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SavannahYear 8
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Design & TechnologyMaking skills and structures25 min★★ difficulty

Material properties and strong structures

Every material behaves differently under load. Understanding those behaviours lets designers choose the right material and shape for the job.

Part of your national curriculum
  • Technical knowledge: Understand and use the properties of materials and the performance of structural elements to achieve functioning solutions

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Understand and use the properties of materials and the performance of structural elements to achieve functioning solutions

Key learning points

  • • Properties of materials
  • • Structural elements
  • • Choosing for a function

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 14 parts to scroll through
  • 3 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

propertiesmaterialsperformancestructuralelements

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 14 · Discover7%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 14

Watch first

Material properties and strong structures

An English teaching video on this topic from Design Squad . Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Understand and use the properties of materials and the performance of structural elements to achieve functioning solutions

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 14

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Properties of materials

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 14

Learn

Properties of materials

Materials can be strong in tension (resisting stretching), compression (resisting squashing), or both. Steel cables handle tension well; concrete handles compression well. Other properties matter too, such as flexibility, hardness and how a material reacts to moisture or heat.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 14

Learn

Structural elements

Beams resist bending, columns resist compression, and ties resist tension. Triangulated frames, like those in bridges and roof trusses, spread forces efficiently because triangles cannot change shape without a member bending or breaking.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 14

Quick check

Which force does a steel cable resist well?

6

Reset break

Part 6 of 14

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
7

Quick check

Part 7 of 14

Quick check

Why are triangles used in structures such as bridges?

8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 14

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · Choosing for a function

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 14

Learn

Choosing for a function

A functioning solution matches material and structure to the forces involved — a phone case needs impact resistance, while a shelf bracket needs resistance to bending under load. Testing prototypes against expected forces checks the choice was right.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 14

Quick check

What does a column mainly resist?

11

Challenge round

Part 11 of 14

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

12

Challenge round

Part 12 of 14

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ can be strong in tension (resisting stretching), compression (resisting squashing), or both.

Other ____ matter too, such as flexibility, hardness and how a material reacts to moisture or heat.

13

Mastery quiz

Part 13 of 14

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Material properties and strong structures

3 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. Which force does a steel cable resist well?

  2. 2. Why are triangles used in structures such as bridges?

  3. 3. What does a column mainly resist?

14

Lesson round-up

Part 14 of 14

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 3 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Report

Why the first prototype broke

A team designed a phone stand from 3 mm plywood. The brief said it must hold a 200 g phone at 60° and survive being knocked. The first prototype looked right but snapped at the joint after two knocks.

The team tested again and found the grain of the plywood ran across the narrowest part of the joint, so the wood split along it. They widened the joint from 8 mm to 20 mm, turned the piece so the grain ran along the load, and added a small fillet at the corner to spread the force.

The second prototype survived twenty knocks. It used 15% more material and took four minutes longer to cut — a trade-off the team recorded in their evaluation.

Written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. Name the fault in the first prototype and explain why it happened.
  2. List the three changes the team made and what each one does.
  3. Write an evaluation of the second prototype against the brief, including the trade-off.

  • Design sheet

    Diagram

    Sketch two ideas with measurements and notes, then photograph the sheet.

    2 labelled sketches

  • Evaluation

    Writing

    Write how well your idea meets the brief and what you would change next time.

    6–8 sentences

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 14 · Watch & discover

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    Understand and use the properties of materials and the performance of structural elements to achieve functioning solutions

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