CITY OF MATERIALS
CONNECTING VIRTUAL SCIENCE TO
THE REAL “STUFF” IN KID’S LIVES
Designed by the K12 Action in Education
Subcommittee
Funding and support provided by ASM International
and ASM Materials Education Foundation
CITY OF
MATERIALS
Debbie Goodwin – Chillicothe High School, Chillicothe,
MO
nywin@hotmail.com
Andy Nydam – Olympia High School Retired Olympia,
WA andrewnydam@hotmail.com
MATERIALS SCIENCE AT YOUR FINGERTIPS
WWW.CITYOFMATERIALS.COM
City Tour – an interactive learning
environment for students to play and learn
 Materials Science – a variety of resources
including links to other interesting sites
 Podcasts on Materials Radio; 55+ available
 Details and links to ASM Materials Education
award winning programs and scholarships
 Classroom tools – modules for classroom use
designed by teachers

BRINGING CITY OF MATERIALS AND
MATERIALS SCIENCE IN TO THE CLASSROOM
 Tie
it in to your current
content
Introduce new concepts in a
different format
 Reinforce what has been
done in class

 Provide
an opportunity
for independent learning
 Connect Science and
Engineering with their
daily lives
MATERIALS CLASSIFICATION

Classroom Module

Materials ID
 Give out common items
and classify
 Metal
Polymer
 Ceramic
 Composite
 Explain why!
 Build a list of properties
as a class


City Tour

Extend the search for
items in to the virtual
kitchen at the Mayor’s
house
MATERIALS PROPERTIES

Classroom Activity
Cut garbage bags into
1” wide strips
 Cut some lengthwise
and some widthwise
 Let the students be
the tensile tester
 What happened?


City Tour
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Pull samples to test the
strength
Compare applications
MIXING SUBSTANCES
INFLUENCE ON PROPERTIES

Classroom Module

Oobleck
City Tour

Hands on exploration
 Stir slow and fast
 Squeeze it
 Roll it
 Vocabulary
 Journal your
observations
 Applications

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Directions on how to
do it yourself
Case Western Reserve University students
STRUCTURE AT THE ATOMIC AND
MOLECULAR LEVEL

Classroom Module
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Build different crystal
models with styrofoam
balls and toothpicks
City Tour

Salt in the Kitchen
Zoom in on the crystals
 Look at the bonding
 Create crystals in your
kitchen following the
step by step instructions
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Electrolysis at the Kitchen Sink

Fuel cell materials and reactions
CHEMICAL REACTIONS

Classroom Modules

Electroplating
 Corrosion

Dissolving a can exterior
 Dissolving the interior of a
penny

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Sand the edges until you see
a silver color
Place in 3 M hydrochloric
acid
City Tour
Electroplating station for
virtual practice
 Overview of applications

RATE OF REACTION

Classroom modules
Corrosive solution –
steel wool
 Surface area – alka
seltzer



City Tour

Cleaning a penny

Fuel cell membrane
Observe the difference
of a crushed tablet
compared to a whole
INFLUENCE OF THERMAL ENERGY

Classroom Module

Alloying Cu and Zn

City Tour

Virtual alloying experiment

Video on removing energy
Start with the Zn
plated penny
 Add heat to start the
diffusion process
 Observe the change in
appearance

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Heat Treatment

Explore with bobby pins
and paperclips
MATERIALS: A PROVEN PATHWAY TO
STEM LEARNING

Science

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
Classification
Properties
Structure
Chemical Reactions
Energy
Technology

Selecting and Using
Lab Equipment

Engineering
Applications / Design
 Forensics


Math
Data Collection
 Graph Comparisons

TECHNOLOGY - CSI LAB TOOLS

Virtual working lab equipment
Stereoscope
 FTIR
 Chromatography workstation
 pH workstation
 Tensile tester
 Image analysis / comparison tools
 Charpy tester


User’s Manual emphasizes the following




What it is
Why it’s used
How it works
Samples available to test
SAFETY FIRST
MICROSCOPES: REVEALING DATA

Great opportunity to discuss units of measure
STEREOSCOPE
Working model
 Manual
 Samples

MICROSTRUCTURES –
LIGHT OPTICAL MICROSCOPES
SEM: SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPE
Create your own macro
fracture surfaces
LAB TECH ROLE
Complete tasks and short quiz.
ENGINEERING
MATERIALS SELECTION
ENGINEERING
FUEL CELL APPLICATIONS
•
Explore how fuels cells
are currently used
• Applications
• A look inside at the
electrons in action
Sponsored
by RPI and
written by university
students
FORENSIC ENGINEERING

Take on the role of PI and delve in deeper
Collect evidence
 Run analyses in the lab
 Determine if the evidence supports your hypothesis

COLLECT AND
TEST EVIDENCE
3 CASES AVAILABLE
SOLVING A CASE: UNBREAKABLE?
Task
Clues
Read suspect interviews
Liquid was spilt
The glasses were not stepped on
Read Atomic Times article
Shatter resistant lenses
Collect evidence case
Samples to test
Use FTIR (compare graphs to find
answers)
• Identify lens materials
• Identify liquid spill
• Identify source of spill in drug store
Lens –polycarbonate
Liquid – Acetone
Source – nail polish remover
Report provided to review
Image analysis (compare a good lens
and broken lens)
• Identify the location of the cracks
Discover the cracks originate where
the liquid splashed the lens
Report provided to review
Read report from polymer expert Dr.
Bakeland
Learn about environmental stress
cracking
Report on file to review
Complete quiz
Awarded certificate
MATH = DATA

Graphing concepts pop
up everywhere
Real time pie graph of try
it yourself experiments
 Comparison graphs for a
variety of lab data


Classroom Activity

Create your own product
life cycle data by bending
paperclips to failure
STUDENT FEEDBACK
Register as a user to personalize the experience
 Phone tracks details





Level of your PI badge based on cases solved
Lab Tech Badge
Current case in progress
Complete a case

Earn a certificate and Materials Money
MINI
GAMES
MATERIALS RADIO
Over 55 podcasts
have been written by
Materials Advantage
students at colleges
and universities as
part of an annual
contest
 Short (2 to 4 min)
informational and fun
recordings

WHAT’S NEXT

Companion pages for educators and volunteers


Emphasis on activities and demos that can be done
with students
Correlations between activities and City Tour /
Materials Radio content where appropriate
o City Tour game
• More content including
new topics and cases to
solve
• Improvements as we
receive feedback from
new users
•Plan to release IPad app
version
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
 Share


your ideas with us!
How do you use City of Materials in your
classroom?
Add to our “Did you Know” fun facts
 Email
us at
cityofmaterials@asminternational.org
 Be
sure to include your name, school name,
and grade level
Materials Science
Teacher Camps
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Sponsored by ASM International Foundation
http://asmcommunity.asminternational.org
One week in the summer
Solids, metals, ceramics/glass, polymers,
composites
Labs, demos, practical applications
 No
cost
Camp Locations 2013
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Summer
2013
Schedule