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 embed a working pneumatic system into a product." And these are our keywords.

We have "pneumatic system," "assemble," and "embed." I'll go through each one of these in a little bit more detail as we work through the lesson.

So the first thing we're going to look at then is assembling a pneumatic system.

Now, 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 animal toys with simple pneumatic systems to use in the interactive display.

Now, a moving animal toy uses air to move one or more of its parts, and here we can see a simple pneumatic system that is used to make it work.

So in this example, we have a plastic bottle, some plastic tubing, and a balloon at the end of it.

Now, as the bottle is squeezed, the air from the bottle is pushed and forced through the plastic tubing, down the plastic tubing to the balloon that's at the end.

And as the air is pushed and forced into the balloon, the balloon inflates and gets bigger, and this opens the jaws of the crocodile.

Now, there are three simple pneumatic systems that we could use for a moving toy animal.

We have the bottle and balloon system.

We have a syringe system with one output.

And we have a syringe system with two outputs.

They all work by forcing air along a tube to make something move or change shape.

Okay, let's do a quick check on pneumatic systems then.

So how do simple pneumatic systems work? Is it A, they use air to make things move; B, they use water to make things move; or C, they use electricity to make things move? Pause the video here to have a think about your answer.

And the correct answer? So, simple pneumatic systems work by using air to make things move.

Well done if you got that right.

So let's have a closer look at the bottle and balloon system.

First, we have the actual bottle, and this is classed as the input.

The input is whatever we are doing and putting into the system, and the bottle is squeezed, pushing out the air inside the bottle.

The air is then forced or pushed along the tube.

And then the output is the balloon the other end.

The balloon is going to inflate as it is filled with the air.

Now, resources needed for a bottle and balloon system are these: We need a clean, dry plastic bottle.

Now, washing-up or sports bottles with small nozzles work best, as that is easier to fit the tubing onto.

You've then got a balloon, a 30 cm length of plastic tubing, four mm or five mm in thickness works best for this, and some sticky tape.

Now, the steps to assemble a bottle and balloon system are: First, you need to attach the tubing to the nozzle of the bottle, and you use tape to secure it.

Then, you attach the balloon to the other end of the tubing, and again, use tape to secure it.

And lastly, you then squeeze or pump the bottle to inflate the balloon.

Let's have a look at the syringe system with one output.

So the air is sucked in and pushed out by the plunger, and that's the input for this system.

The air is then forced backwards, and it can also be forced forwards.

And then we have the output; the air moves the plunger in and out.

So let's look at the resources we need for making a syringe system with one output.

So we need one large 20 ml plastic syringe, one small 10 ml plastic syringe, 300 mm or 30 cm length of four mm plastic tubing, and sticky tape to secure the joins if needed.

So the steps to assemble a syringe system with one output are as follows: Firstly, you are going to attach the large open syringe to the tubing.

And notice it is open; the inside of the syringe is pulled all the way out.

Next, we're then going to attach the smaller closed syringe to the other end.

So, notice for this one, the inside of the tube is pushed all the way in.

That's really important.

Then, we're going to use the large syringe to test the system works.

Lastly, then we'll look at the syringe system with two outputs.

So firstly, air is sucked in and pushed out by the plunger; that's the input on the left.

The air is then pushed along the tubing and split into two paths, and it's split by using a Y connector, as you can see in the picture.

The moving air then moves the plungers in and out, which is the outputs.

Now, the resources needed for a syringe system with two outputs are as follows: You need a Y connector for this one.

You also need a large 20 ml plastic syringe, just like you did for the last one, but this time you need two small 10 ml plastic syringes.

Again, you need 300 mm length of four mm plastic tubing, but you also need two smaller lengths of four mm plastic tubing, and you may also again need sticky tape.

Now, the steps to assemble a syringe system with two outputs are as follows: Firstly, you are going to attach the large open syringe to the tubing.

Remember, that large one must be open when you attach it.

You're then going to attach the Y connector to the other end of the tubing.

You're then going to attach the two smaller tubes that you had to the Y connector.

You're then going to attach the small closed syringes to the small pieces of tubing.

And remember, it's important here to make sure they are closed when you attach them.

And then lastly, test it works by using the large syringe to actually test the whole system.

Okay, there was a lot of information there, so let's just do a quick check that we've understood all of that.

Which of these is a step in assembling a double, which is two, output system? Is it A, attach a balloon; B, attach a Y connector; or C, use one small and one large syringe? Pause the video here just to take a moment to think about your answer.

And the correct answer? It was B, you need to attach a Y connector.

Well done if you got that right.

Okay, it's going to be over to you now to have a go at a task.

