How is it made? | Materials Related | STEM | 20 Reading Passages + Questions

Starting from:

$40

Studying how everyday items are made builds concrete understanding of materials science, manufacturing, and the design cycle in middle and high school design and technology STEM. This set of 20 reading passages with questions covers speakers, microphones, pillows, tape, glue, Velcro, DVDs and CDs, soccer balls, silk clothing, and bars of soap. It also covers glass, diapers, charcoal, aluminum cans and cement and so much more. Students can use it to help trace steps from raw material selection to forming, assembly, bonding, testing, and quality control while growing technical vocabulary and data analysis skills. Prompts connect physics, chemistry, and engineering with hands on evaluation of tolerances, performance, safety, sustainability, and life cycle impacts. Ready to use and standards aligned, these passages power quick lessons, cover work, and mini projects that inspire evidence based design decisions and real world thinking. This process is a great one to learn about and so with that in mind, let's look into this topic with my useful resource here.

This How is it made? 20 article set provides the perfect grab and go, print and provide resource that can supplement lessons. It is a 20 article set with questions to check comprehension and inspire design and production thinking. I am very proud of this series of how is it made? articles and they are rich with information and wonder at the majesty of design, production and the manufacturing process.

Each how is it made? article includes a fun fact(s) to add to the knowledge gained from this article. Formatted in an easy to read and digest manner, each paragraph is numbered to help with referencing and each question answer has a paragraph reference number to point to the specific information (where applicable). Two images also to inspire students and get them interested in the subject topic.

WHY / WHEN TO USE:

Useful for substitute (sub) teaching
To enhance design / product thinking / STEM education
To extend students
To increase technical literacy in your class
A weekly reading task
Great as a lesson filler when class goes too fast
To inspire students on a particular topic
Give a selection of these articles for students to choose from

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

20 - 3 page Word doc image - textboxes teacher version with answers
20 - 2 page Word doc image - textboxes student version with room to fill in answers (text boxes)
20 - 3 page PDF teacher version with answers
20 - 2 page PDF student version without answers (but space left to do so)
20 - 3 page Google doc image - textboxes teacher version with answers
20 - 2 page Google doc image - textboxes student version with room to fill answers (text boxes)

Please note: That the Doc versions are images with editable text boxes overlayed on top and this is the most effective way to keep the article sleek and well-designed and also that students cannot change things significantly.