Machines Around Us

Sessions

1. Session 1 · 45 min

   How do things move?

   Four ways things move: push (away from you), pull (towards you), roll and spin. Three safe-making rules, shown as picture cards: nothing in mouths, carry things with two hands, stop and tell the adult.

   The adult says first: “Machines make things move. Let's find four ways to move. Show me with your body.”

   Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

   1. ✋➡ — picture: a hand pushing a box away
   2. ⬅✋ — picture: a hand pulling a box on a short string
   3. ●➡ — picture: a ball rolling along the floor
   4. ↻ — picture: a top spinning round
   5. ✗ — picture: a bead and a button near a mouth, crossed out
   6. ✋✋ — picture: two hands carrying a box slowly
   7. ⛔ — picture: a raised hand: stop and tell the adult

   Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): push · pull · spin

   Timing (0 of 45 min at the screen)

   1. 15 minAway from the screen: The stop card, then push, a mimed rope pull and one slow spin, in their own space.
   2. 10 minAway from the screen: The two-hands card, then carry the soft ball to a partner and roll it.
   3. 15 minAway from the screen: The nothing-in-mouths card, then four objects: point to the card that fits, try it.
   4. 5 minAway from the screen: Each child shows their favourite movement; the adult notes who said which word.

   In the studio

   No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

   Hands-on

   Nothing is powered. Each safe-making card comes just before the movement it keeps safe, and the children copy the rule with their bodies. The stop-and-tell card first; then the adult holds up a movement card and the children do it slowly in their own space: push the air away, pull a rope towards them (mimed: there is no rope), spin once on the spot. The two-hands card; then each child carries a big soft ball to a partner with two hands and rolls it to them. The nothing-in-mouths card; last, the adult shows four objects one at a time (a toy car, a big spinning top, a box on a short string and the soft ball) and the children point to the movement card that fits. A child who moves differently shows each movement their own way: hands, arms or a large soft toy.

   Evidence to collect

   The adult's own note: which children matched each object to a movement card, and which movement words they said.

   Predict

   Before each object moves, the children point to the card they think fits: push, pull, roll or spin.

   Debug

   If a child picks a card that does not fit, move the object again slowly and ask: is it going away from you, towards you, round and round, or rolling?

   Reflect

   Which way of moving did your body find easiest, and which object moved like you?

   ⚠ Adult checks: Museum objects work by hand only: nothing that plugs in or holds a battery, nothing sharp (no knives, no pointed scissors), nothing edible, no balloons. Museum objects come from the setting or from home, checked by the adult: nothing that fits the small-parts cylinder or has parts that could come off and fit it. Any string is short and never looped. Balls: soft and at least 6 cm across, well over the 44.4 mm small-ball size. No marbles.

   Works towards: Kinds of movement, Safe making

2. Session 2 · 50 min

   Which way will it move?

   Guess, then try: the children show a guess with a picture card before an object moves, then see if they were right. A wrong guess is useful: it tells us something new.

   The adult says first: “First we guess with a card. Then we try it. Then we say what happened.”

   Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

   1. ? — picture: a child thinking, a toy car beside them
   2. 👀 — picture: eyes watching the toy car move
   3. ✓ — picture: a green tick
   4. ✗ — picture: a red cross

   Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): guess · try

   Timing (0 of 50 min at the screen)

   1. 10 minAway from the screen: The adult shows how to guess with a card, then try, using the toy car.
   2. 25 minAway from the screen: Six objects: guess with a card, try it, then a ✓ or ✗ card.
   3. 10 minAway from the screen: Tidy the cards; each child shows one object that surprised them.
   4. 5 minAway from the screen: The adult photographs the table, no children in the frame, and notes what they said.

   In the studio

   No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

   Hands-on

   Nothing is powered. On a table, six everyday objects that work by hand, from the setting or from home and checked by the adult: a toy car, a big spinning top, a plastic jar with a large twist lid, a pull-along toy, a hand whisk and a rolling pin. For each one, every child first puts a movement card next to it as a guess (the guess card), then one child moves it while the others watch. The adult turns the whisk's handle; children keep fingers away from its gears. The adult puts a ✓ or ✗ card by each guess, and the group says what happened.

   Evidence to collect

   A photo of the table with each object's guess card and ✓ or ✗ card beside it, taken by the adult with no child in the frame, and the adult's note of what each child said happened.

   Predict

   Before each object moves, every child places a movement card beside it: how will it move?

   Debug

   If the guesses split, try the object twice, slowly, and let the children with each guess say what they saw.

   Reflect

   Which object surprised you? What did it do that you did not guess?

   ⚠ Adult checks: Museum objects work by hand only: nothing that plugs in or holds a battery, nothing sharp (no knives, no pointed scissors), nothing edible, no balloons. Museum objects come from the setting or from home, checked by the adult: nothing that fits the small-parts cylinder or has parts that could come off and fit it. Any string is short and never looped. Only the adult turns the whisk; fingers stay away from its gears.

   Works towards: Predict and test, Kinds of movement

3. Session 3 · 50 min

   Is it a machine?

