What must we consider

when building for our

community?
Materials science

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Materials science
About this lesson
In Grand Designs, the primary
focus is numeracy.
Around this notion are the
practicalities of owning,
building and buying/selling a
house. This particular lesson
explores the materials used in
building and their properties.
Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
Curriculum links
Science
Design and technology
WALT
• Explain my ideas, selecting, using and evaluating complex
models or science concepts and key words.
• List the properties and uses of ceramics and polymers.
• Describe how forces affect materials.
WILF
• Select appropriate materials for different purposes from
details of their properties.
Science Curriculum
• Obtain materials that are used in construction (materials from rocks – extracting metals,
ceramics, glass; crude oil – polymers).

• Know the properties of metals, ceramics, polymers and composites (qualitative).

• Understand the links between the structure and properties of polymers.

• Understand the links between properties and uses of materials used in construction.

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Curriculum aims
Technical knowledge:
• Understand and use the properties of materials and the performance of structural
elements to achieve functioning solutions.
• Understand how more advanced mechanical systems used in their products enable
changes in movement and force.

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Starter task: Building materials
How many of these building materials (or others not pictured) can you name?
Draw the table and try to name a part of the building each material is used in.

Building What is it used

material for?
brick walls

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Starter task: Building materials – answers
You may have others, but these are just a few of the hundreds of materials used in building,
with new ones being developed all the time.
We will look at the properties of different types of materials, and how the right material is
chosen for each role in the building.
Building What is it used for?
material
brick walls
wood roof joists, door frames
plastic pipes, windows
cement walls, foundations
insulation keeping it warm

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

paint decoration
Flipped learning recap – Ceramics
These objects are all made of ceramics. Ceramic materials are compounds containing
metal atoms and non-metal atoms. There are various types, including metal silicates,
metal oxides, metal carbides and metal nitrides.

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Flipped learning recap task 1: Properties of ceramics
Properties keywords
brittle/flexible
stiff/bendy
1. What are the properties of hard/soft
ceramics? Choose the correct low melting point/high melting point
keywords to write a list. strong/weak
2. Define the keywords in your list. conducts electricity/does not
conduct electricity

easily breaks when stretched/does not easily

break when stretched

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Flipped learning recap task: Properties of ceramics – answers
You were asked to think about ceramic objects and fill in the table with the correct properties
and their definitions. You should have these properties and definitions in your table.

Properties of ceramics Definition

brittle easily breaks
hard cannot easily be scratched
strong can support a lot of weight
stiff cannot easily bend
easily breaks when stretched are weak in tension
high melting point are solids
do not conduct electricity are insulators

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Flipped learning recap task: Polymers
These objects are all made of polymers. Polymers are
formed of short molecules (usually containing carbon,
oxygen and hydrogen atoms, and sometimes other
atoms) joined in long chains.
Fill in your table with types of natural and synthetic
Nylon molecule
polymers and their uses.

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Flipped learning recap task: Polymers – answers
You were asked to complete the table with the natural and synthetic polymers and their
uses – here are some possible answers.

Name of Natural/synthetic Use(s)

polymer
Wool natural clothing, insulation
Starch natural made by plants as a food store, eaten by us for
food!
Rubber  natural tyres 
Nylon synthetic clothing, rope
Polythene  synthetic carrier bags, toys
Polystyrene  synthetic disposable cups
PVC synthetic window frames

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Flipped learning recap: Selecting the best polymer to use
Does it What happens Cost to make
Does it
Polym Strength conduct absorb when the Does it
water/ polymer is (£ per square
er electricity? metre) decay?
moisture? heated?
A very
no no nothing 0.01 no
weak
B very
no no nothing 7.50 no
strong
C yes, after
strong no no it shrinks 0.05
1 year
D strong no yes it burns 3.50 no
E yes, after
weak no no nothing 0.02
6 months
F weak yes no nothing 10.00 no

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Flipped learning recap: Selecting the best polymer to use – answers

Use Suitable polymer Reason for choice

T-shirt or top for a D It is strong, it will absorb sweat, and won’t
marathon runner decay.
Disposable drinks E It doesn’t need to be strong, it’s cheap
cup and can have hot liquid in, and it decays.
Buoy (Floating B It doesn’t absorb water, it doesn’t decay,
marker in the sea) and it is very strong.
Computer circuit F They need to conduct electricity.
components
Carrier bag C They need to be strong and decay.
Cling film A It is cheap and weak to break easily.

