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Structures: A chair for a bear
Testing the strength of materials and making a strong and stable chair.
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Structures: A chair for a bear
Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Describe chairs as stable, freestanding structures.
- Describe how chairs are made for different users and purposes.
- Explain how design briefs and design criteria help when making a new product.
- Name some shapes that are stronger than others.
- Describe how making a material thicker makes it more stiff.
- Understand and use the vocabulary of strong, weak, stiff and flexible.
- Make a stable chair structure for a particular user.
- Select suitable materials and join them securely.
- Evaluate a product against the design criteria.
- Improve parts of a product based on the design criteria.
Suggested prior learning
*New* Structures: Stable structures
Get startedLessons
Lesson 1: All about chairs!
- To evaluate existing structures.
Lesson 2: How does the shape of something affect its strength?
- To explore how shape affects the strength of a tower.
Lesson 3: How does the thickness of a material affect its strength?
- To explore how thickness affects the strength of materials.
Lesson 4: Making a chair for a bear
- To make a strong and stable chair for a user.
Lesson 5: Evaluating, improving and finishing a chair for a bear
- To evaluate and improve a structure.
Key skills
Key knowledge
Related content
Resources
Unit resources
Cross-curricular opportunities
Science: Working scientifically; Everyday materials; Uses of everyday materials
History.
English: Spoken language; Reading – comprehension.
British values: Mutual respect.