   In this unit a machine is something that changes how our push or pull moves things: a whisk turns a twist of the handle into a fast spin, wheels let a car roll. The children sort objects into machines and not machines, and set up the movement museum.

   The adult says first: “A machine changes how our push or pull moves things. Is this a machine?”

   Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

   1. ⚙ — picture: a cog: this is a machine
   2. ◆ — picture: a stone: not a machine
   3. ? — picture: a question mark: not sure
   4. ✋✋ — picture: two hands carrying an object to the table
   5. ●➡ ↻ — picture: two movement cards beside a toy car

   Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): machine · label

   Timing (0 of 50 min at the screen)

   1. 15 minAway from the screen: Sort: each child moves an object and puts it on the cog, stone or ? mat.
   2. 10 minAway from the screen: The group says why each object went where it did.
   3. 20 minAway from the screen: The museum: two objects each, carried with two hands, each with its label card.
   4. 5 minAway from the screen: The adult photographs the museum table, no children in the frame.

   In the studio

   No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

   Hands-on

   Nothing is powered. The adult shows three mats: a cog card for machines, a stone card for not machines and a ? card for not sure. Each child holds one of the session 2 objects, the big wooden block or the box on a short string, moves it, and puts it on a mat; the group says why, and the adult uses the sort key (adult notes) as a guide. The whisk stays in the adult's hands: the adult turns it while a child chooses its mat. Then the museum: each child chooses two museum objects, carries each with two hands to their own spot on a long table, and places a movement card beside each (the label). The whisk is not one of the children's picks to carry: a child who chooses it gets a spot where the adult turns it on the child's cue. The adult checks every object against the museum rule before it goes on the table.

   Evidence to collect

   The adult's note of which objects each child sorted and why, and a photo of the set-up museum table (objects and cards only).

   Predict

   Before sorting each object, the child says whether it will change how their push or pull moves things.

   Debug

   If a child cannot decide, they move the object, then push the big wooden block the same way: does the object change the movement (faster, rolling or spinning), or just go where it is pushed? Still unsure: it goes on the ? mat, a fine answer.

   Reflect

   Which safe-making card did you use today, and when?

   ⚠ Adult checks: Museum objects work by hand only: nothing that plugs in or holds a battery, nothing sharp (no knives, no pointed scissors), nothing edible, no balloons. Museum objects come from the setting or from home, checked by the adult: nothing that fits the small-parts cylinder or has parts that could come off and fit it. Any string is short and never looped. Small parts: nothing loose, or that could come off, that fits inside the small-parts cylinder (31.70 mm wide, 57.10 mm long). No beads, marbles, buttons, small magnets or coin cells. If in doubt, leave it out.

   Works towards: Kinds of movement, Safe making

4. Session 4 · 45 min

   Can I show two ways my objects move?

   The museum opens: each child labels and demonstrates two movement types with their own objects, and says which movement each one shows.

   The adult says first: “Today you show your museum. Point to your card, then show the movement.”

   Picture cards for the children (symbols and drawings; they read nothing)

   1. 1 2 — picture: two objects, each with a card beside it
   2. ☝ — picture: a finger pointing to a label card
   3. ●➡ — picture: the toy car rolling for a visitor

   Key words (said aloud, pointing to the card): show · label · movement

   Timing (0 of 45 min at the screen)

   1. 10 minAway from the screen: The adult checks every object again; the children practise their two movements.
   2. 25 minAway from the screen: The museum is open: each child shows and tells at their spot.
   3. 10 minAway from the screen: Back in the circle: each child names one machine at home.

   In the studio

   No studio lab: this session is off-screen.

   Hands-on

   Nothing is powered. The museum table from session 3, checked again by the adult. Visitors (another group, or the adult) walk along it slowly. At each spot, the child points to their label cards, guesses aloud what the visitor will see, then shows each object moving and says the movement word (the adult turns the whisk on the child's cue). The adult writes a short note for each child and photographs each spot's objects and cards on the table, never the child.

   Evidence to collect

   The unit's evidence: each child places a movement label card by each object and demonstrates two movement types (push, pull, roll or spin), shown to a visitor; kept as the adult's note and a photo of the two labelled objects, never of the child.

   Predict

   Before each demonstration, the child says which movement the visitor is about to see.

   Debug

   If an object moves another way than its label, the child swaps the label card and shows it again.

   Reflect

   What machine at home moves like one of your museum objects?

   ⚠ Adult checks: Museum objects work by hand only: nothing that plugs in or holds a battery, nothing sharp (no knives, no pointed scissors), nothing edible, no balloons. Museum objects come from the setting or from home, checked by the adult: nothing that fits the small-parts cylinder or has parts that could come off and fit it. Any string is short and never looped. Photos are of the build only, taken by the adult on the setting's device, following its photo policy: no child in the frame, no names visible, the build on the table or floor, not in a hand. Nothing is uploaded to this studio and no name goes into it; the adult's notes follow the setting's records policy.

   Works towards: Kinds of movement, Predict and test