I'd like you to follow the steps to assemble this.

Okay, it's going to be over to you now to have a go at a task.

I'd like you to follow the steps to assemble this simple pneumatic system you will need for your moving animal toy.

Now, this may be different to the person next to you, and you might need to just look back on your action plan to remind yourself of which pneumatic system you're thinking of using.

Is it the bottle and balloon, the single-output syringe, or the double-output syringe? Okay, pause the video here to have a go at this task, and good luck! Okay, so let's look at Izzy's example.

Izzy followed the steps to make a bottle and balloon pneumatic system.

And she's assembled the system here in the picture.

And she's just explained, "I made sure the balloon was secured tightly to the tube with tape to stop air from escaping." How did you get on making yours? Were you able to get a really tight fit, or did you have to use extra sticky tape just like Izzy did there? So next, we're going to look at embedding a pneumatic system.

So now we have a working pneumatic system.

Well done.

We need to embed it into the body of a moving animal toy, though, to complete our product.

Izzy just asked an interesting question here: "What does 'embed' mean?" Can you remember? Feel free to pause the video.

Just have a little think about that.

The word "embed" means to put something inside something else so it becomes part of it.

Izzy wants to embed a bottle and balloon system into her moving animal toy, and we've got Izzy's design here to remind ourselves of what that looks like.

Now, she uses her design and an action plan, which includes a list of materials to assemble the moving animal toy.

And she's just said here, "I know I need to adapt the egg box to make it work." And she's included that information on her design; she's included that by just adding a little bit of an explanation.

Okay, quick check then.

True or false? The word "embed" means to take something apart.

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

The correct answer, it is false.

When we embed something, we are putting it inside something else to make it a part of it.

Well done if you got that right.

Now, the resources needed to embed Izzy's pneumatic system are these.

She's got her already assembled pneumatic system, which she will already have as well.

She's also got an egg box, scissors, pencil, and masking tape as well.

Now, the steps to embed a pneumatic system into a moving animal toy: Firstly, carefully cut the lid and tab from the box, then cut out the supports in the middle of the box, and these are usually in the base, and cover them with masking tape.

Then, reattach the lid on the short edge using masking tape.

Next, we're going to use a sharp pencil to make a hole in the base under the taped hinge; hopefully, you can just see that there in the picture.

We're then actually going to remove the bottle from the tube in her pneumatic system and pass it through that hole that we've just made.

We're then going to pull through to position the balloon in the right place, and then we can reattach the bottle to the plastic tubing.

So a double syringe system to make eyes move, like in the example, would need more changes.

So for this type, we would need to use a sharp pencil to make two holes in the lid.

We'd also need to remove the large syringe and pull the tube through the hole in the base.

And then we'd need to position the smaller syringes in the holes in the lid.

Okay, quick true or false for you: Your pneumatic system will fit straight into your box with no adjustments or no changes.

Is that true or false? Pause the video here to think about your answer.

And the correct answer? It is false.

You will have to make adjustments or changes to the box, such as piercing holes or removing sections to make the whole system fit inside, just like I've shown you in the examples there.

Okay, it's going to be over to you now to actually embed your pneumatic system into your animal toy.

So I'd like you to follow the steps to embed a simple pneumatic system into the main body of your moving animal toy.

Now, as you do this, you will need to make small changes to the box you are using to embed the system.

So if you remember, I showed you having to remove the lid and also remove the supports inside.

You will also need to disassemble, which means to take apart, your pneumatic system just for a moment, so as to be able to embed it in the box.

And again, if you remember, I removed the tubing from the bottle just for a moment to be able to push it into the box before reattaching it again.

Okay, it's going to be over to you now.

So pause the video here to have a go at this task.

Enjoy it, and good luck.

Okay, how did you get on? I'd love to see all of your pneumatic systems at this point and see how they're getting on.

Now, Izzy followed the steps to embed the bottle and balloon system into her moving animal toy, and this is the example I showed you before.

She's got her assembled product now, and you can also see the inside view with her balloon inside.

She has just explained, "I had to make small changes to the box to embed the pneumatic system inside." How did you get on with your small changes that you had to make? And is it now all embedded inside the actual animal toy itself? Hopefully, you got on really well, and you've got some really good products.

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

Today, we've been looking at embedding a pneumatic system.

Pneumatic systems need to be assembled and tested for a purpose, and systems need to be embedded into products to try to hide the mechanism where possible.

Well done for all of your hard work today.

I would love to be able to see your moving animal toys and see how they're getting on.

I bet they look great.

Thank you so much for joining me for the lesson, and I will see you soon.