Before starting this unit, ensure that the children can recall:
- Mechanisms are a collection of moving parts that work together to cause movement.
Learning objective
- To explore how pneumatic systems create movement within mechanisms.
Success criteria
- I can define a mechanism as a system of parts working together to create movement.
- I can recall that a pneumatic system can be used as part of a mechanism.
- I can identify pneumatic systems in a range of everyday objects.
- I can describe how a pneumatic system forces air over a distance to create movement.
National curriculum
Design and technology
Design
Pupils should be taught to:
- Use research and develop design criteria to inform the design of innovative, functional, appealing products that are fit for purpose, aimed at particular individuals or groups.
- Generate, develop, model and communicate their ideas through discussion, annotated sketches, cross-sectional and exploded diagrams, prototypes, pattern pieces and computer-aided design.
Evaluate
Pupils should be taught to:
- Investigate and analyse a range of existing products.
- Understand how key events and individuals in design and technology have helped shape the world.
Technical knowledge
Pupils should be taught to:
- Understand and use mechanical systems in their products [for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages].
See National curriculum – Design and technology - Key stages 1 and 2.
Cross-curricular links
Mathematics (Year 2)
Geometry – properties of shapes
Pupils should be taught to:
- Identify and describe the properties of 2-D shapes, including the number of sides, and line of symmetry in a vertical line.
See National curriculum - Mathematics - Key stages 1 and 2.
Forces and magnets
Pupils should be taught to:
- Compare how things move on different surfaces.
See National curriculum – Science - Key stages 1 and 2.
British values
- Mutual respect.
- Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.
See Promoting fundamental British values as part of SMSC in schools (non-statutory advice) – contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v2.0.
Before the lesson
Watch
Watch
Check all images, videos, links and presentation slides are suitable for your class.
- Presentation: Pneumatics throughout history.
- Presentation: Exploring pneumatics.
- Equipment for the Attention grabber challenges (per group of four and one for the teacher demonstration):
- 1 sandwich bag;
- 1 large book;
- 1 balloon;
- plastic tubing (approximately 20-30 cm in length with a diameter of 4–5 mm to fit the pump or bottle);
- masking tape;
- 1 box with a hinged lid;
- 1 ball pump, balloon pump or bottle with a small nozzle, such as a washing-up liquid or sports cap bottle.
- Equipment for the Main event syringe exploration (per small group):
- 3 syringes (two of the same size and one of a different size);
- plastic tubing to connect the syringes (approximately 30 cm lengths with a diameter of 4–5 mm);
- 1 ball pump, balloon pump or bottle with a small nozzle, such as a washing-up liquid or sports cap bottle.
- Link: Assessment – D&T Y3: Mechanical systems: Pneumatic toys (optional – see Attention grabber).
- Link: BBC - What is a pneumatic device? – this is an external website and we do not have control over its content – please check before showing it to the children.
Prepare this lesson in presentation mode
Choose what to show your class.
Print in advance of the lesson.
Activity: Exploring pneumatics (pre-cut, one between four).
Resource: Knowledge organiser: D&T - Pneumatic toys (support - see Adaptive teaching).
Resource: Unit vocabulary (optional - one class set for display).
The Knowledge organiser provides a visual summary of the key facts and vocabulary for the unit. The children can use it throughout the unit to check keyword meanings or spellings and to help them remember important information when completing an activity. Find further ideas for using the Knowledge organiser to support adaptive teaching here.
Subject knowledge
- Pneumatic systems use compressed air to create movement.
- When air is compressed in a closed space, it builds up pressure, which can be used to exert force on an object, making it move.
- The prefix pneum relates to air, lungs and breath. For example, pneumonia is an inflammation of the lungs that affects breathing. Other related terms include pneumatic tyres (inflated with air) or a pneumatic drill (uses compressed air to break hard surfaces).
- Simple examples of pneumatic systems include bike pumps, air brakes and inflatable objects like balloons.
- Pneumatics are used in many real-world devices, such as air brakes in buses, dentist tools and even theme park rides and gates.
- A pneumatic system involves:
- a pump (or similar device) to compress the air;
- a container (like a balloon or syringe) to hold the compressed air;
- a tube or pipe to transfer the air;
- a mechanism (such as a moving part on a toy) that is pushed or pulled by the air pressure.
- Depending on the order in which topics have been taught, the children may not have covered forces in the Lower key stage 2 Science curriculum when completing this unit. Modify the vocabulary and references to forces to suit their prior learning.
Misconceptions
The children may think that:
- ‘Air is weightless’ – air has mass and weight and can exert a force to cause movement.
- ‘Air cannot move solid objects’ – even though it may be invisible, air can cause movement.
- ‘Pneumatic systems must be powered by electricity’ – pneumatic devices require compressed air to function, which may or may not be powered electrically.
