Witty, clever and downright silly, William Heath Robinson’s overcomplicated solutions to everyday problems can provide a creative way to teach children about forces. In this lesson plan by James Clements KS2 pupils will learn about simple mechanisms.
KS2 pupils will learn that some mechanisms – levers, pulleys, gears – allow smaller forces to exert greater effects.
Pupils will also get to develop their understanding of speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas.
Cracking contraptions
From the slick inventions created for James Bond to the homemade genius of Wallace and Gromit’s cracking contraptions, everyone secretly loves a good gadget.
KS2 children are no different. Fascinating machinery can provide a wonderful hook to interest them in forces, energy and mechanisms. All of these appear in the national curriculum.
Some of the most enduring are the machines sketched by the illustrator and cartoonist William Heath Robinson in the period between the First and Second World Wars.
Robinson’s drawings were hugely popular in his day. They poked fun at modern life through their depiction of contraptions designed to perform simple tasks in ridiculously complex ways.
His machines employed every conceivable arrangement of pulleys, gears and cogs (but were always described as ‘simple devices’) to carry out everyday jobs like peeling potatoes, making pancakes or lifting a gentleman’s hat.
The silliness of these cartoons, collected together in several books and found easily online, is hugely appealing to children of all ages. They provide the perfect way of exploring mechanisms and forces at KS2.
Mechanisms KS2 learning objectives
- Learn the names and functions of some simple mechanisms
- Recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect
- Use spoken language to develop understanding through speculating, hypothesising, imagining and exploring ideas
For ten years, James Clements was a teacher and senior leader at an inner city primary school. He is now an English adviser.
