Our class tablet (or a heavy book of the same size) keeps tipping when we prop it against other books to film an investigation or follow a demo. What job does a good stand need to do, and who is it for?
Talk in pairs, then share. Who is this stand for? What must it hold? What must stay true even if the desk is lightly bumped? We will write a short user need the whole class agrees on.
Remember what our stand must do: hold the tablet upright, stay steady when the desk is bumped, and let us put the tablet in and take it out easily. Staying steady depends most on the base, so before we design the whole stand we test the base with one fair-test question: does the shape of the base change how easily a stand tips?
Five cards appear on the interactive: base shape, how easily it tips, the load on the stand, how hard we nudge it, and the height of the stand. Call out where each belongs: Change, Measure, or Keep the same.
This quick test is how engineers stop arguing about favourites: the base has to earn its place with evidence.
After we agree as a class, each group records Change, Measure, Keep the same, and how you will judge tipping on your Investigation Journal page.
Which base makes a steadier stand?
In groups, build two quick base samples only, not a full stand yet.
- The class default is one wide base and one narrow base, the same height. If your group agreed a different fair pair when you planned, use that instead: still change only one thing, still match the height.
- Use the same load and the same gentle fingertip nudge every time.
- Count nudges until each base tips. Stop at 10.
- Record which base tips less easily, then choose the winner for your full design.
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