Lesson organisation
- Avoid using the mouth as the pump in the pneumatic systems to maintain hygiene. Balloon or ball pumps work effectively, especially since they have a valve to allow continual inflation and often come with a tapered nozzle, which would suit different-sized tubing.
- Bottles with nozzles, such as washing-up liquid or sports-cap drinking bottles, may also work, depending on the diameter of the tubing available. Check that the tubing fits the equipment before the unit is taught.
- To reduce the costs of this unit, encourage the class to bring in clean, hinged packaging, such as teabag boxes or egg cartons.
The information within this section provides basic generic guidance only and is not tailored to the circumstances of your school or class. You must ensure you refer to and follow your own school’s health & safety policy and complete any necessary risk assessments. It is the teacher’s responsibility to check all resources and lesson content to ensure it is suitable for their class setting.
Health and safety
- Be careful with the sizes of syringes; large syringes can pop smaller syringes out with force.
- Ensure that no one and nothing is in the firing line.
- Wear safety glasses if possible.
- Avoid blowing directly into the tubing to keep it clean.
- If the plastic tubing is blown into, ensure it is disinfected after each child or disposed of.
- Always use sterile syringes that have not been used for medical purposes.
Lesson plan
1: Recap and recall
2: Attention grabber
Optional: provide each child with a copy of the Knowledge catcher (see link: Assessment—D&T Y3: Mechanical systems: Pneumatic toys) and ask them to complete it to the best of their ability. Explain that at the end of the unit, they will revisit it, adding more information in a different colour.
Organise the children into groups of four and hand out a tray of equipment for the Attention grabber challenges (see Have ready). Ask them to complete the following challenges without using their mouths.
Book challenge
Ask the children if lifting the book using the equipment but without touching it is possible. Offer the children the chance to choose a piece of equipment to put under the book to help with the challenge and guide them to choose either the balloon or the sandwich bag.
Allow them time to attempt to lift the book and take feedback. Demonstrate to the class what happens when the bag or balloon is inflated and deflated (see Teacher video: Exploring pneumatics).
Teabox challenge
Ask the children to think of a way of using the equipment to lift the lid of the box. Allow them time to use the equipment and take inspiration from the inflated balloon in the previous challenge. Referring to the Teacher video: Exploring Pneumatics, demonstrate a simple pneumatic system. Add further challenge by asking the children to raise and lower the lid of the box in a controlled way, allowing air to pass in and out of the balloon. Ensure that children are not doing this with air from their mouths.
Explain to the class that these are examples of pneumatic systems – they push air over a distance to create movement as a type of mechanism.
Ask the children:
- How was air used to cause movement in the mechanisms just used? (The first used air to fill a balloon to push the book upwards; the second used air to fill a balloon to push on the lid; by removing the air, the balloon deflated and was no longer pushing on the lid so it came back down again.)
3: Main event
Hand out the Activity: Exploring pneumatics (one set pre-cut per group of four), which shows various ways pneumatics have been used throughout history. Ask the children to discuss how air has been used to create movement.
Presentation: Pneumatics throughout history
Display the Presentation: Pneumatics throughout history and use the timeline to discuss the pupils’ answers to the questions on the cards and review the significant development in pneumatics by clicking on each point:
- Blowgun: how is squashed air being used to move something? (A deep breath is blown through the tube, which pushes the dart or other projectile out the other end.)
- Bellows: what movement is needed to make the air move through? (Opening and closing the handles moves air into the space in the middle and pushes it out the nozzle.)
- Aeolipile: what will move up the tubes when the water is heated? (Steam.) How could this move the ball on its axle? (As the steam pushes through the narrow tubes and escapes, it causes the ball to spin around.)
- Vacuum pump: if the air is taken out of a metal ball, do you think the two sides will stay together or fall apart? (When air is taken out of the ball structure, there is more pressure or push from the air outside, which firmly holds the two halves together.)
- Water wheel: what movement is causing the wheel to turn? (The flow of water.) How is this movement automatic? (For example, if the wheel is positioned over a river, water movement happens without anyone adding any effort.)
- Pneumatic tube: how could air be used to send messages around a building or even a town? (Air can push a lightweight paper message from one place to another.) How could you make sure messages get to the right place? (Tubes provide a specific pathway for the messages.)
- Pneumatic drill: why might someone want this drill instead of a hammer? (It would be less tiring to use and is stronger.) Are there any downsides to using this device to break rocks? (It requires electricity; it is more dangerous; it is larger and heavier than a hammer.)
- Modern pneumatics: can you think of other things that use air to move something? (Inflating tyres, airbrush spray paint, nail guns or pneumatic drills.)
Highlight to the class that an input movement causes the overall output movement in each example.
Ask the children:
- Is electricity always needed as an input to make a machine work? (No, as human energy or the energy from wind and water can also make machines work.)
- Do you think air has power? (Ask the children to consider things blown by the wind, such as windmills and wind turbines that make electricity. The examples from the activity and presentation also show how air has the power to move something.)
