Hello and welcome to today's design and technology lesson.

I'm Mrs. Fletcher, and I'm here to help and guide you through your learning today.

I'm really glad you decided to join me for this lesson today.

Now today's lesson is called Levers and Linkages in Products, and its part of the Levers and Linkages: Interactive Books unit.

Now the outcome of today's lesson is I can identify different linkages within existing products.

So that means by the end of the lesson today, we will have revisited some of linkages that you may have looked at in previous lessons.

We'll recap how they work and we'll have a look at how they work in existing products, how they're used in some real-life examples.

There's some key words that we're going to need in today's lesson, some words that are going to come up quite often, so it's important that we are clear on what they mean.

You may recognise some of them, but we're going to go through each one together so we're all clear on what they mean.

So the first word is the word product.

Can you repeat that word after me? Product.

Well done.

A product is an item that is designed to be used, so it's something that's been made for people to use every day.

The second word is the word purpose.

Can you repeat that after me? Purpose.

Well done.

The purpose is an intended function or result.

That just means it's what the object or the item was designed to do, why it was designed and what it was designed for.

The third word is the word input.

Let's repeat that.

Input.

Well done.

The input refers to the movement or the motion that's used to start a mechanism to get things going.

And the last word is the word output.

Can you repeat that? Output.

Well done.

And that's the opposite of the word input.

So it's the movement or the motion that happens as a result of the input.

So it happens after the input has been started.

Okay, so now we've got those words.

We are ready to start.

Today's lesson is separate into two parts.

So first we're gonna be identifying linkages and their purpose.

So we're gonna be recapping some of the linkages you may already have learned about in previous lessons.

We're going to be recapping how they work, what they're called, and what they are often used for.

And then for the second part of the lesson, we'll be looking at some existing products that contain linkages to having a look at how they are used in real life and using that to help us think about how we could improve on the design and make new designs for new products in the future.

So we're gonna start with that first part: identifying linkages and their purpose.

So the mechanisms that are in the products we use every day are there for a reason.

They're there to do a job, and we call this their purpose.

So there's two of our keywords already.

We've got the product.

That's the object or the item that's been designed to be used.

And we've got the word purpose, so why it was designed that way, what it was intended to do.

And we are specifically looking at the mechanisms that were chosen for the products that we're talking about because mechanisms use different types of levers and linkages.

And you may have looked at those in previous lessons.

Those are used to create different types of movements.

So they have to be chosen depending on the type of movement we want that product to make.

All of the linkages that we will look at today and that are used in the products we're going to look at today turn the user's input, so that's the movement that the user creates, into an output movement.

So the user creates the movement that is intended to do using the linkage.

To have a look at this example, so it's a very simple flap.

You might have seen these in books that are often aimed at quite young children.

Now the flap is a very simple lever, and it's been used in this book and the book is the product to hide and reveal some of the pictures on the page.

Now that's its purpose.

So we've got a product, the book, we've got the purpose, to hide and reveal the pictures, so the flap has been used for that specific reason.

Let's have a quick check of our understanding.

What does the word purpose mean? We've looked at it a couple of times now.

We've mentioned it a couple of times, but what does it mean? Is it a mechanism, is it a product or is it a function? Have a think.

Well done if you said a function.

Exactly, it's the job that it was designed to do.

Now we're gonna have a look at another example now.

So have a look at this dinosaur moving picture.

You might have seen something like this in school or at home.

Laura's been having a look at it as well.

And she's noticed that when she pulls the dinosaur's tail out, the jaw of the dinosaur moves down and when she pushes the tail back in, the jaw goes back up.

And she's recognised that the output is at a right angle or a 90 degree angle to the input.

So that means what's happening on the dinosaur is at a 90 degree angle or a right angle to what she's doing to make that happen.

And she's having a think about the linkages she's learned about in the past and she thinks it sounds like a bell crank linkage.

And if you have a look at the second picture there, you can see that she's actually right.

The tail is at a 90 degree angle to where the output of the jaw is on the dinosaur.

And that is often how we see a bell crank linkage.

Have a look at this product.

So the product this time is a deck chair and this also uses a linkage and it's got an input where we pull out that back strut on the deck chair and the output is the chair folding out into the position we want to use it.

So have a think, what type of linkage do you think has been used in this product? Have you seen it before? Do you know how it works and why have they used that linkage or that mechanism in this product? Pause the video and have a think.

Okay, welcome back.

So what type of linkage do you think then has been used in this product? Can be quite tricky.

We've got to think about the movement that it's making.

So we've got the output in this direction, one direction, and we've got the input within the opposite direction.

