Design a robot
I can demonstrate how a robot’s purpose influences its design and features.
Design a robot
I can demonstrate how a robot’s purpose influences its design and features.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Select recycled materials for your robot, considering their strength, flexibility, and purpose.
- Researching artists can inspire unique designs.
- Role-playing as a robot helps understand its purpose and how its features work.
Keywords
Recyclable material - the process of converting waste into reusable material
Purpose - a reason for doing something
Sustainability - capable of continuing or or being kept up over time
Common misconception
Pupils may assume robots have only one job, not understanding how versatile robots can be when designed for different tasks such as cleaning, farming, or saving resources.
Remind children that robots can have many different purposes! Show images of robots used in various ways, like cleaning oceans, planting trees, or sorting recyclables.
To help you plan your year 3 art and design lesson on: Design a robot, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 3 art and design lesson on: Design a robot, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 art and design lessons from the Recycled robots: drawing and sculpture unit, dive into the full secondary art and design curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Equipment
Computers/tablets and recycled materials, masking tape and mark-making media.
Licence
Starter quiz
6 Questions





Exit quiz
6 Questions
the process of converting waste into reusable material
a reason for doing something
capable of continuing or or being kept up over time