Mind the Gap!

1. Mind the Gap! Year 9

2. Why STEM? STEM subjects are integral to the UK’s success: the UK is the world’s sixth largest manufacturer, engineering turnover is around £800 billion per year, and whilst the UK makes up only 1% of the world’s population, we produce 10% of the world’s top scientific research. STEM graduates have the potential to earn amongst the highest salaries of all new recruits, employers are finding it difficult to recruit STEM skilled staff . It is crucial that all young people, regardless of their future career pathway, have the STEM knowledge and skills they need to be an informed citizen in an increasingly scientific and technological society. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

3. SCIENCE • These activities offer students the opportunity to: • Link direct practical experience with scientific ideas. • Use experimentation and modelling to develop explanations and encourage critical and creative thought. • Explore how technological developments can change the way people live. • Use the internet as an aspect of scientific research. • Understand how forces can affect the shape of materials. • Understand the property and use of materials. • Provide a qualitative description of an experiment. • Learn how the properties of a material determine its uses. • Understand the role of the scientific community in validating knowledge. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

4. DESIGN & TECHNOLOGY • These activities offer students the opportunity to: • Explore how products have been designed and built in the past, how they are currently designed, and how they may develop in the future. • Apply knowledge of materials to produce practical solutions. • Explore experimenting with ideas, materials, technologies and techniques. • Explore critically the impact of design decisions. • Respond creatively to a brief. • Reflect critically when evaluating and modifying their ideas and proposals to improve products throughout their design and development. • Use their understanding of others’ designing to inform their own. • The behaviour of structural elements in a variety of materials, including understanding loads and other forces, resistance to loads without deforming, and the connection and transfer of forces within a structure. • Make links between design and technology and maths and science. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

5. MATHS/NUMERACY • These activities offer students the opportunity to: • Understand how mathematics is used as a tool to solve problems in engineering. • Use applications of trigonometry, shape, area, geometry. • Identify limitations of the scope of model. • Understand forces. • Examine a situation systematically and work out how to break it down. • Solve problems in small groups. • Understand how mathematics is used in the real world. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

6. PLTS Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

7. PLTS • The activities offer students the opportunity to: • Undertake independent enquiry and carry out their own research. • Explore issues from different perspectives. • Generate ideas and show creative thinking. • Analyse and evaluate information, judging its relevance and value. • Support conclusions, using reasoned arguments and evidence. • Work as a team towards a common goal, resolving issues to reach agreed outcomes. • Develop their self-management skills. • Show initiative and perseverance. • Organise their time. • Test alternatives and new solutions. • Evaluate their learning; reviewing progress and inviting feedback. • Provide feedback to others. • Evaluate their experiences. • Communicate their learning Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

8. What/Where? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

9. Scenario The Clifton Suspension Bridge was designed by Isombard Kingdom Brunel and was built in 1864. The bridge was designed in a time when there were fewer people, no cars or lorries and it was not used as much as it was today. To help alleviate congestion in Bristol and take pressure of the suspension bridge, the council would like a new bridge. The bridge needs to be much stronger to allow more cars across and be able to handle lorries, something that the suspension bridge cannot do. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

10. Bridge Building Challenge In this exciting group work activity, teams will compete to build and test a bridge to destruction. The brief is to design and build a scale model of a bridge designed to span 100m. Teams must test their bridge by hanging/placing weights from the centre of the span. The objective is to build a bridge that can support the greatest weight with the least use materials and the lowest cost. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

11. Testing & Judging • Your Bridges • The aim of the testing process is to test your structures to destruction. We are going to test the bridges by adding increasing numbers of weights to the middle of the span. • Your bridges will be tested according to three criteria: • Maximum weight supported before collapse. • Strength to weight ratio. • Strength to cost ratio. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