So if you think about the linkages that you may have looked at in the past, we would need a linkage that has an output in the opposite direction to the input.

In this case, it was a reverse motion linkage where the output is in the opposite direction to the input.

Then why do you think they use that linkage in this product? Why has that linkage been used in the mechanism of this product? It's because it allows the product to change position and fold flat, so it allows the movement to be so that the chair can fold back in on itself, allowing it to be stored in a flat position.

Okay, let's have another quick check.

So what is a product? We're talking about products a lot in this lesson, but what is one? Is it a simple mechanism? Is it an item or is it a movement? Have a think.

Okay, well done if you said an item.

It is something that's been designed to be used.

Okay, so let's have a look at some of the linkages that we are going to be looking at specifically today.

You may have seen them before in previous lessons, but can you remember the name of these linkages or how they work? You might want to talk to a partner or write it down on a whiteboard.

Pause the video and come back when you've had a think.

Okay, welcome back.

Did you remember the names of any of these linkages? Which ones are familiar? Let's have a look at them together and see if you were right.

So the first one we have is a reverse motion linkage.

We talked about that a little bit earlier.

So in a reverse motion linkage, the input is in the opposite direction to the output.

So if I put a forward moving input movement into a product, then the output would be in the opposite direction.

It would be moved backwards.

So if I moved the input left, the output would move right, so it's the opposite direction.

Back at the bottom, we have a parallel linkage.

You might recognise the name of that one.

The word parallel refers to the position of the levers.

So parallel lines are levers, run in the same direction, but they never touch, they never meet.

So we've got two pairs of parallel lines in a parallel linkage and they allow the movement of the levers to follow the same direction but without touching.

Back up to the top, we've got a push-pull linkage.

So push-pull linkage has an output the same direction as the input.

So if I push forward on the product, then the output movement will be in the same direction, will move forward.

If I move it to the left, the output movement will also move to the left.

So it allows for the output and the input to make the same movement.

Back down at the bottom, we've got that bell crank linkage that we saw earlier on the dinosaur moving picture.

The key feature of a bell crank linkage is the input and the output are at a 90 degree or right angle to each other, so at a fixed angle, so they stay in that position.

And back up to the top, we've got a lazy-tong linkage.

And a lazy-tong linkage is designed to expand and contract so the output and the input are in the opposite direction.

So if I push on one side, then the other side is going to contract in the opposite direction.

If I pull one side, then the opposite side, the output is going to move away from me, so they're moving in the opposite direction.

Okay, so those are the linkages that we're looking at.

Where might you see them? So we are thinking about where we might find them in books today.

So you might find 'em in books that you've got at home or at school.

If you have a book that's got a moving part, a bit like the flap we saw in the earlier example, but it might be more complicated than that.

Those are called interactive books.

So they often have something you can slide or lift or maybe a dial you can move around or something that moves on the page.

Those are called interactive books and that's what we're gonna be looking at today.

Those are our existing product.

I want you to pause the video and have a think.

Talk to your partner or write down on, maybe even have a look around in your classroom, do you have any books that have any moving parts or can you think of any books that you've read that had moving parts? Pause the video.

Back in a minute.

Okay, welcome back.

So how many books did you think of? Did you find any in your classroom? Can you remember any that you've read in the past? There's lots and lots of books that have interactive elements.

That can be books about science, about space or books aimed at younger children that have something as simple as a flap like we saw earlier.

You might have found a range of those in your classroom or remember reading one at some point.

So your first task involves some of the books that you have in front of you now.

So the interactive books you've got in front of you, you're going to have a look through them and you're going to be looking for the moving parts that you can find.

And I want you to have a think about what input movement do you need to do to get the linkage moving in that book.

And what is the output movement? So what happens when you manipulate the input, whether it's a tab or a wheel or a flap, when you operate the input, what happens in the output? What movement are you getting? And then I want you to think carefully about which linkage might be used to create that movement.

Now you're gonna have to think carefully here because you need to think about how the input and the output are working together.

If they're in the opposite direction, if they're going in the same direction or if they are at an angle to each other, that will give you a clue to which linkage might be being used.

Could be a little bit tricky to see, but have a go.

Pause the video, come back when you've had a look through the books and have a think about those questions.

Okay, welcome back.

So what did you find in your books? I'm sure you found lots of different examples of moving parts.

Might have been a little bit tricky to think about which linkage was used to make those parts move, but hopefully, you had a really good discussion just like Jun and Laura.

They are discussing the dinosaur part that they found in their book earlier on.

