Corrosion is the destruction of a material by a reaction with a substance in its environment. A common type of corrosion is the reaction between a metal and oxygen from the air to form an oxide – an oxidation reaction. When iron reacts with oxygen and water, hydrated iron oxide or rust is formed. The…
Science resources – Composite Materials structured questions
Composite Materials structured questions – free resources for Key Stage 3 Why not test the knowledge of your Key Stage 3 students with these free structured questions on Composite Materials? The questions are based on the model used in the Smart Science series, but can be easily used with your students, whether you use Smart Science in…
Smart Facts – Composites and Compounds
Smart Facts – Composite materials A composite material is a mixture of two or more materials which has properties better than the components Concrete is the most commonly used composite. About 10 billion tons are made every year – more than one cubic metre for every person on Earth There are many natural composites including…
Scientist Biography: Stephanie Kwolek – Composite Materials
Smart Scientist biog: Meet Stephanie Kwolek the inventor of Kevlar. Have your students heard about Stephanie Kwolek’s impact on science? This Smart Scientist biog outlines how Stephanie created Kevlar – a new super-strong composite material. How did Stephanie Kwolek save thousands of lives without even leaving the laboratory? The answer … Stephanie, one of the…
Homework Activity: Testing Composite Materials
Try this free science homework activity on Composites and Compounds with your students If you’re tackling composites and compounds this term, here’s a simple science homework activity for your Key Stage 3 students. This activity encourages students to explore the strength of newspaper, printer paper and cardboard at home. Each student will need: A number…
Oops when science goes wrong! – Asbestos and composite materials
Asbestos – what happens when composite materials go wrong? Asbestos is found in nature as crystals. Scientists discovered that it can be formed into fibres that are light and strong and do not burn. In the 1950s, asbestos was used in all sorts of composite materials. This includes roofing, electrical insulation and in heatproof materials…
KS3 Science Video: Stephanie Kwolek and composite materials
KS3 science video: Stephanie Kwolek talks about her invention of new polymer material Kevlar. In this short KS3 science video (3.32 mins), Stephanie talks about her life, how she became a chemist and her research at DuPont. Stephanie invented a new new polymer fibre at DuPont, called Kevlar which is five times stronger than steel….
Oops! When science goes wrong – the blast furnace
Working in smelting can be a very dangerous profession; if something goes wrong it can have serious consequences. In 2001, an accident happened at a blast furnace in Wales because of a problem with the cooling system. Blast furnace accident Iron is not found as a pure metal in the ground as it is too…
Science Resources – student worksheet metal ore mining
This teaching resource is a free worksheet about metal ore mining. In the task students carry out a model of metal ore mining by removing the chocolate chips from two brands of cookie and calculating the percentage mass of chocolate chips. In real life, scientists will test ores to work out the percentage by mass…