Hi guys! Today I am going to tell you how I made my medieval drawbridge and castle, and some backround information on the medieval times.
Castles
Castle are places that people built for protection from enemies in the middle ages. The first castles were made out of wood. There were usually only three rooms in a castle. Sometimes there are moats around castles. A moat is water that surounds a castle. Sometimes castles can suround a little village. People still build buildings that look like castles because they think they look nice.
(Castle in Germany)
Drawbridges
A drawbridge is a type of bridge that usually leads to a castle. A drawbridge is a way that you can protect yourself from enemies by lifting the bridge up. A drawbridge usually goes over a moat. A drawbridge can lift to let boats go through. In the medieval times, drawbridges were usually made out of wood.
(London bridge)
Lords vs Serfs
Lords lived privileged and serfs did not. Lords lived in nice and big houses, but serfs lived in wood and mud houses with straw beds. Lords had nice clothes and serfs didn’t. Serfs had to do farming and take care of animals, while the lords would get the stuff they made and harvested. The boys usually got to learn to read and even write. If the girls lived in a very privileged family, they might have learned to read or embroid. In the medieval times, the lords were one of the people who had the most power. Some serfs would be called freemen. The serfs had the least power.
(feudal system)
Knights
Knights usually fought on horses for their master. Knights also sometimes fought on foot. To be a knight, you need to be able to afford armour. The best soldiers were knights. You need a lot of money to become a knight, so if you became a knight your family would have probably had a lot of money. You could make a lot of money by being a knight. You can get a lot of money by winning a battle or war. Sometimes if you do a very good job as a reward you can be given a special name.
Please click on this link to see my blogpost about pulleys.
How I got my information
First I looked in some books with medieval drawbridges leading to castles. Then I looked online and found some facts about medieval drawbridges. Next I wrote down my facts on a piece of paper. Finally, I drew a picture of what my medieval drawbridge and castle would look like.
Hypothesis
I planned to use cardboard for my castle and the bridge of my drawbridge, then I planned to use my pulley from the “science in the school bag” to make my drawbridge go up.
Procedure
1.I got some cardboard and started to cut out shapes that I needed to make my drawbridge.
2.I glued some pieces of cardboard together to make a castle to attach my drawbridge to.
3.I made a door for my castle with straws and attached a string so it could hang on to the top of the castle.
4.I cut a little piece of a bamboo stick about one inch long, and wrapped it in green and grey pipecleaners.
5.I put a hole in the first end of the drawbridge, and glued the bamboo stick in the hole with some hot glue.
6.I made a hole in the piece of cardbaord and stuck a bamboo stick about four inches long in the hole, and put a red straw over the stick.
7.I attached the piece of cardboard to the first end of the drawbridge with a pipecleaner, and then I did the same thing with the other side.
8.I glued the other side of the drawbridge to the castle. Next I glued the pulley to the bamboo stick that was 4 inches long, and attached the string to the bamboo stick that was one inch long.
9.I wrapped the string to the pulley.
10.I painted my medieval drawbridge and castle.
11.I added two little pieces of cardboard about two inches long inside the castle to be tables, and then I added to smaller pieces of cardboard about the same length to be benches.
12.I made four little pipecleaner plates to put on the tables, and then I added four little pieces of different colour pipecleaner to be the food on the plates.
13.I made a spiral staircase by getting one bamboo stick and piting pieces of cardboard on the stick.
14. I cut a small piece of cardboard and glued it to the top of my castle were the spiral staircase would lead.
15. I made a bed by cutting a tiny piece of cardboard and putting pink pipecleaners for the pillow blue pipecleaners for the sheets
16. I made a little night table beside the bed.
17. I added another little piece of cardboard right beside the spiral staircase and made another bed with many different colours for the pillow and sheets.
(Picture of me building my castle and drawbridge)
(Video of me pulling the string of my pulley)
Results
My drawbridge worked when I pulled the string that was in the groove of the pulley.
(My final tour of my castle with harry potter characters)
Conclusion
Next time I would start out with one box so I don’t have to cut multiple pieces for my castle walls and floor because, it is extra work and it would have been easier to start out with one box.