Mechanisms: Making a moving monster
This unit hub can be used to inform your medium term plan and to navigate to related resources.
Themes
This unit’s theme is based on a moving monster. For guidance on how to adapt the unit to the alternative theme of ‘Easter – Mechanical animals’, please visit the ‘Other theme’ page.
Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Identify the correct terms for levers, linkages and pivots.
- Analyse popular toys with the correct terminology.
- Create functional linkages that produce the desired input and output motions.
- Design monsters suitable for children, which satisfy most of the design criteria.
- Evaluate their two designs against the design criteria, using this information and the feedback of their peers to choose their best design.
- Select and assemble materials to create their planned monster features.
- Assemble the monster to their linkages without affecting their functionality.
Suggested prior learning
Mechanisms: Making a moving story book
Get startedLessons
Lesson 1: Pivots, levers and linkages
Lesson 2: Making linkages
Lesson 3: Designing my monster
Lesson 4: Making my monster
Key skills
- Creating a design criteria
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Key knowledge
- To know that mechanisms
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Key vocabulary
axle
design criteria
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Unit resources




Assessment D&T Y2: Moving monsters
Assessment resources for this unit. Use
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Knowledge organiser
A summary document for pupils' use,
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Subject resources




D&T Long-term plans
A suggested order for teaching Design
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National curriculum mapping
This National curriculum coverage document shows
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D&T: Progression of pupil skills and knowledge
Progression documents showing how skills and
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Equipment list
This spreadsheet allows you to estimate
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Policy support
A risk assessment document to support
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Design and technology: Risk assessment (editable)
An editable copy of our Design
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Assessment
Spreadsheet to record teacher assessments against
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Key vocabulary
Vocabulary document that shows key vocabulary
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Cross-curricular opportunities
None relevant to this unit.