Part of Lesson Plan: Safe Soldering (new)

Activity Overview / Details

I use a PowerPoint presentation to introduce my students to safe soldering. The presentation features pictures of students from my classes performing the soldering skills. I explain what solder is, what it is an alloy of, and what it is commonly used for. I show a slide on how to tin a soldering iron, and I demonstrate the technique using my own soldering iron.

The presentation then covers the 9 safe soldering safety rules for my class. Students must take notes on an organizer that I provide, and write down information about each of the safety rules.

I then explain and demonstrate the techniques for soldering. The PowerPoint presentation includes pictures of how to mount electronics components for soldering, how to position the soldering iron, and how to apply the solder.

The discussion then turns to things that can go wrong. I show the students pictures of cold solder joints and discuss how to avoid this problem. The students are given 5 tips for good soldering, and a list of "Tips & Tricks" to help them understand the process. I conclude the presentation by explaining how to "unsolder" a mistake using a de-soldering tool. I pass an actual de-soldering tool around the class during this part of the lesson.

A copy of my PowerPoint lesson and the organizer the students fill out while participating in the lecture are attached. The organizer is collected at the end of the lecture.