12. Presenting your work • Every team will present to the whole group! • The presentation can take any form you want… PowerPoint, Keynote, video, posters, talk… etc. • The presentation should last no more than 4 minutes. • Everyone should take part… in some way • It should include…. Your team details, a logo and slogan. • Evidence of your design work • Photographs/pictures/drawings of the finished bridge • Evidence of testing and how it was measured. • Your findings from the research activity. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

13. Research Activity • Choose one of these areas to research and add into your presentation: • What famous bridges are there in the UK ? • What types of bridges are there? • What is structural failure, how can this be measured? • What bridges did Brunel Design? • What forces are bridges subjected to? • Something of your own choice… but it must be negotiated with a mentor/teacher. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

14. Where do I Start? • Key Points • What type of bridge? • What materials do you have at my disposal? • How will you build the bridge? • How will you organise your team? • When you have a design for your bridge will you form your own production line in order to construct all the elements necessary for the bridge? • Who in the team is going to assemble the final structure? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

15. Teamwork To successfully complete the challenge you will need to work as a team. You will need to organise …. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

16. Your Team • Give yourselves an identity…. • Team name • Logo • Slogan or strapline. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

17. Got a Mobile device? Free on Google Play & App Store. Free on Google Play only. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

18. Useful iPad Apps Bridge Builder Great for testing out initial ideas Little technical info Easy to use Autodesk ForceEffect Great for in depth design Lots of technical info More difficult to use

19. Useful Websites Technologystudent.com Designandtech.com Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

20. Where do I Start? TESTING THE STRENGTH OF DIFFERENT SHAPES Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

21. Where do I Start? Are you going to place the weight on the bridge? If so how ? Are you going to have a platform on it? ???????????????????????????????????? Are you going to hang the weight of the bridge? If so how will you stop it damaging it? 100m In real life the bridge will need to span a 100m gap, you will need to build your model at a scale of 1:100 Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

22. Where do I Start? Look at the image – How can this help you? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

23. Where do I Start? Look at the image – How can this help you? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

24. Numeracy: SCALE This is twice as big (X2)as my drawing. This is half as big (÷2)as it is in real life. Scale of 1:2 This is an ant in real life. This my drawing of the ant. This is three times bigger (X3)than real life. This is three times smaller (÷3) than my drawing. Scale of 3:1 This my drawing of a pencil sharpener This is a pencil sharpener in real life. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

25. Where do I Start? Look at the image – How can this help you? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

26. Where do I Start? Look at the image – How can this help you? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

27. Where do I Start? Look at the image – How can this help you? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

28. Material COSTs Lollipop sticks cost £200 each Artstraws cost £50 each Masking tape cost £100 per m Dowel connectors £200 each Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

29. Collecting & Presenting the Data How will you collect and present the data? • We will test to see how much weight your work will take. • We will work out how strong your bridge is compared to its own weight. • We will work out the cost and a strength to cost ratio. • How will you collect the data of not just your group but all the groups? • How will you present the results? Raw data or a more visual method? Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

30. Collecting & Presenting Don’t forget to take photos and video clips! • Don’t get so carried away with building your bridge structure that you forget to take photos and video clips for your presentation. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

31. Research Task Don’t forget the research task! • The research task will form a major part of your presentation….. Don’t leave it too late!!!! Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

32. Making Tips A good way to join two straws. A place the two straws next to each other B loop a 20mm piece of masking tape around the two pieces. C with another small piece of tape loop it around the straw as show. D This should provide a string join. *You may need to trim the width of the tape if it is too wide. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

33. Making Tips How to use your connectors The dowel connector is used to expand the length of a straw . If you are finding it difficult to fit into the two straws try trimming the edges with a pencil sharpener. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

34. Making Tips • Plan out your design on paper first. • Make sure your measurements are accurate! • Don’t just make the first thing you think of. • Take care when making your bridge – it will make it stronger. Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk

35. And Finally OFF YOU GO !!!!!!! Clevedon School – Valley Road – Clevedon – N. Somerset www.clevedonschool.org.uk