This week, Shackleton Class had an exciting DT Day where we got hands-on with structures! Our focus was on how things are built and the different techniques used to make them strong and sturdy.

We started by learning about our significant figure for this unit, Abraham Darby III. He played a huge role in the Industrial Revolution, and his most famous achievement was the Iron Bridge. Built in 1779, it was the first-ever bridge made entirely of cast iron, proving that metal could be used in construction in a brand-new way. This innovation changed the way bridges were built and made transport and trade much easier.

Inspired by this, we put our DT skills to the test by constructing our own tables! Using different joining and strengthening techniques, we worked together to design and build a table that could stand up to the challenge (literally!). We had to think carefully about stability, balance, and how to make sure our tables were strong enough to hold weight.

Throughout the day, we embraced our DT curriculum vision statement:

'Be innovative. Be hands-on. Be diagnostic'.

We tested, problem-solved, and improved our designs as we built them. By the end of the session, we had some fantastic tables and a deeper understanding of how structures work.

Check out our process and some finished designs below!