Design and Technology in Year 8
Vacuum forming high impact polystyrene, pewter casting, bending aluminium and acrylic..
Our Year 8 students have been busy exploring the world of manufacturing processes and material properties in their Forming and Reforming module. The students have been working with a variety of materials and processes to create figurative trophies inspired by their hobbies and sports interests.
The students have been using a range of techniques such as vacuum forming high impact polystyrene, pewter casting, and bending aluminum and acrylic to create some truly spectacular trophies, medals, and medal cases. Through this module, students have gained an understanding that materials can be shaped three-dimensionally without removing material and that material properties often change while they are worked. For example, metals can become harder through work hardening and may need to be softened through heat treatment and annealing.
The students have learned that a knowledge of materials and their properties is an important consideration when designing. They have designed medals for their chosen sports using a mass customization approach to their design work, selecting from a choice of standardized components in a similar fashion to commercial manufacturing.
As the students developed and manufactured their ideas, we have seen a wide range of creative thinking and skills as they personalized their trophies. Some students used computer-aided design and manufacturing processes, while others applied more craft-oriented skills to bring their trophies to life.
As part of an interhouse competition, the Y8 students will select the most successful trophies in each class before being awarded house points for the overall winners in the year group. It’s exciting to see the creativity and innovation that our students are capable of, and we can’t wait to see what they’ll come up with next!