Jun was telling Laura that when he moves the tail, that's the input and when the jaw moves, that's the output.

So he's thinking about that input and output movement.

And Laura is reminding Jun that it's probably a bell crank linkage because the output is at a 90 degrees or a right angle to the input.

So they've been having a discussion about what they can see and what that tells them about the linkage that might have been used.

And you can't always see the linkage, but you can look for clues to help you.

Think about what linkage might have been used.

Okay, so for your second task, we're gonna make a record of the linkages that you found.

This will help us when we come to design some new linkages in the next part of the lesson.

So I want you to fill in the table on your worksheet.

This example has been done for you here about how I want you to fill it in.

So I want you to record the moving part that you found.

So like Jun and Laura, the dinosaur's jaw and tail were the moving part.

So that goes in the first column.

I want you to think about which part is designed to be the input.

So which part did the reader of the book, the user of the book have to move to get the linkage moving.

In Jun and Laura's case, it was the tail that they had to push and pull.

Then I want you to record in the third column, what's the output of that linkage that you found.

So in Jun and Laura's case, it was the jaw moving up and down on the dinosaur.

So you're thinking about what moves as a result of you or the user moving the input element.

And then the last, fourth, column is the tricky part.

So that's why I want you to think about what linkage could have been used to make that movement.

Now you might not be sure.

If you're not sure, you can write that in your column as well.

But try and have a think.

Look for clues about the input and the output movement.

How will that make the mechanism work? Which linkage will make the mechanism work? Pause the video and come back when you filled in everything you found in your book.

Okay, welcome back.

So hopefully, you were able to record all of the things that you found in your interactive books today.

Making a note of the moving part, the input element of that moving parts, that's the bit you had to move.

The output elements, that's what moved by itself once you had moved the input element and then having to think about the linkage that might have been used.

So that was the tricky part of this task was to think about the linkage.

So in Jun and Laura's, they were quite confident it was a bell crank linkage because they could see that definite 90 degree angle of the input and the output.

If you had an element that was moving in the same direction as your input, you might have thought of something like a push pull linkage.

If it was moving in the opposite direction, you might have decided it could either be a reverse motion or even a lazy-tong linkage.

Now, I bet you probably didn't find many lazy-tong linkages in your books because that's a very complicated linkage and probably wouldn't be used very often in a interactive book.

They quite often used the simplest way of making the movement that they want to create in the book.

Some of them you might not have been sure of, so you might have written, not sure.

You might be able to look at that further in the future when you've learned a little bit more about mechanisms in moving books.

Okay, time for the second part of our lesson now.

So we're going to be looking at those same existing products, those interactive books that we've been looking at in the first part of the lesson.

But we're going to use them to think about how they could be improved, how you might improve them.

So it's informing new design, means we are looking at old designs, looking at existing designs and thinking about how they could be improved, how they could be made better, how they could be made suitable for the user.

So let's get started.

Some linkages work better than others in an interactive book.

So as I just mentioned, you probably didn't find many lazy-tong linkages because they're not suitable for an interactive book necessarily.

When the linkage is being chosen, we have to think about a few different things.

We have to think about the design.

So that's what it's gonna look like in the book, how it's going to look on the page, how it's going to fit in the page.

We have to think about the purpose or what we want it to do.

Do we want something to move up and down? Do we want something to pop in and out? Do we want something to just simply be hidden and we have to think about the user.

So that's who's going to be using the interactive book? Who is gonna be the audience? Who is it aimed at? Quick question to check if you've been listening.

True or false? Flaps are often used in books that are aimed at very young children.

Is that true or false? Have a think Well done if you said true.

Flaps are often found in books that are aimed at very young children, maybe around two to three years old.

Why do you think flaps are used for that purpose? Well, it's because they're very simple and easy to use and a very young child needs to be able to operate that linkage very simply.

So a flap is a very simple linkage for them to operate or a very simple lever for them to operate.

Okay, time for you to have a look now.

So look carefully at this diagram.

Have a look at the input, have a look at the output, look at the direction that they are moving.

Can you identify which linkage is hidden behind the green square? If the input and output direction are your clues, have a think about what type of linkage could be hidden behind that box.

Pause the video, talk to a friend or write it on a whiteboard.

Have a think.

Well done if you said it could be a push-pull linkage.

Why might you have thought that? Well, it's because the output is moving in the same direction as the input.

So on a push-pull linkage, we know that whatever movement is made on the input is mirrored comes out exactly the same in the output.

So a push-pull linkage is the most likely linkage that's been used to create that movement.

Let's have a look at another one.

