What you will need
- A pre-prepared basic Elephant Island model
- Two plans of how they could improve the model
- Building materials – junk modelling, bricks, blocks or whichever construction materials you have available
- Pictures of the first and second Elephant Islands on pages 29/30 and 37/38
- Plans and models PDF if you need ideas
- Civil engineer poster
Duration
- 10 minutes or so to build your model and make your plans
- 15 – 20 minutes
Encourage collaboration in order to improve a project and complete a challenge.
Early Learning Goal links
- Mathematics ELG: Numerical Patterns
- Understanding the World ELG: Past and Present
- Understanding the World ELG: People, Culture and Communities
- Understanding the World ELG: The Natural World
- Expressive Arts and Design ELG: Creating with Materials
Characteristics of effective learning
Our EYFS units provide enabling environments with teaching and support from adults. Reflecting on the characteristics of effective teaching and learning, children will have opportunity to learn and develop by:
• playing and exploring – children investigate and experience things, and ‘have a go’
• active learning – children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• creating and thinking critically – children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things
Taken from Statutory Framework for the Early Years Foundation Stage.
© Crown copyright 2023 licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0.
STEM vocabulary to introduce
Collaboration, teamwork, together, improve, better, build, make, structure, balance, stable, unstable, wobbly, structure, fasten, tie, stick, join, big, bigger, small, smaller, large, larger, tall, taller, short, shorter, wide, wider, narrow, narrower
Before you start
Show the children the civil engineering poster and tell the children that they are going to be civil engineers for this activity.
Ask the children if they know what a civil engineer does. Civil engineers plan, design, build and manage the construction and upkeep of buildings and other structures such as roads, bridges, dams, water and sewerage systems, railways, airports and harbours.
Civil engineers are:
Creative when they plan and design buildings and structures,
Collaborative as they work together with other professionals to complete projects.
Resilient because their designs can be tricky to get right the first time.
Tell the children that for this activity they are going to be collaborative and complete a project together.
What to do – step 1
Show the children your pre-prepared Elephant Island model (see gallery below for ideas or download ideas PDF). Tell the children about each of the features you have added. You could ask:
- What do you like about the model?
- What do you like about that part?
- Why do you like it?
Tell the children that we are going to make this Elephant Island even better. You could ask the children if they can think of any ideas to make the model even better. You may need to use the pictures of the first and second Elephant Islands on pages 29/30 and 37/38 of the story for inspiration. You could ask:
- If you lived on Elephant Island, what would you like to have on there?
- Where do you like to go to play? Do you like the climbing frame/construction area/water play?
- Would you like a slide/swimming pool/sand pit?
Step 2
Depending on the children/ideas generated, you could ask the children to vote for the ideas they like best. You could then ask the children to draw plans of the island, or ask them to help you draw the plan. You could ask questions such as:
- Where do you think we should put the swimming pool?
- Where is the best place for the slide?
- What do you think this part should look like? What shape/size should it be?
Alternatively, you could present them with two pre-made plans (see ideas below or download PDF) and get them to choose which improvements they would like to try. You could ask:
- Why do you like that plan? Why are you choosing that idea?
- What do you think is good about this idea?
Step 3
When the children have chosen their idea, you can talk to them about how they are going to collaborate, or work together as a team, to complete the task. You could ask:
- Who is going to collect the materials together?
- Who is going to make this part?
- Who is going to join these pieces together?
- Who is going to hold these pieces so they can be fastened together?
- Who is going to tidy up?
Step 4
Support the children to improve the island. You could encourage collaboration by referring them back to the plans at regular intervals. You could ask:
- Which part are you working on now?
- Can you show me where that is on the plan?
- How are you going to make this part?
- Can you work on that together?
- Could you hold this part while your friend fastens that part on?
- Could you work on the part over there so that your friend can reach this part here?
- How are you going to fasten that onto your island?
- Where is the best place to put that on your island?
Step 4
When you have finished you could ask the children about how well they think they completed the task and how well they collaborated on the task. You could ask:
- Does your model look like your plan?
- Which parts do you like best?
- Which parts are you most proud of?
- Is there anything you would make ever better?
- Is there anything you would still like to add?
- Did everyone help each other?
Other things to try – team roles
You could try giving out specific team roles to promote collaboration. These could include leader, designer, checker, fastener and builder and could have a badge with a symbol to remind the children of their role.
Remember to refer to the children as civil engineers and praise them for using the attributes. You could say things like:
“You have been collaborative like civil engineers and completed your project together as a team”
The science of structures
We have put together some useful information about the science of structures to accompany this activity. Don’t worry, this is for your information only and to help you answer any questions children may have. We don’t expect you to explain this to the children in your setting!
Why do our islands topple over?
The centre of gravity of an object is the point that an object’s weight will balance around. Imagine balancing a ruler on the end of your finger without it falling off – your finger is in line with the centre of gravity. If you place the book or ruler onto a table with the centre of gravity off the edge of the table, it will fall. For symmetrical solid objects, the centre of gravity is in the middle of the object.
If a tower is built upright on flat ground, the centre of gravity is directly above the centre point of the base so the tower is very stable.
If a tower is built on sloping ground, the centre of gravity is no longer above the centre of the base and the tower will be more unstable.
If blocks are stacked unevenly their centre of gravity will not be above the centre of the base and they are more likely to fall.
The higher you stack blocks, the higher the centre of gravity becomes. A 4 block tower will have its centre of gravity at 2 blocks, a 10 story tower will have its centre of gravity at 5 blocks. The higher the centre of gravity, the easier it is to tip it so that it is no longer directly above the base and it will tip.
Why does building a wider base help us build bigger islands?
Objects with a wide base are more stable than objects with a narrow base. This is because it’s more likely that the centre of gravity will be directly above the base of the object. Blocks need to be stacked so their centre of gravity is above their base in order not to fall. If you put a cuboid shaped block on the floor horizontally, has a wide base relative to its height so it won’t tip over if you push on its side with your finger. It has a low centre of gravity. If you stand the same block vertically on one end the base is now narrower compared to its height and it has a higher centre of gravity. If you push the block near the top, it will probably fall over. If you add more blocks, stacking them horizontally will create a more study structure with a lower centre of gravity. If you stack them vertically, they will have a higher centre of gravity which can be more easily tipped out of line with their base and fall down.
Where are the best places to attach different parts to our islands?
When we add new parts to our structures, we are changing the position of the centre of gravity of our structure. If we choose to put a heavy object at the top of a structure, the centre of gravity is higher up. This makes it easier for the structure to tip because that the centre of gravity is no longer above its base, and the structure falls down. If we place heavier objects lower down on our structures and lighter objects towards the top, the centre of gravity is lower and the structure is less likely to topple.
Why does fastening our structures together make them stronger?
Fasteners ensure that materials are securely joined together. They help structures withstand the loads and forces placed upon them. Fasteners reinforce and strengthen connections between the parts of the structure. They providing additional support and ensure that the structure is more stable over time. Examples of fasteners on real structures include nails, nuts and bolts, screws, rivets and anchors.
