NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS CURRICULUM SUPPORT
Design and
Technology
Constructing and Testing
Advice and Guidance for
Practitioners
[NATIONAL 3]
This advice and guidance has been produced to support the profession with the delivery of
courses which are either new or which have aspects of significant change within the new
national qualifications (NQ) framework.
The advice and guidance provides suggestions on approaches to learning and teaching.
Practitioners are encouraged to draw on the materials for their own part of their continuing
professional development in introducing new national qualifications in ways that match the
needs of learners.
Practitioners should also refer to the course and unit specifications and support notes which
have been issued by the Scottish Qualifications Authority.
http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/34714.html
Acknowledgement
© Crown copyright 2012. You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in
any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence,
visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or e-mail:
psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain
permission from the copyright holders concerned.
Any enquiries regarding this document/publication should be sent to us at
enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk.
This document is also available from our website at www.educationscotland.gov.uk.
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Contents
Introduction
4
Practitioner notes
8
Learner information
Structures
Mechanisms
10
10
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INTRODUCTION
Introduction
These materials form part of Education Scotland’s commitment ‘to develop
practical advice and guidance to support the profession with the delivery of
courses where there are aspects of significant change within the new
National Qualifications ‘.
The materials build on and develop earlier advice and guidance on
Curriculum for Excellence, both generic and specific to Design and
Technology with a particular focus on National 3. The materials complement
other key support resources including, for example, the relevant Unit and
Course Support Notes provided by SQA. They aim to reinforce key themes
where appropriate, but without unnecessary repetition. It is clearly important
that practitioners are familiar with those key resources which relate to Design
and Technology. Crucially, the materials try to meet the challenge of
conveying the spirit of learning in Design and Technology, with its focus on
problem-solving and real-world relevance and the world of work, within the
framework of principles of Curriculum for Excellence.
The materials aim to be accessible, practical and attractive, exemplifying
effective and dynamic approaches to learning and teaching. They invite
teachers, young people and others to explore them and reflect on the value
they might add to learning, teaching and achievement in Design and
Technology, to the extent that individuals’ need or wish. These materials are
offered as a starting point and are interactive by design. They actively invite
users to edit them (for example in the style of Wikis), and enhance the
contents for their own purposes, but then to share them with practitioners in a
spirit of partnership. The summary of key issues on pages 5–6 will be helpful
for users since they exemplify generic positive influences on learning and
teaching in this area. Other practitioners will wish to consider pages 7–29
which set out ideas directly relevant to Design and Technology. At the heart
of this resource, Design and Technology (Constructing and Testing) offers
practitioners a number of possible approaches and resource prompts.
Practitioners will note, at this point, that the resource reflects the specific
context of a school with particular facilities and equipment. Whilst these
resources may not be available in all schools, practitioners may be able to
source them or access them in different ways, such as through partnership or
consortium arrangements with colleges and other schools.
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INTRODUCTION
The materials aim to support practitioners by focusing on aspects of
significant change. Their scope is therefore limited to those features with
which practitioners may be less familiar and confident. It is important that
practitioners bear in mind that the materials relate only to those specific
aspects Design and Technology which represent significant change, to avoid
disproportionate attention to the chosen aspects. Practitioner practitioners
may also recognise that the focus on skills development in the new National
Qualifications requires a different approach to planning and delivering
programmes, to ensure that learners are given well-designed opportunities to
develop key skills for learning, life and work.
Effective and dynamic learning and teaching in Design and
Technology
Planning
The importance of careful planning of programmes in Design and Technology
is paramount and, in key respects, Curriculum for Excellence raises different
challenges and expectations. Reflecting the principles of Curriculum for
Excellence, and effective practice more generally, practitioners may wish to
consider the following features of positive programme planning.
Evaluation of previous relevant experience (stakeholder views, analysis of
data on achievement and attainment, direct observation of quality of learners’
experiences). In the context of Curriculum for Excellence, practitioners may
wish to give particular emphasis to involving partner agencies and learners,
present and past, when planning the programme in Design and Technolgy.
The act of involving partners and learners in itself provides a valuable
learning experience consistent with the capacities and principles of
Curriculum for Excellence.
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INTRODUCTION
Delivery – learning and teaching influences for Design and
Technology
Practitioners may wish to consider the range of powerful influences,
promoting positive learning in the technologies, which have become
increasingly recognised in recent years. These influences include the
responsibility within all programmes to seek ways of building learners’ skills
in literacy, numeracy and health and wellbeing. Practitioners can emphasise
to learners that a strong performance in literacy and numeracy, in the context
of Design and Technology, will add to their standing and credibility in any
contacts for example with higher education and employers.
For literacy, Design and Technology offers positive opportunities to enhance
literacy skills associated with its specifically ‘technical’ vocabulary.
Practitioners may wish to reflect on key principles of learning in literacy,
including the need for young people to listen, speak, read and write using
technological language, to build their skills systematically and progressively.
Practitioners may wish to reflect on the value added to learners’ experiences
where they have the opportunity, individually or in teams, to present oral
reports on aspects of their studies in Design and Technology.
