KS3 ~ Year 8 ~ Composite Materials

This lesson is designed for the KS3 Year 8 Science course, specifically the C2 1.2 unit on ‘Metals & Other Materials’.

For more lessons designed for KS3 and KS4 please visit my shop at: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/shop/SWiftScience.

The lesson begins with an introduction to composite materials, students will be told the definition of a composite material and will be given two examples - MDF & reinforced concrete - including details on the physical properties of these materials.

Students will now carry out an investigation into the properties of reinforced concrete vs. concrete. Students should follow the instructions on the sheet to complete the investigation, once complete students can test the concrete by performing some tests on the blocks.

Students will now be introduced to other composite materials, firstly carbon-fibre, students will listen to an audio piece of a cyclist explaining the usefulness of carbon-fibre for bikes and bike accessories. This task can be self-assessed using the mark scheme provided, once complete.

Next, students will complete an ‘Each one, teach one’ task. For this, students will be in pairs and will need to learn a piece of information about a composite materials - either nylon or glass-fibre-reinforced aluminium. Once learned, students will then teach their partners about the substances used to make the material, the properties of the materials and some examples of uses. Students will use the information to complete a summary table, this work can then be marked and corrected using the mark scheme provided.

The plenary task requires students to come up with a question for five answers which are provided, this will assess students knowledge of what they have learned through this module.

All resources are included at the end of the presentation, thanks for looking, if you have any questions please let me know in the comments section and any feedback would be appreciated :)