Lake Steven's High School is located in Lake Steven's, Washington, USA. LSHS is home to over 1,800 students. The peak of Mt. Pilchuck can be seen to the east and the waters of Lake Steven's are just 2 minutes away. Lake Steven's is located 3 miles east of Everett and about 45 minutes north on I-5 from Seattle, Washington.

Manufacturing Technology is a course designed to provide each student with the skills necessary to obtain employment in the manufacturing and technology industries.
The course includes a variety of "hands-on" lab experiences that teach the concepts of physical and structural properties of solid materials used in manufacturing.
Also know as Materials Science, the course is broken down into five basic units:

solids
metals
ceramics
polymers
composites
drafting

The study of solids includes providing the students with some background information about the chemical and physical makeup of materials used in manufacturing processes.
A positive learning attitude is encouraged whenever possible. Students must be willing to try new ideas. Mistakes are evaluated to increase learning rather than just being dismissed.
The labs are very interesting. Examples of labs include the Water Lock, where technology and science complement one another, the Dilatancy Vs Thixotrophy Demo, where mixtures behave quite differently under the addition or reduction of energy, and the Classification of Materials Lab, which is a comprehensive examination of the materials around us and a discussion of how they are used to enhance our lives.

The metals unit touches upon the importance of metals and the science of metal alloys, Metallurgy. Students work hard during this section and discover different ways metals react with each other, as well as how they react with other, nonmetallic substances. The actually stretched a real penny nearly three feet! In the local Wire Pull Contest held earlier this year, the students stretched a six inch wire 104.5 inches. This winning effort was over two feet longer than their nearest competitor, Olympia High School.
The students observed molecular changes when metals were heated, and were surprised to find that they could make a light bulb using a beaker and modeling clay.
Silver rings were manufactured from an alloy consisting of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. The alloy was liquefied with the use of an oxyacetylene torch and forced into a hand made mold using a centrifugal caster.

The ceramics unit begins with a review of the various properties of glass and the students actually cut and fused glass they had created from sand. Glass beads were also made by forming them on a copper wire.
The ancient Asian pottery art of "RAKU" is used by the students to create actual oxidation and reduction chemical reactions, and the properties of the many industrial ceramics are discussed and demonstrated. Some students even find the time to experiment with glass bending and glass blowing.

Polymers, typically referred to as plastics, were the miracle of the 60's. Today, polymers are everywhere: in the clothes we wear, in sporting goods, shoes, cars, our telephones, computers, flooring, and even adhesives. Plastics influence our lifestyle more than we could ever imagine.
Some polymers are natural, but most are synthesized from petroleum products. Polymers are reusable and recyclable, even to the point of being converted back into diesel fuel.
Polymers are broken down into three basic classifications: Thermoplastic, Thermoset, and Elastimors. The laboratory activities are prepared to illustrate the properties (cross-linking, vulcanizing, liquid Vs solid states, memory) of each of the polymer classifications and to highlight the recyclable properties that these polymers present.

Composites are aptly named, as they are manufactured using a combination of two or more materials, which includes many materials. From space travel to concrete, composite technology offers materials that are lighter, stiffer, stronger, and more heat tolerant than any other available material.
Several properties of composites are studied. The relationships between strength and engineering are discovered, as well as the more common relationships used when determining the strength and composition of concrete.

Please feel free to comment:
E-mail Diana Shipley
diana_shipley@lkstevens.wednet.edu

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