Year 5 - Chemical Science Design Brief

Making homemade soaps by changing states of

matter
Introduction:
We use hygiene products every day, yet we know very little about the harmful chemicals that exist in

store-bought soaps. Store-bought soaps can include chemicals and metals in them that are bad for our

skin. Not to mention all the packaging they come in ends up in landfill and impacts our environment. Like

most innovative thinkers, we believe we can make this everyday staple kinder on our skin and the

environment.

Brief:
Your task is to create and test an environmentally friendly, homemade soap made from natural materials

and ingredients.

Generating Designs:
You are to create two different soaps and packaging and select the design that is most gentle on our

bodies and environment.

Project Specifications:
Your soap must be made using mostly natural materials and ingredients

Your soap must have a scent, but it cannot come from synthetic fragrances

Your soap cannot contain any unnatural antibacterial agents i.e. triclosan

Your soap must be able to last more than 10 hand washes

Your soap cannot be larger than 8cm x 5cm x 2.5cm

Your packaging must contain no plastic wraps or fastenings

Your packaging must be able to have a tag or description of the ingredients used to create your soap

and name the processes used to change these ingredients into a bar of soap

 
 Project Management

Do some research – Ensure no one in class has allergies to natural ingredients.

Research what chemicals are currently used in store-bought soaps and whether they are natural or unnatural

and harmful or unharmful.

Research what classifies a soap as ‘organic’. Research organic and natural soaps, their ingredients and why

they’re better for our body.

Explore and Investigate – Experiment with current store-bought and homemade soaps. Test the properties of
each and consider their packaging. Compare natural-based and organic soaps with regular store-bought

soaps. Research natural fragrances. Investigate how soap is made and consider the following methods and

what ingredients are used:

1. Melt and Pour: A process in which you melt pre-made blocks of soap and add your own fragrance.

2. Cold Process: The most common method of making soap from scratch with oils and lye.

3. Hot Process: A variation of the cold process method, where the soap is cooked in a crockpot or oven.

4. Rebatching: A method of grinding up bars of soap, adding milk or water, and re-blending them.

https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-make-soap-517084

Design your soap and devise a method – Using all the information gathered, design your soap. Create two
different designs, keeping the use of natural ingredients as the primary focus for your designs. Figure out how

you will make and mould your soaps. Design your packaging to suit the mould and create a list of materials and

resources needed to fulfil your designs.

Evaluate your designs – Consider the design brief and specifications. Evaluate your designs and choose your
best design based on its ability to meet the design specifications.

Collect your materials and resources – Collect materials and resources to begin creating soap.

Create your soap – Using your design, you will work through the above four stages of creating soap. If you
need to make changes, make sure these are included in your design and why these changes needed to be

made.

T est your soap – Once your soap is set and ready to go, evaluate it against the evaluation and design

specification criteria.

Package your soap – Package your soap using your chosen design.

 
Evaluation
Is your soap naturally sourced?

How many natural ingredients are in my soap?

Are there any unnatural or harmful ingredients in my soap?

Is your soap gentle on the skin?

Were the ingredients used known to be harm on the skin?

How did my skin react to the ingredients when testing them?

Is the packaging environmentally friendly?

Are there any plastic wraps or fastening on my soap?

Is there a label attached to my soap bar?

Did I meet the design brief?

Is my soap within the required measurements?

Could it last 10 handwashes?

Could I name the processes or changes that occurred to change

ingredients into the bar of soap?

Time
Students will have up to 8 weeks to complete, with two lessons specifically allocated for creating soaps

(for supervision and safety reasons)

Lesson 1: Introduction to the design brief and exploring soaps, ingredients and their properties. Research how

soap is made.

Lesson 2: Research ingredients: natural vs. unnatural, harmful or unharmful? Common ingredients in store-bought

soaps.

Lesson 3: Begin generating designs.

Lesson 4: Finish generating designs and begin critical evaluation.

Select the design that best meets the design brief.

Lesson 5: Collect materials and resources and begin production.

Lesson 6: Continue production.

Lesson 7: Create packaging and test soaps.

Lesson 8: Finish off work or make changes.

Lesson 9: Review and reflect week. Show, share and celebrate.