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Examples of polymers
Here are some examples of polymers in use in buildings. Later in the lesson we will think
about the properties these polymers have and how they are suited to their purposes.

Plumbing Window frames Loft insulation

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Forces on materials
You have learned about forces causing change in motion.
Forces can also cause changes in shapes of objects.
Objects’ shapes can be changed in two ways – stretching (tension) and squashing
(compression).
Different parts of the building experience different forces. Engineers have to understand
where and in what direction forces act, and know about how materials respond to
different forces, to help them decide which materials to use in the building.

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Forces on materials

For example, ceramic bricks are stiff and

withstand compression well, keeping their
shape.
However if a long brick was used as a beam,
the weight of the upper tower of bricks would
cause it to crack, so steel is used which has
better tensile strength.

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Compression: Squashing

When the boy is standing on the floor, he is pushing down on

the floor. There is an equal and opposite force (reaction force)
from the floor upwards, pushing him up. The forces balance, so
he stays still.

If he stands on a surface that is easily

compressed (e.g. foam), what will happen?

The particles in the surface are pushed

together, until they are compressed so
much they resist any more compression.

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Compression: Stress

• When Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon’s surface, he

left a footprint which is still there. This is because his
weight pushed down on the surface, and changed its
shape slightly. His weight was spread out over the area
of his foot.
• If you wear stiletto shoes, your weight is spread over a
smaller area and you are more likely to sink into the
surface.
• This is because the stress or pressure on the ground is
higher from the stiletto heel than a walking boot or
moon boot.

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Compression: Stress
 

• 

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Compression: Stress
The mass supported by these bricks is 50 kg.
The mass of a brick is 5 kg.
The area of a brick is 0.02 m2.
What is the total stress on the floor?
50kg
Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
The mass supported by these bricks is 50 kg.
The mass of a brick is 10 kg.
The area of a brick is 0.04 m2.
What is the total stress on the floor?
50kg
Compression: Stress

Total mass = 50 + 20 = 70 kg Total mass = 50 + 40 = 90 kg

Total weight = 70 × 10 = 700 N Total weight = 90 × 10 = 900 N

Total area = 2 × 0.02 = 0.04 m2 Total area = 2 × 0.04 = 0.08 m2

Total stress = 700 ÷ 0.04 = 17500 N/m2 Total stress = 900 ÷ 0.08 = 11250 N/m2

50kg 50kg

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Compression: Stress

Total stress = 17500 N/m2 Total stress = 11250 N/m2

50kg 50kg

1. How does using the larger bricks affect the stress on the ground?
2. What are the advantages of using the larger bricks?

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Stress in buildings: Self-assessment
Developing Proficient
Advanced
The walls in a building Think of two parts of Think about a building.
experience stress from buildings that experience Where is there going to
the roof pushing down. stress or compression. be stress or compression
of materials?
What materials are walls What materials are used Which materials should
made from? for these parts? be used in those places
and why?
How are these materials How are these materials What shapes should be
suited to withstanding the suited to withstanding the used to improve their
stress? stress? strength under stress?
How are they shaped to How are they shaped to
help? help?

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Tension: Stretching
Materials also react differently to being bent or stretched.
The forces on a building can apply tension (stretching) to the materials.

THINK Describe how these materials respond to being stretched:

1. elastic
PAIR 2. nylon rope
3. copper wire
SHARE 4. adhesive putty.

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Tension: Stretching
The way a material responds to
stretching can be tested.
The force pulling the material is
gradually increased, and the length
or extension of the object or
material is measured.
You are going to do this
investigation using springs.
You will then use your data to draw
a graph.

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Tension: Stretching
Equipment:
Method:
• safety glasses
1. Draw your results table before you start.
• retort stand 2. Attach the boss and clamp to the retort stand.
• boss and clamp 3. Hang the spring on the retort stand.
• spring 4. Clamp the ruler so that it measures from the bottom
• 100 g mass hanger and of the spring downwards.
masses 5. Hang one mass on the spring and measure the
extension of the spring.
• ruler.
6. Add masses, measuring the extension each time.
7. Be careful not to extend the spring too far.
8. Repeat twice.

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Tension: Stretching
Mass Force (N) Extension (cm)
(g)
1 2 3 Mean

To calculate this, first convert g to kg, then multiply by 10.

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
Tension: Stretching
Plot a graph of extension against force. Draw a line of best fit to show the trend.

