The Year 4’s spent the Autumn term, exploring torches, their uses, potential features for different purposes, materials used as well as their circuitry and how switches worked. They went on to discover how circuits and switches worked along with the health and safety of working with electricity.
From there, their design brief was to design and make a working torch built for a purpose; some designed children’s toy torches that doubled as laser beams or jetpacks; other groups designed nightlights; the creativity continued with some making helmet torches or ones that could be worn as a chest plate.
Having designed, their task was then to work as a team to create their torches using the wide variety of materials provided. Mistakes were inevitable as design ideas. material choices and ability to fit in the circuitry didn’t always align, however, with communication and the knowledge that changes may be required, the children took setbacks in their stride, discussed and made adjustments and went on to all create working torches that included switches that they also made themselves.
