Gretchen Brinza
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Materials Engineering

Materials engineers play an important part in many fields of engineering.  Many of the technologies that engineers develop must rely on materials that are specifically designed for a purpose.  With that, some of the materials they focus on are natural and others are man-made.  That means materials engineers are experts on materials, properties, mixtures, and fair tests!  They design new materials to reach specific goals.  Our focus in this unit will be on earth materials.

Home

3.  Yi Min's Solution!

1/30/2014

 
Picture"She made a wall by mixing mortar."
We've just completed our Materials Engineering Story, and Yi Min has done some wonderful  materials engineering.  She experimented making different mixtures of mortar and eventually created a successful mortar for her wall.  Yi Min's classmates are impressed when they discover the solution she's created to keep the bunny out of their garden works--their vegetables have been saved!  

First graders also had the chance to build some of their own walls with a man-made material.  After building their walls, they did two tests.  The first test was the "hop test."  Could a bunny (spring toy) jump over the wall and still get to the garden?  And the second test was a "crash test."  Could a bunny (wooden car) run into the wall and knock it down?  Did the way we put the Legos make a difference in our tests?  Way to go materials engineers!

2.  Identifying Yi Min's Problem!

1/15/2014

 
First graders are working at identifying the problem that Yi Min faces as a materials engineer!  This means they have to find a way to get a bunny rabbit from eating all the vegetables that are growing in her school garden.  They've focused on figuring out which materials would be best to use in a technology.  This means our focus this week has been on identifying natural and man-made materials.  Natural materials can be found in nature, like rocks, sticks and mud.  Human-made materials are made by people and include materials like plastic, fabric, and glass.  

1.  Meet Yin Min!

1/5/2014

 
Picture
Yi Min is a young girl living in China.  She and her friends keep a school garden, yet find that an intruder has been stealing all the vegetables they have planted.

Using the knowledge of a materials engineer and a well-known landmark famous to China, Yi Min develops a solution to keep the intruder out of her garden!  

Key Vocabulary:  soil, sand, clay, mixture, fair test, mortar, technology, materials engineer, material, prope

    Mrs. Brinza

    What are the materials used in your favorite technologies?

    Are they natural or man-made?

    What properties do these materials have that make them serve the technology's purpose?

    Useful Links
    • Solids and Liquids
    • Sorting and Using Materials
    • Characteristics of Materials
    • Grouping and Changing Materials

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