- How do you think pneumatic machines have helped people? (Answers may include that humans can do larger and stronger tasks with pneumatic inventions or that the automatic nature of some pneumatic machines makes it easier for humans to operate.)
Play the video on the link: BBC - What is a pneumatic device? to further explain pneumatic devices and introduce modern applications. Ask the class:
- What does it mean when he says ‘the inflated balloon has a higher pressure’? (The air trapped inside has a greater force or outward push.)
- How can you tell that air is being pushed out of the balloon? (When there is an opening, the balloon deflates and gets smaller; if you put your hand in front, you can feel the escaping air pushing against your skin.)
- Which device surprised you by using air to make something move?
Demonstrate pneumatics
Demonstrate two different ways in which syringes and tubing can create motion and transmit force (as demonstrated in the Teacher video: Exploring pneumatics):
- Attach the ends of two syringes of equal volume with a tube. When one syringe is pressed all the way in, the other will move all the way out as the air transfers from one syringe to the other. Highlight how the distances the syringe plungers move are comparable.
- Attach the ends of two syringes of different volumes with a tube. When the smaller syringe is pressed all the way in, the large one will move out slightly. When the large syringe is pushed all the way in, the small end will pop straight out of the syringe, sometimes with quite some force (see Cautions). This is because there is insufficient space for all the air from the large syringe in the small one.
Ask the children:
- What happens when you lift the plunger on a single syringe? (The syringe fills with air.)
- How is this different when two syringes are joined with tubing? (The syringe still fills with air; however, the air is trapped and pulled from one syringe to another.)
- Why does the first syringe move when you push the plunger in on the second one? (The first syringe’s plunger will go up as it is pushed by the air moving from the second tube. The air has nowhere else to go except through the tube and into the other syringe.)
- If the plunger did not move, what might be the problem? (Look for air leaking from the system, such as where the tubing connects with a syringe.)
Presentation: Exploring pneumatics
Arrange the children in small groups and hand out equipment for the syringe exploration (see Have ready). Display the Presentation: Exploring pneumatics to prompt them with questions to consider while experimenting. Allow the children to play with and observe the different examples of pneumatic systems to help them consider how they could be used to cause movement. Remind them of the safety hazard of pushing the plungers hard and keep them pointed away from each other’s faces.
Ask:
- What happens when you cover the end of a syringe and push the plunger down? (You can push in a little bit but it is harder to push as the air gets compressed or squashed.)
- What happens when you let go of the plunger? (The plunger shoots back up and then stops.)
- Why do you think this happens? (The squashed air pushes harder against the walls of the syringe so that when you let the plunger go, the air spreads back out.)
- How should the plungers be set up so the air can move back and forth between the two syringes? (One syringe must start with its plunger out and the other with the plunger in.)
- What do you think will happen if one syringe is a different size? (A larger syringe can push out more air.)
- Do you think the size of the syringes affects how far the plungers move?
4: Wrapping up
Ask the children to summarise on paper or in books one example of pneumatics they have observed or tried in the lesson and explain how air has caused movement. Purposely be vague about summarising this information so the children can choose whether to use writing, diagrams or both.
Take feedback and ask the children to share their examples and explanations. Note: save this summary and explanation for the next lesson.
Extended-mode explainer videos
How to extend your display to view the lesson page and preseantion mode simultaneously. Choose your operating system below to watch the video
If you need further support with extending your display,
please contact [email protected].
Extended-mode explainer video: For Mac
Extended-mode explainer video: For Windows
Adaptive teaching
Pupils needing extra support
Could have the challenges and experiments repeated or have the equipment set up before them to make it easier to repeat and follow during the Main event; could be grouped with a confident reader when completing the Activity: Exploring pneumatics and reading through the prompt questions in the Main event syringe exploration; could refer to the Knowledge organiser when summarising a pneumatic system to support spellings and examples.
Pupils working at greater depth
Could be encouraged to explore how the syringes can cause movements in further directions by considering pivots and linkages; should explain in more depth what causes the air movement at the beginning of their chosen example (input), where the air is moving and how this causes an overall movement (output).
Assessing progress and understanding
Pupils with secure understanding indicated by: recalling that mechanisms create movement and pneumatics use air to achieve this; giving examples of pneumatic mechanisms.
Pupils working at greater depth indicated by: explaining in detail how air causes movement in their chosen example, including both input and output movements.
Vocabulary definitions
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input
The movement used to start a mechanism.
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mechanical system
A device that uses moving parts to create movement.
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mechanism
A set of parts of a machine that work together to make something move.
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output
The movement that happens as a result of starting a mechanism.
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pneumatic system
A mechanism that uses squashed air to cause a movement.
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push
A force that moves something away.
In this unit
Maintained by: Kapow Primary team
Last update: 12th November, 2025
