Greenhouses and
Materials
Bridging Art and Science
Please pick up your houses
and have it ready on your
desk!
What we will talk about:
 Part 1: What are materials?
 Part 2: How does a greenhouse work?
 Does the type of material I use to cover a
greenhouse matter?
 Part 3: How is Earth like a greenhouse?
 What is the Greenhouse Effect?
 What is Global Warming?
What are Materials?
Why study materials?
 everyone makes material choices!
aluminum
Models & Materials
glass
plastic
July 24, 2007
Kinds of Materials
Metals
• good conductors
of electricity and
heat
• shiny appearance
• susceptible to
corrosion
• strong, but
deformable
Models & Materials
Glasses
• insulators
• resistant to high
temperatures and
harsh environments
• hard, but brittle
Plastics
• very large
molecules
• low density, low
weight
• maybe extremely
flexible
Materials Basics
How is glass made?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5PlOkH9v-k
How is paper made?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SdJtYkAzTw&feature=related
Crystalline Structure of glass
Transmission of Light through glass
http://earthguide.ucsd.edu/virtualmuseum/images/refractlightglassacr.html
Printer Paper
Kleenex Tissue
Do you think light can pass through Kleenex?
Aluminum Foil
Discuss with a neighbor…
Do you think the kind of
material you use to cover
your greenhouse will affect
the temperature inside of it?
Design Process
2-D design
3-D design
Build the model
Test the variables (ex. CO2)
Make modifications
Greenhouse Temperature Experiment
 Hypothesis (Which do you think will have the highest and
lowest temperatures? WHY?):
 We think that
will create the highest
temperature and
will create the
lowest temperature in the greenhouse because
.
 Copy the chart below
Material
used for
building
Foil
Plastic Wrap
Paper
Starting
Temperature
(°F)
Final
Temperature
(°F)
Greenhouse Effect
Atmosphere = layer of gases that
keeps the Earth warm