Numeracy features strongly in Design and Technology, and effective
programmes at National 3 can make a significant contribution to developing
the relevant number skills. These skills, in the context of Design and
Technology and the STEM (science, technology, engineering and
mathematics) subjects more generally, have high currency across learning,
life and work. Examples of applications in Design and Technology include
methods of recording numerical data such as tables charts and graphs,
measuring skills, and number calculations.
Health and wellbeing
Practitioners might find value in using health and wellbeing as a reference
point and source of ideas for programmes in Design and Technology. For
example, consideration of issues of health and safety is particularly relevant,
both in the classroom context but also as a related, motivating theme based in
real-world practice. Further examples of links with health and wellbeing
might include the wealth of technologies associated with, for example, sports
and hobbies, or medical care equipment in a modern intensive care unit.
These real-life applications of design and technology underline its importance
to living in general,and in specific respects to issues of health and wellbeing.
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INTRODUCTION
The Learning Context
This resource explores structures and provides some experience of the idea
of ‘testing’.
Structures
Structures are frameworks which support or protect something. Modern
structures – built frameworks – often have to carry heavy loads and engineers
have had to find ways of increasing their strength.
Testing
Whenever an engineer produces a new idea for a product they need to test it
to see if it does what it supposed to do. This is often done using a model of
the product.
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PRACTITIONER NOTES
Practitioner notes
‘Construct and test simple engineered objects involving strengthening,
energy transfer or movement by:





Selecting, with guidance, components and/or suitable materials
Applying basic engineering knowledge of mechanisms and structures
Devising, with guidance, appropriate methods of testing
Recording the results of testing
Drawing conclusions from the test results’.
These notes should guide learners so that they can successfully meet these
outcomes.
Structures
Bridges have been chosen as a context for learning, as structures with which
learners will be familiar.
Strengthening is investigated through shape and triangulation.
We begin our study by looking back to the very first type of bridge, the
simple beam bridge.
This type of bridge is still in common use today and is a good starting point
from which to consider how bridge designers have used shape to increase the
bridge’s strength.
The four tasks which learners work through will help guide them, through
testing, to experiment with different shapes and record their findings.
Construction kits are available which would help with the delivery of this
resource, including Meccano and Fischertechnic. However using simple
materials such as paper and card can be equally successful.
Learners should be encouraged and helped to record their findings as they
work through the different tasks. Practitioners should take every opportunity
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PRACTITIONER NOTES
to stress the importance of high quality craftsmanship, as learners create their
bridges.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Learner information
Structures
What is a structure?
Basically a structure is a means of supporting an object. The human body is
the structure, which we call a skeleton. Without it our bodies would not be
able to support our weight. We would not be able to run, jump, swim or do
any of the other activities we take for granted. Our internal organs would not
be held in place or indeed protected. For example, the brain is protected by
the skull. In nature, other examples of structures include, for example, the
stems of plants. Animals construct their own structures such as birds’ nests,
or spiders’ webs.
Structures can be divided into three types:
 Solid
 Shell
 Frame
Solid structures include cabinets, caves, dams and walls.
Shell structures include food containers, car bodies, tin cans and egg boxes.
Frame structures are objects like, roof trusses, bicycle, electricity pylons and
many types of chair.
In this unit of work we will be investigating a particular type of Frame
Structure, the Bridge.
There are a number of different types of bridge. The most common are:






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Beam
Arch
Suspension
Cantilever
Truss
Cable Stayed
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Our work on Structures will focus on the simple Beam Bridge.
Beam Bridge
A beam bridge is the simplest type of bridge. As the name suggests it uses a
beam to span a gap.
(The word span is used here to describe how a bridge reaches across a gap.)
In earlier times a tree trunk or a large slab of stone might have been used to
create a simple beam bridge. The problem was trying to find stone and tree
trunks large enough to span wider gaps.
We will investigate two ways of strengthening the beam so that it can carry a
heavier load, the weight the bridge has to carry.
 We can change the shape.
 We can use triangles (this is called triangulation).
Method 1
Changing the shape of the beam.
Task 1
Build a beam bridge out of paper.
What you need:




A piece of A5 paper
A means of supporting the bridge (such as wooden blocks or card boxes)
Some different masses to ‘load’ the bridge
A rule to measure the movement of the bridge (how much it bends when
masses are placed on it)
 A way to record your results.
The object of this task is to span the gap using one piece of paper.
Place your piece of paper across the gap between the supports of your bridge.
This gap between the supports should be about 150mm. Carefully place the
masses onto the middle of your bridge, increasing the overall load carefully.
You can record your results using a form like the one at Appendix A.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
In the example shown above the paper was folded three times.
Here are the test results:
Mass (gms)
10
20
30
40
Deflection (mm)
5
8
11
Comments
Bridge collapses and is
beyond repair.
If we alter the shape of our piece of paper we will find that we can change its
strength.
Task 2
Take another piece of A5 paper and fold it as shown.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Now carry out the same test as before but this time use the ‘corrugated’
paper.
Remember to record your results.
This new bridge should be stronger than the first. If it was not, can you
suggest reasons why?
