Part of Lesson Plan: Plastic Pipe Uses and Fitting

Activity Overview / Details

Before class tape a pieces of steel, copper, and plastic pipe to the board. Under and to the left of the three types of pipe write the words "strength", "flexibility", "ease of assembly", "cost" one over the over(see attached sample). Have students pull out a sheet of paper. Challenge then to rank each material in these categories using both prior knowledge. One(1) being the best in this area and three(3) being the worst. For example, for cost, one(1) would be the cheapest. Once they have come up with their rankings, elicit a volunteer. Tell students we as a class you are going to test these pipes in a few of these areas for yourselves. Have students put on safety glasses. Have another set of each type of pipe clamped to a metal shop table. Give the volunteer a hammer or tell him/her that they have one swing at each pipe. After the strength/durability test process what happened. "What material help up the best?" Who was right in your ranking?" Bring up another volunteer. Give them another set of the three(3) types of pipe. Challenge them to bend each type of pipe as much as they can. After flexibility test, process findings with similar processing questions. Ask for one more volunteer. Have then rank the pipes on the board from least expensive to most expensive. Ask students what they now know about plastic pipe. Transition to the fact that the class will explore deeper into the characteristics and uses of plastic pipe. Direct students to as they get out their notebooks out, to think about any past experiences with plastic pipe.