Design and technologies / Year 3 and 4 / Design and Technologies Knowledge and Understanding

Curriculum content descriptions

Investigate how forces and the properties of materials affect the behaviour of a product or system (ACTDEK011)

Elaborations
  • examining models to identify how forces and materials are used in the design of a toy
  • exploring through play how movement can be initiated by combining materials and using forces, for example releasing a wound rubber band to propel a model boat
  • conducting investigations to understand the characteristics and properties of materials and forces that may affect the behaviour and performance of a product or system, for example woomera design
  • deconstructing a product or system to identify how motion and forces affect behaviour, for example in a puppet such as a Japanese bunraku puppet or a model windmill with moving sails
  • identifying and exploring properties and construction relationships of an engineered product or system, for example a structure that floats; a bridge to carry a load
  • experimenting with available local materials, tools and equipment to solve problems requiring forces including identifying inputs (what goes in to the system), processes (what happens within the system) and outputs (what comes out of the system), for example designing and testing a container or parachute that will keep an egg intact when dropped from a height
General capabilities
  • Numeracy Numeracy
  • Critical and creative thinking Critical and creative thinking
ScOT terms

Materials,  Properties of matter,  Mechanical energy,  Engineering

Video

Different paper plane designs

How many different paper plane designs are there? Lots! Watch as Dylan Parker, paper plane expert, demonstrates some of his favourites. Notice the way the different shapes and features of the planes cause them to move through the air in different ways. Which one do you like the most? Why not have a go at making something similar?