Materials and Components: resources to help students excel
High school Design and Technology students are required to have a detailed understanding of the properties, stock forms, costs, availability of materials used in the manufacture of products – gaining an understanding of why these materials are used in different circumstances.
Students should be familiar with:
- 3D Modelling Materials: including Styrofoam, balsawood, polymorph, and Plaster of Paris;
- Papers and Boards: including common papers, cardboards, and mounting boards, foamboard, and laminated card;
- Wood: including softwood, hardwood, and manufactured composite timber boards;
- Metal: including ferrous and non-ferrous metals and their alloys;
- Composite Materials: a manufactured material that combines two or more materials with different properties;
- Smart Materials: those that change their properties in response to external conditions or stimuli;
- Modern Materials: those that have been engineered to have improved properties.
- Biodegradable Materials.
Students should also be able to recognise composite materials (those that combine two or more materials with different properties) and understand biodegradable materials and their environmental implications.
A Level Students should also have an understanding of various material enhancement processes.
The collection of articles below provides more information about these topics.