Year 4 - Design and technology
Reverse motion levers and linkages
Levers and linkages: interactive books
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit develops pupils' knowledge of mechanisms through levers and linkages. They will apply this knowledge by exploring mechanisms and incorporating them into an interactive book with a user-centred focus.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to make reverse motion linkages.
Key Notes
- Levers are rigid bars that create movement by turning on a pivot point.
- Linkages are systems that create movement using one or more levers.
- Reverse motion linkages use a fixed pivot to change the direction of input so that the output goes the opposite way.
- Making a reverse motion linkage can help with understanding its features and movement.
Vocabulary To Learn
- mechanism: a set of moving parts that make something happen
- lever: a mechanism which creates movement
- pivot point: a point around which an object moves or rotates
- linkage: a mechanism connecting levers together
- reverse motion linkage: a linkage that creates movement in opposite directions
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- Levers are always used to make things move easier.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the lesson in two key points.
Levers are rigid bars that create movement by turning on a pivot point. Linkages are systems that create movement using one or more levers.
2. What does this key word mean in this lesson? 'mechanism'
a set of moving parts that make something happen.
3. Correct this common mistake.
Mistake: Levers are always used to make things move easier. Correction: Some levers are designed to to move things faster or further, a pair of tweezers for example.
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