Structures

Design and make windmills

Design

•  Learning the importance of a clear design criteria. 

• Including individual preferences and requirements in a design. 

Make 

•Making stable structures from card, tape and glue . 

• Learning how to turn 2D nets into 3D structures. 

• Following instructions to cut and assemble the supporting structure of a  windmill.  

• Making functioning turbines and axles which are assembled into a main  supporting structure. 

Evaluate

• Evaluating a windmill according to the design criteria, testing whether the  structure is strong and stable and altering it if it isn’t. 

• Suggest points for improvements.

Technical Knowledge 

• To understand that the shape of materials can be changed to improve the  strength and stiffness of structures.  

• To understand that cylinders are a strong type of structure (e.g. the main  shape used for windmills and lighthouses). 

• To understand that axles are used in structures and mechanisms to make  parts turn in a circle. 

• To begin to understand that different structures are used for different  purposes. 

• To know that a structure is something that has been made and put together.