ABSTRACT
This chapter is for all primary school teachers and trainee teachers who want to add new skills and ideas to their teaching repertoire. The ideas that we propose for 'Mechanisms' aims to be engaging, fun and practical to carry out in a primary school setting. A mechanism is a device which takes one type of motion or force, and produces a different one. Some common mechanisms are sliders, levers, linkages, gears, pulleys and cams. Other mechanisms include pneumatics and hydraulics. We live in a mechanised world but the mechanisms we depend on are rarely visible. Looking at simple mechanisms in D&T gives children an understanding of how many machines work. The most complex robots in factories rely on cams, levers and linkages to work, so the children are learning a useful, job-related skill. Assembling mechanisms helps with the development of fine motor skills and enables children to understand how to plan in 3D.