So again, look at the diagram, think about the input, which direction is it moving in.

Then think about the output.

In this case, it's going in the opposite direction to the input.

And think about what type of linkage would create that movement.

Which type of linkage creates a movement in the opposite direction to the input? Pause the video, have a think.

Okay, well done if you said it could be a reverse motion linkage or a lazy-tong linkage, because both of those have an output movement that's in the opposite direction to the input.

Let's have a look at what that looks like.

There's the reverse motion linkage and there's the lazy-tong linkage.

So both of them have an output that is in the opposite direction to the input.

So a little bit tricky to see, but the clues are in the direction of the movement.

Okay, let's do a quick check.

Which linkage then creates an output in the same direction as the input, so which of those linkages there would have an output in the same direction as the input? Have a think.

Okay, well done if you said c.

It is the push-pull linkage has an output in the same direction as the input.

Well done.

Okay, so it's time for a second task now.

So using those same books that you've been looking at for the first part of the lesson, I want you to choose one page and I want you to choose one moving part on that page.

And you're going to use that one example for your next task.

So you're going to discuss with your partner the type of linkage that you think has been used to make that movement, the purpose, so that's why is that linkage been chosen, what is it designed to do, the user, so who is the book that you've been looking at aimed at, maybe it's the age of the user you're thinking about, maybe it's the interest of the user, who do you think would be interested in that book, that specific interactive element of the book, and have a think about how well it works, so how well does it complete its purpose, how well does it suit the user that you think it's been designed for? So if you thought it was designed for younger children, is it easy for them to use? If you thought it was designed for older children, does it suit the interests of an older child? So you're thinking about how it works, how if it works well and why it works well? Pause the video, come back when you've had a good look at your linkage.

Okay, welcome back.

So by looking at and thinking about those linkages that you found in your interactive books, we can start to think about how they can be improved.

You may have decided that your linkage didn't really work as well as it could do.

Maybe it didn't suit the user.

Maybe it was a bit tricky to operate.

Maybe it didn't suit the style of the book.

So that means we can make improvements.

Improvements could be made to the type of linkage that's been used.

So it could be made simpler or made in a different way.

Improvement could be made to how the linkage is made, what it's made from.

Or it could be an improvement made to how the linkage is used.

So could it be made a little bit simpler? Could it be placed in a better position to make it work better? So there's lots of things we can think about to start to think about how we can improve that interactive element of the book you've been looking at.

And that leads us onto task two, 'cause I want you to start thinking like a designer now.

I want you to start thinking about how you would improve that book.

If you are going to make that page or make that element of that page again, how would you make it better? How could you make it better? How could you change it? What could be done? How else could it move? Could it be in a different position? Could it be designed in a different way? Could you change the mechanism? If so, what type of mechanism or linkage would you actually use to improve the design? So you are becoming the designer now.

We want to see some design decisions being made about your book.

Pause the video, have a think about it.

Okay, so to improve on a design, we've got to make it better than the original, otherwise, it wouldn't have be an improvement.

So that means it should either be more suitable for the user.

So it might mean that it's made appropriate for their age.

It might be that it suits their interest.

It might be that it's easier for them to use.

It must work more efficiently.

If it's going to be an improvement on how it works, it must work better.

It must work in a better way than it did before.

Or it might be an improvement on it being easier to make, so it might be the materials it was made from or the way it was made could be made much more efficient than it was before.

It could be all of those things.

So you could be improving all of those elements together.

It might just be one or two of them.

So hopefully, you managed to record some of your ideas about how you would improve the design onto your worksheet.

Okay, so we've come to the end of the lesson.

We've had a really good look and think about levers and linkages in products, specifically the linkages that are used in interactive books.

And we've started to think about why they are used in the way that they are used.

Now, interactive books have a variety of linkages inside them, not a huge variety because we found that some of them are quite complicated linkages that are not suitable for use in an interactive book.

And the simpler the better is often what we've found in interactive books.

Some of them are definitely more suited to this purpose than others.

The linkages are always carefully chosen to suit the design.

So we looked at linkages that had already been chosen for us and then we had to think about which linkages we would choose if we were going to improve on the design.

The reason they're chosen carefully is because they have to suit the purpose and the user.

And by looking at existing book designs, looking at existing products, looking at things that have already been designed, are already out there in real life can help us think about how we can improve on those designs, how we can make things better in the future.

Designs are always being improved upon and changed in order to become easier to make or to suit the user.

And that's what you've been doing today.

So you've been fantastic designers today, and I've really enjoyed helping you learn about the levers and linkages in products as part of this unit.