Whirligigs
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Approach:  Group
ACCESS
Level: Year 4 and year 8
Focus: Managing resources  
Resources:
4 pieces of paper, 4 pairs of scissors, 4 rulers, 4 pencils,
4 instruction cards, cue card
frame 168Kb
Questions/instructions:
How to Make a Whirligig
1. Cut out a strip of paper 15 cm long and 4 cm wide.
2. Draw a line 5 cm down from the top of the strip. Make a tear down the middle of the strip to the pencil mark. This is the top of the whirligig.
3. At the bottom, fold the corners into the middle to make a point. Then fold the sides in again to make a sharp long point.
4. Fold one of the torn half strips forward and the other one backward. The strips need to point upwards a little bit. The whirligig should look like a Y shape.
[Click on graphic to enlarge.]


Hand each student an instruction card, pencil, paper, ruler and scissors.

You are going to try to make a mock-up of a whirligig by following these instructions. If you need some help,
I can help you.
If assistance is required, help students to make the whirligig.

Now you can try out your whirligigs. Stand up and hold them high, with the pointed end facing the floor. Hold them at the bottom of the wings, then drop them.
If the whirligigs do not twirl, adjust the torn strips and have the students drop them again.

Imagine your class has decided to make lots of good quality whirligigs to sell at the school fair. As a group, you are going to discuss how you could do this. This card tells you the things that you will need to think and talk about.
Read cue card to students. [same questions as 1–4 below.]

After you have talked about your ideas, I’ll ask you to tell me what you have decided to do for each of the four questions on the card.
Allow about five minutes for discussion.

Now, tell me what your group decided for each of the four questions.
Ask the team each question from the cue card.
 
% responses
2008 ('04)
y4
y8
1. How could you make the whirligigs so lots of children would want to buy them?    
Mentioned ideas about:
the general design (e.g. size, shape, structural features)
38 (45)
52 (42)
the materials used
40 (41)
58 (52)
decorative features (e.g. colour, printed designs)
93 (95)
99 (95)
the performance capabilities of the whirligigs
17 (22)
32 (22)
the packaging of the whirligigs
11 (9)
8 (7)
the cost of the whirligigs
41 (35)
38 (43)
Overall merit of the responses:
high
0 (0)
4 (0)
quite high
12 (7)
16 (14)
moderate
35 (48)
42 (43)
low
53 (45)
38 (43)
2. What problems might your team have when trying to make lots of whirligigs for the school fair?
3. What could your team do to overcome some of these problems?
Mentioned ideas about:
availability of suitable personnel
53 (52)
59 (62)
processes and/or equipment
47 (57)
61 (35)
supply/storage of materials
54 (71)
69 (60)
coordination of personnel, resources and processes
61 (53)
68 (67)
Overall merit of the responses:
high
0 (0)
3 (3)
quite high
12 (19)
22 (7)
moderate
39 (47)
51 (38)
low
49 (35)
25 (52)
4. What else could your team do so that there are lots of whirligigs to sell?
[e.g. order, production line.]
Overall merit of the responses:
high
1 (2)
3 (2)
quite high
16 (19)
21 (7)
moderate
35 (41)
43 (33)
low
48 (39)
33 (58)

Total score:
4–9
32 (22)
32 (14)
3
18 (24)
22 (14)
2
13 (17)
16 (25)
1
15 (19)
14 (19)
0
22 (19)
16 (28)
Commentary:
Students had difficulty in discussing how to make paper whirligigs so that lots of students in their schools would want to buy them. This may have been attributable to the fact that the whirligigs were fairly simple to make, and students may not have seen them as something of value to purchase. Scores at year 4 and at year 8 were quite similar, but there is strong growth from 2004 to 2008.