Practical Workshop
How many times have you touched something made from timber today? Perhaps you walked barefoot on floorboards, opened timber doors, windows, cupboards or drawers, sat on a chair or at a table or a desk made from wood; played a stringed or woodwind instrument; stirred a pot with a wooden spoon; traveled on a wooden ferry; emptied the shavings from a pencil sharpener; or had a hit with a cricket bat or hockey stick?
Metals form about a quarter of the weight of the Earth’s crust. They are strong, opaque and good conductors of electricity. Without metals, we wouldn’t have large structures such as buildings, bridges, railway lines, factory machinery, jet planes or spacecraft. Yet many metals are so easily shaped that they can be made into tiny pieces of jewellery or sculptures that appear very delicate. Metals are also very durable – bells cast centuries ago still ring true.
Which material is strong, lightweight, sometimes transparent, sometimes black, also bright colours, can be moulded into any shape, often imitates other materials such as leather and silk, is cheap to produce and can be recycled? The answer is the synthetic (manufactured) material we know as plastic. All plastics are polymers and we can’t do without them. Polymers can be made into many different things: car and bike tyres, food containers, drink bottles, kitchen bench tops and much more.
These three materials are explored throughout the units of study known collectively as Practical workshop. The principles of design are applied to produce articles that use one or more of these materials to form a basis of understanding how important they are in everyday life.