Task 3
This time use card instead of paper. Fold the card into the different end
shapes shown
U Channel
I Beam
You might find it helpful if you laminate (stick layers together) the card
using watered-down PVA glue.
Carry out the same test as before. You can also try putting two of your new
beams side by side to help with stability and overall strength.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
You will need larger masses as you improve your bridge structure by
strengthening it. Remember to record your findings in some suitable way.
Modern bridge designers use these types of beams when constructing their
beam bridges.
Here are two examples.
This beam bridge is made from steel and is used to carry trains across a busy
road.
This is a more modern beam structure. It is made from steel reinforced
concrete. It has been designed to carry traffic across a canal.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Method 2
Triangulation
Task 4
Construct a square using thin pieces of timber or a construction kit.
If you now apply a force to one of the corners, the square will change shape.
This is because a square frame is not structurally strong.
To make it stronger add a fifth member as shown
This new member resists, or pushes against this force and keeps the structure
rigid and in its original shape.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Task 5
Triangulation
Using this technique design and construct a beam bridge, with triangles to
improve its strength.Remember to rec ord your results. Include your sketch
with the results.
This type of Beam Bridge is called a Truss. These are very strong structures.
Bridge designers take the opportunity to incorporate I beams which further
increases the bridge’s strength.
This is an old railway bridge which uses Triangulation.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Triangulation is not just used for bridges. Here are two other common
examples.
Pylon
Armco
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Roman Arch
The Roman arch was the first design that enabled the early bridge builders to
cross longer spans. It allowed wide loads to be carried, loads like wagons.
Arch bridges were built using cement. This enabled them to build larger
bridges.
Ponte Sant’Angelo, Rome. Completed in 134 AD
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Constructing your own Roman Arch
Draw two arches, one of radius 150 mm, the other 80mm.
Now divide the drawing in to the segments as shown.
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18
Draw the arch onto a piece of paper and then glue onto a suitably thick piece of
timber. (30mm should do). Now carefully cut out the top five segments. You
need to keep the bottom two segments attached as these are the arch supports.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Common types of bridges
Here are a few examples. Can you name them or say where they are located?
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LEARNER INFORMATION
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Mechanisms
Mechanisms are devices which allow us to control movement and
force. However, before we look in more detail at mechanisms we need
to understand some of the main ideas involved including force and
movement.
Force
A force can be described as a push or a pull. Force is measured in
Newtons (N). In these notes the word effort is sometimes used in
place of force.
Movement
There are four types of movement:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Linear - movement in a straight line.
Rotational – movement in a circle.
Reciprocating – movement back and forth but in a straight line.
Oscillating – movement back and forth but in a curve.
We will be looking at four different types of mechanism:
1.
2.
3.
4.
lever
gears
belt and chain drives
pulley
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Levers
The effort which acts at the end of the lever is able to lift the heavy
load at the other end.
Effort
Load
For a lever to work properly it needs a fulcrum, an ‘edge’ to balance the lever
against. In the example shown below, the lid of the paint tin is opened using a
screwdriver. The fulcrum in this instance is the rim of the paint tin.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Task 6
For this you will need a lever such as a simple piece of timber, and
some masses to provide a load.
Record your results in Appendix B
Load
Effort
Record, in Appendix B the effort needed to balance the lever with
different loads.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Gears
A gear is a wheel with teeth cut into it. Gears mesh with each other
when two or more are placed so that one turns the other.
These pictures should give you an idea of how gears work.
Task 7
Using two different sized gearwheels, note how many times each
rotates when they mesh with each other. Try this task with a number
of different gearwheels. Think about how each gear works with the
one next to it. Remember to record your results.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Belt and chain drives
A belt drive uses two (or more) pulley wheels of different sizes, and a
rubber belt looping around all the pulleys. As the ‘drive’ wheel rotates
it makes the rubber belt turn or rotate the other pulley wheels. The
different sizes of pulley allow the machine to work at different speeds.
Chain drive
A chain drive is similar to the belt drive. It is used in machine s where
the forces involved would damage a belt drive or make it slip or fail.
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Task 8
Construct a simple belt or chain drive.
Record what happens to the other wheel, as you turn one of the
wheels.
The pulley
A pulley is used to pull or lift objects. It is made up of a number of
‘pulley wheels’ and a rope. The simplest pulley is shown below.
Task 9
For this task, you need:
 a number of masses to act as loads
 a ‘spring balance’, and
 a simple pulley system.
Using the pulley to lift different loads and use the spring balance to
find out how much effort you need to lift each load. Remember to
record your findings, and work out why pulleys are used.
Effort
Load
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LEARNER INFORMATION
Task 10
Your last task is to design and build a type of bridge called a
‘Bascule’ bridge. This is a bridge which is hinged at one end and is
used on, for example, canals and rivers where boats have to pass under
the bridge. The bridge is raised to allow the boats to pass.
Using what you know about structures and mechanisms, design and
build a Bascule bridge.
Make a sketch or take a photograph of your solution to this problem.
Make notes which explain clearly how the bridge works. Include
diagrams and any important mathematical information about your
bridge, to help with your report.
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