Levers and Sliders Part 1

Date: 20th May 2021 @ 6:31pm

We began the morning by exploring existing products and introducing our new vocabulary. We read each key word and discussed what they mean. We identified which of our key words – lever, slider, pivot, push, pull, direction, up, down, left and right – fit with each example of the mechanism. We then found examples of levers, sliders and wheels in books. We discussed the way the moving part moves, how does it work and what effect is has.

Our first mechanism to make was a slider! We read the Gingerbread man story and talked about which part we might like to turn into a moving picture! Lots of us said a good part of the story to make would be when the characters chase the Gingerbread man and this is the picture we made! To make a part move in our picture we needed to make a sliding mechanism.

Our second mechanism was a lever! For this mechanism we linked our learning to the story Jack and the Beanstalk. We read and discussed the story and we were then ready to turn part of the story into a moving picture using a lever mechanism.

Our third and final new mechanism technique was a wheel. We read the story Little Red Riding Hood, and discussed that we are going to again turn part of the story into a moving picture using a wheel mechanism!