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Lesson plan 4 – Strong Structures (Design and Technology)

This lesson plan aims to help pupils look at and learn about different structures and buildings, including some of the world’s largest and strongest. Through creating their own structures, pupils will have the opportunity to put their own thoughts, designs and ideas into practice to fulfil a DT challenge.

You will use an average of 480 toilet rolls in your lifetime! If you piled these one on top of another they would stand about 100 metres taller than the Empire State Building.

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Curriculum links:• 1a, c • 2a, b, d • 3a, b, c • 5a, b, c

Learning Objectives:• To learn about different types of structures.

• To plan and complete a DT challenge.

Resources: all available to download at www.guinnessworldrecords.com/discover

• A selection of construction bricks.• Presentation 4 – Strong Structures.• Guinness World Records 2012 spreads – Sci-Tech & Engineering.• Newspapers and/or toilet/kitchen roll tubes.• Sticky tape.• At Home – Record-breaking Structures sheet.

Timings Introduction10 mins • Split the class into small groups and provide each group with a selection of

construction bricks.

• Ask the groups to create a tower, bridge or construction of your choice with their items. Give the groups 5 minutes to complete their task.

• After the 5 minutes is up, ask the groups to show what they have come up with.

• Ask the class if they found the task easy or difficult and what things they had to think about when creating their structures.

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Timings Activity20 mins • Share with the class Presentation 4 – Strong Structures and show the Sci-Tech

& Engineering spreads in the Guinness World Records 2012 book showing the world’s tallest buildings, longest bridges and strongest structures.

• Discuss with the class what someone needs to think about when they are designing and building a large structure.

• Share the ‘Did you know?’ slides with the class.

• Provide the class with a selection of toilet/kitchen roll tubes and/or newspaper and some sticky tape.

• Explain that in groups they will be creating their own structures – either a tower or a bridge, and this time with the chance to plan them first.

• Explain that their structures either need to be a certain height or hold a certain weight and the highest tower or strongest bridge will win a prize.

• Discuss with the class what they will need to think about before setting out to make their structures.

Plenary10 mins • Once the groups have created their structures, judge which one is the tallest or the

strongest and award that group a small prize.

• Discuss with the whole class what made this group’s structure successful. How did they make their structure stand so tall or so strong? How did they make the most of their materials?

Extension• Ask the groups to evaluate their structures and decide what they could have done to make their

structure better, taller or stronger. Now that they have created their structures, what would they do differently next time to make them more successful?

• Set the groups another construction challenge to create a different type of structure with a different purpose and set of criteria. What will they need to think about for this challenge?

• Encourage the class to visit www.guinnessworldrecords.com/discover to discover more record-breaking buildings and structures.

At Home• Provide pupils with the At Home – Record-breaking Structures sheet to look at and research

different record-breaking buildings. Encourage students to complete the missing information about the different buildings and research any new buildings that may break records when they are completed.

• Ask the pupils to bring their completed sheets into class and to discuss what they have found out and share their findings. Have any of them discovered facts that others had not known before?