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Please note
This unit has been replaced by the unit *New* Structures: Stable structures. It will move to our Content archive in May 2026. It will remain permanently available but will not be updated in line with curriculum or website developments.
Unit outcomes
Pupils who are secure will be able to:
- Follow design criteria to meet the needs of a user.
- Make a stable structure.
- Make functioning sails/blades that attach to the supporting structure.
- Improve their windmill.
Structures: Junk modelling
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Lesson plans
Lesson 1: Windmills
Lesson 2: Making the sails
Lesson 3: Attaching the sails
Lesson 4: Evaluating windmills
Key skills
- Finding the middle of
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Key knowledge
To know:
- That the sails
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Key vocabulary
base
centre
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Related content
Unit resources
Knowledge organiser- D&T Y1: Constructing windmills
Aimed at pupils, a single page which gives key facts and definitions from the unit 'Structures: Constructing a windmill.'
Vocabulary display – D&T Y1: Structures: Constructing a windmill
A display version of the vocabulary from the unit 'Constructing a windmill'.
Subject resources
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Cross-curricular opportunities
Maths: Geometry – properties of shapes
Pupils use their knowledge of shapes to identify circles and find the centre to help them construct a windmill structure.
Build on the learning
Structures: Baby Bear’s chair
Pupils build on their knowledge of free-standing structures from making a windmill to help them create more complex structures in Baby Bear’s Chair.