Mechanisms and mechanical systems (KS1 – KS2)
Mechanisms is the DT strand children enjoy most, because something they built actually moves. From levers and sliders in Year 1 to cams and linkages by Year 6, here’s what the curriculum expects and where to find lessons and resources to teach it.
What children learn about mechanisms and mechanical systems at KS1 and KS2
What the national curriculum expects
Mechanisms appear under technical knowledge in both key stages. At KS1, pupils should explore and use mechanisms such as levers, sliders, wheels and axles in their products. At KS2, this becomes mechanical systems, where pupils should understand and use mechanical systems in their products, with the curriculum naming gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages.
Key knowledge and concepts
Within this topic, children build knowledge of how mechanisms make things move:
What is a mechanism
How a mechanism turns one movement into another
Levers and sliders
Simple mechanisms for moving pictures and cards
Wheels and axles
How wheels turn, and how to fix them so they work
Linkages
Connecting levers to make more complex movement
Cams
Turning rotation into up-and-down movement
Gears
How gears transfer movement and change speed
Pulleys
How pulleys change the force or direction of a movement
Pneumatics
Using air pressure to create movement
Where this topic sits within KS1 and KS2
Mechanisms run through both key stages as part of technical knowledge, building from levers and sliders in KS1 to gears, cams and linkages by upper KS2. The content overlaps directly with the Year 5 science strand on forces, where levers, pulleys and gears also appear.
How to access this topic
Mechanisms don’t sit on their own in the curriculum. The Cornerstones design and technology curriculum is fully sequenced from EYFS through Year 1 to Year 6, so you can see what comes before, what follows and how the whole picture fits together. We’ve done the thinking, so your planning time goes into teaching, not sequencing.
Full curriculum
Subject curriculum
Quick Teach Individual lessons and resources for supplementing what you already teach.
Ready to bring the wider curriculum to life?
See how the full Cornerstones Design and Technology Curriculum sequences topics like this one across every year group.