all come together right at the end.

Top tip for doing this.

Make sure the main body is completely dry before you add the final details.

Remember that's really important.

You wanna keep that high-quality finish for your product.

Okay, it's gonna be over to you now to finish off your toy, so good luck and enjoy this task, and pause the video here to get on with it.

How did you get on? I really hope you enjoyed those final stages of making your toy.

Let's look at Jun's here.

So first, Jun prepared his moving animal toy with the final finishing techniques.

He then used layered tissue technique to cover the body.

And finally, he used a stapler to add claw details made from scraps of cart.

Have a little look at your toy.

Did you follow those different steps of making sure that the surface was prepared correctly, then adding color or layers to actually cover your product, and then adding any detail or decoration at the end? Hopefully you'll really proud of what you achieved in the making of your toy today.

Okay, let's summarize today's lesson then.

Today we've been looking at assembling a pneumatic animal.

Finishing techniques can disguise components, and card or paper can be used to add finishing techniques.

But other materials can also be used to add finishing techniques as well.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work in today's lesson.

And I will see you soon.