Extension (cm)

Force (N)
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Tension: Stretching
For the spring, extension increases linearly with force, and the graph is a straight line.
Other materials stretch in different ways, so the graphs of extension against force are
different.

At first the elastic band gets thinner and Polythene gets easier to stretch as it
easier to stretch. As it reaches its elastic gets thinner.
limit, it gets harder.
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Strength versus stiffness
Material Stiffness Tensile strength How is it used?
Stiffness is how much stress a (109 N/m2) (106 N/m2)
material can experience. Aluminium 70 110
before it is deformed or cracks. Brick <5
Carbon fibre 150 170
Tensile strength is how much reinforced polymer
tension a material can Cast iron 100 150
experience before it fails – Concrete 30 <5
bends or cracks. Epoxy resin <5 70
Glass 80 variable
• Which are the three
Polycarbonate <5 70
strongest materials?
Polyethylene <1 15
• Which are the three stiffest Rubber <0.1
materials? Structural steel 200 400
Wood 15 100 along
• Are they the same? grain, <5
across grain

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Building materials examples: Upper floor
The following image shows how
the upper floor is supported
when a wall is removed
downstairs.
The red RSJ is made of steel,
which has high tensile strength
(and won’t bend or break easily)
and is supported at each end by
the concrete (padstone) blocks.
The concrete padstone is very
high strength concrete containing
steel, and distributes the force
evenly onto the blocks below.
Upper floor supported when a wall is removed downstairs
Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
Building materials examples: Roofs
Roofs are made using timber
joists, joined together in a
structure that means the
forces are balanced.
Timber is easy to cut into the
right shapes, has good
strength under compression
and tension if the pieces are
large enough.
However, it needs to be
protected from water.

Roof made using timber joists

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust

Building materials examples: Walls
Walls are made from rows of
bricks or concrete blocks. There is
a gap in between for insulation, to
keep the building warm.

Walls made of blocks, mortar, insulation

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust and damp-proof coursing
Building materials examples: Foundations
The ground has to be prepared
and foundations built
underground so that the blocks
don’t sink into the ground. The
area of the foundations is larger
than the area of the walls.

Foundations of a building
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Building materials examples: Windows
Once the walls are built, timber is
used to attach plasterboard so it
can be more insulated and
decorated on the inside.
Windows are inserted; the
frames of windows are now
usually made from polyvinyl
chloride, a polymer that keeps its
shape well.

The layers in a window and frame

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust
Building materials examples: Electrics and pipes
This photo shows the electrics and
boiler in a home. The pipes carrying
the water are made from copper,
since it is easy to bend into shape
and does not rust. The electrical
cables are also made from copper
wires, because it conducts electricity
very well, but these are coated in
plastic to insulate them.

The electrics and boiler in a home

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Task: Choosing materials
You have a set of cards containing names of materials, properties and uses.
Draw a table in your book like the one below, and complete the table using the cards.
You may have to use properties and uses for more than one material.
Explain why each material is suitable for its uses.
Materia Properties Uses
l Con Con Com Tens Price How to Den W
duct duct pres ile shape sity ate
s s sion stren rpr
elect heat stren gth oof
ricity gth
Copper Yes Yes Low Low Mediu Bends Hig Ye Electric
m easily h s cables
Water pipes
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Task: Choosing materials – answers
Material Uses Reasons
Copper electric cables, water good conductor, easy
pipes to bend, does not rust

Lead flashing on roofs does not rust, easy to

bend
Steel bridging joists high tensile strength

Clay bricks, roof tiles good compression

strength
Concrete walls heat insulator, strong
under stress
Timber roof joists, internal easy to cut and fix,
doors cheap, strong

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Task: Choosing materials – answers continued
Material Uses Reasons
PVC windows (frames) keeps its shape,
waterproof

Glass windows transparent,

waterproof
Mineral wool insulation does not conduct heat

Porcelain tiles hard, long-lasting

Polyethylene damp proofing waterproof, flexible in

thin sheets
Polyisocyanurate solid insulation does not conduct heat

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Review

1. Name two ceramics that are used in building.

Why are they used?
THINK
2. Name two polymers that are used in building.
Why are they used?
PAIR
SHARE
3. Name one material that has high tensile strength.
What is its use, and why?

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Research: Materials science
For your final portfolio, you
will need to create a page of
materials research.
Include the materials you plan
to use, what their purpose is,
and why they are suited to
that purpose.

Grand Designs© 2021 Shireland Collegiate Academy Trust