Our Design, Technology and Engineering pupils in Year 5 have been very busy learning about different types of structures as part of their structural engineering module.  

They now know all about different types of man-made structures as well structures that occur naturally. 
 

They can also identify the difference between frame structures and shell structures.  

“Structures include buildings, towers and bridges.  All of these must be strong and stable so that they don't fall down”.
Barney E

 “Good examples of natural structures are spider webs, honeycomb in a beehive and a bird's nest”.
 Ruby B

“ An example of a very famous man-made frame structure is the Eiffel Tower in Paris”.
 Elsa K
 

Now they are all experts, they have been set the challenge of constructing their own structure. In small teams they must construct a tower structure using only newspaper and masking tape. Their tower must support the weight of a tin of beans and the tallest tower will win the challenge.  

Week 1 of the construction has seen the groups understanding how to make strong rigid parts for their towers from newspaper and understanding about why and how to use ‘triangles’ in their designs. 

Watch out for more photographs of pupil’s work and the announcement of the winners in November’s newsletter.