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  2. Design and technology > Lower key stage 2 > ARCHIVED Year 4: Making a slingshot car > Lesson 2: Designing the car body
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This lesson is archived.

Learning objective

  • To design a shape that reduces air resistance.

Success criteria

I can design a suitable car body to

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National curriculum

Design and technology

Design

Pupils should be

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Cross-curricular links

  • Nothing relevant to this lesson.
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Before the lesson

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Lesson plan

Recap and recall

Introduce the concept of air resistance to the class – either by watching the link: Science Projects - How to demonstrate air resistance' video or by demonstrating the same experiment to the class. Explain to the children that their task for today is to design the car body. They will not be assembling the car…

Learning objective

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Adaptive teaching

Pupils needing extra support:

May need support to apply air resistant shapes to their car.

Pupils working at greater depth:

Will apply their understanding of reducing air resistance to create a car shape that will travel faster.

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Assessing progress and understanding

Pupils with secure understanding indicated by: designing a shape that is suitable

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Vocabulary definitions

  • air resistance

    The level of drag on an object as it is forced through the air.

  • chassis

    The body of a car.

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In this unit

Assessment - D&T Y4: Slingshot car

Lesson 1: Chassis and launch mechanism

Lesson 2: Designing the car body

Lesson 3: Making the car body

Lesson 4: Assembly and testing

Created by:

Vicki Risianova

Design and technology specialist

Image Specialists 9
After 4 years of being a TV and radio presenter, Vicki headed to the secondary classroom where she spent 12 years teaching Design and Technology as well as PE. Working as a subject leader, she ran D&T tournaments and weekly clubs to get…
Find out more
Image Specialists 9

Maintained by: Kapow Primary team

Last update: 14th January, 2026

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Lesson 1: Chassis and launch mechanism Previous Lesson
Lesson 3: Making the car body Next Lesson

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