LAUREN:'Today's Dengineer is nine-year-old Maddie from Birmingham.'
MADDIE:I really need your help Dengineers 'cause I love sport and I really want to win gold at the Paralympics.
OLGA:I came up with a brilliant idea for your den. Basically what we're going to do, we're going to build you a stadium because that's what you wanted, isn't it?
MADDIE:Yeah.
LAUREN:'Inspired by Maddie's ideas, Olga plans to create a sport den 'fit to host the Paralympics. 'From the outside the den will look like a modern sports stadium 'using coloured acrylic panels and angled walls to achieve the effect.
LAUREN:'Inside, the floor and wall will be covered in a running track design 'and there'll be a display area 'to show off Maddie's sporting achievements.'
JOE:'The den's flying up, just as Olga hoped. 'It really is a piece of engineering, this design 'and I want to check that Olga's covered all the bases.'
JOE:I've noticed the walls are sort of pointing out. Why have you done that and not just normal straight walls.
OLGA:Well I decided to construct it slightly differently to give the impression that the den is actually bigger than it is.
JOE:That's amazing. In looking at it, I have thought of a possible problem. If you wouldn't mind me running it past you.
OLGA:Of course.
JOE:I've borrowed some of Nancy's building blocks which is about my sort of level just to explain. If you're building a wall at an angle, it's gonna do that isn't it?It's just gonna fall down.
OLGA:Well as you can see, ours is not doing that.
JOE:Well yeah, but why?
OLGA:Because we made sure they're not going over the tipping point. In addition, we strengthen the floor and the walls so they're supporting the front walls from falling down.
JOE:So because you know you're building it on an angle, you've supported it everywhere you can.
OLGA:Exactly.
JOE:Amazing.
LAUREN:'The tipping point is the point at which an object, like Maddie's den, 'is no longer balanced 'and adding even a small amount of weight can cause it to tip over.
LAUREN:'If Olga designed the den to be tall with a small base, 'it would have a high centre of gravity 'and be more likely to tip over
LAUREN:'but she's made sure Maddie's den has a low centre of gravity 'and a wide base, which makes it more stable.'
Presenters Lauren Layfield and Joe Tracini and The Dengineers team help sports fan Maddie from Birmingham create a stadium-style den.
The design involves creating walls that angle outward, which provides a challenge to make the structure stable and balanced.
They demonstrate how by keeping the centre of gravity low with a wide base and not going over the tipping point the structure is stabilised.
Teacher Notes
This could be used to introduce the process of design and as a prompt for class discussion and learning in areas, such as initial research, designing and making a structure. They could investigate the tipping point of structures with different centers of gravity.
Curriculum Notes
This clip will be relevant for teaching Design and Technology at KS2 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland and 1st and 2nd level in Scotland.
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