View related content below

Explore related PLD

Marketing a reusable product: potato plates – unit plan

Students develop their knowledge to design a disposable product as a sustainable alternative to an existing product. Purpose To understand why increasing use of non-degradable materials is not ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Harnessing the Sun – unit plan

Long ago, according to the legend of Māui, the Sun was the focus of attention. People wanted more daylight and warmth to get their jobs done. Māui schemed to harness the Sun. Rights: Tim Tripp ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Linking ideas, activities and lessons

In the primary classroom, even though teachers and students generally spend the day together, it cannot be assumed that students will experience their learning as coherent, connected or ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Explore related articles

New Zealand’s National Science Challenges

As New Zealanders looking to the future, we are faced with many opportunities – and challenges. These include improving the health of all our people, advancing our economic growth, protecting our ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Ceramics – introduction

The term ‘ceramic’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘pottery’ – these clay-based domestic wares, art objects and building products are familiar to us all – but pottery is just one part of the ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Developing O-Sialons

Sialons – based on the elements silicon (Si), aluminium (Al), oxygen (O) and nitrogen (N) – are a relatively new family of advanced ceramic materials. Some have high thermal resistance, some have ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Explore related activities

Testing the degradability of potato plates

In this activity, students compare the rate of degradation of disposable plates using three different disposal methods. Purpose To experiment with a range of disposable plates made from different ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Promoting potato plates

In this activity, students use their knowledge of potato plates to write a letter promoting their use. Purpose This activity will help students understand product lifecycles and compare the ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Sialons – Ian Brown video clips

In this activity, students watch video clips of IRL research scientist Dr Ian Brown talking about sialons and then answer a series of graded questions related to the content. Rights: The ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Explore related videos

Defining ceramics

Dr Ian Brown, a senior research scientist with Industrial Research Limited, explains how the term ‘ceramics’ now has a more expansive meaning. Traditional ceramics are clay-based, but ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

What is sialon?

Sialon is an acronym for silicon, aluminium, oxygen and nitrogen. In this video, IRL’s Dr Ian Brown explains how this new family of advanced ceramics are made and discusses some of their physical ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Challenges of advanced ceramic research

There are numerous challenges that materials scientists like IRL’s Dr Ian Brown face in the development of novel advanced ceramics. In this video, Ian describes the main challenges often ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

Explore related interactives

Temperature – the hot and the cold

This interactive highlights the critical role temperature plays in the world of ceramics. Select a white circle or bar in the thermometer for more information. Go here to view the full transcript ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

O-Sialon production

This interactive shows the process of creating an advanced ceramic, O-Sialon, in the laboratory. Click on the labels for more information. Select here to view the full transcript and copyright ...

MORE

+ Create new collection

The electromagnetic spectrum

This interactive looks at the electromagnetic spectrum. To use this interactive, move your mouse or finger over any of the labelled boxes and select to obtain more information. Select here for a ...

MORE

+ Create new collection