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anufactured goods include mostof the items that a student will wear or bring to school, from jeans and backpacks to pencils and textbooks. Some goods last a long time, while others are designed to be used and thrown away. At the K-2 level, students will learn that a manufactured good is an item made for consumption or use. These goods are regularly being designed and redesigned to be made better, more cheaply, and more quickly as the technology advances. One way for students to see such improvement directly is by having them compare goods used today with similar ones from 10, 20, or even 100 years ago. A visit to a museum or viewing a videotape on the historical development of manufacturing may provide resources for such a comparison.Students also will begin to develop an understanding of how products are designed, produced, tested, packaged, and marketed. To reinforce this understanding, students could simulate this process by producing a snack comprised of nuts and dried fruit. They could begin by con- ducting a survey among their peers to learn what type of nuts and fruit were preferred for a snack mix. They should include questions about allergies — peanuts, for example. From the results of their testing, they could determine an appropriate recipe for the snack mix. Next, they could devise simple processes for controlling the amount of each ingredient that would go into each package. They could market the product to others, and finally, they could manufacture and package the snacks. In the process of learning how goods are made, students will have many opportunities to learn about teamwork and job specialization. They will
study how people work and the ways they earn money.
In order to select, use, and understand manufacturing technologies, students in Grades K-2 should learn that
A. Manufacturing systems produce products in quantity. Products can be made faster, cheaper, and better through the use of technology. People have different roles in the manufac- turing process. If people work together, they can produce much more than if they work alone to make the same product.
B. Manufactured products are designed.Designers and engineers anticipate what people want and need with the intention that products will be bought. Some things are designed to be thrown away, while others are made to last a long time.
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n Grades 3-5, students will gain a greaterunderstanding of how goods are manu- factured. They will explore how proper servicing of the goods ensures that they work properly and are up-to-date. As a result of experiences in designing, pro- ducing, and marketing a product, students will attain a greater insight into how to purchase products.Everyone in our society uses manufactured goods on a daily basis. For example, students ride to school in a bus, wear clothes, and use pens and pencils. They have come to depend on these items. Starting at this early age, students should be taught how to be wise consumers. They should discuss how they make decisions, and whether those decisions are based on advertising, color, cost,
warranties, peer pressure, quality, or a combination of these factors.
The use of technology and its impact on the environment should be considered in the design of goods. Designers of these items should take into consideration how long the product will last and what waste is produced as well as what happens when the product is no longer in use and is discarded. Recycling is an important factor in the life of goods and structures.
Manufacturing systems generally include two steps. First, natural (raw) materials that are grown or extracted from the earth are converted into standard stock items. Second, these standard stock items and some natural or synthetic materials are used to make products. For example, trees are made into lumber, and the lumber is then used to make furniture.
At this level, students should discuss and experiment with the various processes used in
manufacturing systems. Some of the processes include designing the item,
gathering inputs (e.g., materials and energy), using tools and machines to change the form of the materials, manufacturing and
marketing the finished products. Chemical technology also can play an important role as a processing technology because it modifies and alters chemicals, elements, and com- pounds in order to produce materials with the desired chemical properties. Throughout the manufacturing process, feedback should be collected in order to monitor the quality of these products. Feedback should also be gathered after the item is completed to determine if consumers like the product as well as its effects on the family and society. These effects can be recognized by enhanced customer satisfaction, improved product sales, more jobs, and a stronger economy. In order to select, use, and understand manufacturing technologies, students in Grades 3-5 should learn that
C. Processing systems convert natural materials into products.Materials, which come directly from nature or are created by humans (synthetic), are essential inputs in the manufacturing system.
D. Manufacturing processes include designing products, gathering resources, and using tools to separate, form, and combine materials in order to produce products.Many manufactured
products are composed of standardized parts, which reduces the cost of
manufacturing and makes it easier to service and repair the products. It is important to consider the manu-
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Manufacturing Technologies 19 S T A N D A R D 7facturing process during the design of a product. It is also important to con- sider how long materials will last, what their effect will be on the environment, and how they will be disposed of.
E. Manufacturing enterprises exist because of a consumption of goods.
When these enterprises produce goods that people need and want, they will spend money to purchase them. This cycle provides jobs and helps the economy.
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tudents routinely use computers, bookbags, bicycles, and watches. Many of them take these products for granted. Although they know how to buy them and, in many cases, how to use them, their understanding often goes no deeper. Students at this level will build upon their knowledge from prior grade levels to develop an in-depth understanding of where these products and systems come from, how they are made, how to use them appropriately, how they are marketed, and how to dispose of them. For these goods to continue to work properly and efficiently, they must be serviced. Services include those activities that provide support for a good after it has been sold or leased. Students must be aware of how the manu- facturing processes can have impacts on people and the environment. They should explore and experiment with various tech- niques for designing and developing processes and systems that are compatible with the natural environment.Manufactured goods are classified according to their longevity — durable or non- durable, for example. Many of these goods are given a guarantee that protects the buyer for a specified period of time. Manufacturing processes encompass the designing, producing, and marketing of goods. Some things are made one at a time, such as homemade clothes, custom
cabinets, industry processing equipment, and some musical instruments. With the growth of modern manufacturing plants, however, this custom production has become relatively rare. With the use of machines, computer-aided design (CAD), automation, robots, and moving assembly lines, many identical items are produced
very quickly, often with little intervention from humans.
Manufacturing processes include both mechanical and chemical processes. Students should have opportunities to experience processes that include separating, forming, combining, and conditioning materials. The students should understand that some materials must be obtained from the earth through such processes as harvesting, drilling, and mining. Many of these materials then are changed into standard stock materials before they are used to produce goods. For example, iron ore, limestone, and coke can be combined to make steel; steel can be processed into bars, rods, and pipes; and then these parts can be used to manufacture cars, for example. Middle-level students should test and evaluate various types of materials and processes before selecting the most appropriate ones to use when they are working on a product in the laboratory- classroom.
Products need to be marketed before they can be distributed and sold. Marketing involves researching potential customers
and advertising the product. Servicing is important after a product is in use. In our country today, more people are employed in the service sectors of the economy than in the manufacturing sectors of the economy. In order to select, use, and understand manufacturing technologies, students in Grades 6-8 should learn that
F. Manufacturing systems use mechanical processes that change the form of materials through the processes of separating, forming, combining, and conditioning.
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Manufacturing Technologies 19 S T A N D A R D 7Separating includes cutting, sawing, shearing, and tearing. Forming includes bending, shaping, stamping, and crushing. Combining includes gluing, welding, riveting, and using fasteners (e.g., nuts, bolts, and screws). Conditioning involves processing materials, such as by heating or cooling, to improve their structures. Tempering metals is an example of conditioning.
G. Manufactured goods may be classified as durable and non- durable. These classifications are based on the life expectancy of a product or system. Durable goods include automobiles, kitchen appliances, and power tools, while non-durable goods include tooth- brushes, disposable diapers, and automobile tires. Manufactured goods have life cycles, including initial plan- ning and design, and continuing to their eventual disposal. Factors to be considered include what by-products were created, when the item was made, and how the item will be disposed of at the end of its life cycle.
H. The manufacturing process includes the designing, development, making, and servicing of products and
systems.This process includes the use of materials (natural and synthetic), hand tools (e.g., hammers and scissors), human-operated machines (e.g., drills, sanders, and sewing machines), and automated machines (computer-controlled). Manufacturing systems have greatly increased the number of products available while improving quality and lowering costs.
In general, machines, many of which are computer controlled, are capable of producing higher quality goods than an expert craftsperson could do individually. Services include those activities that provide support for a product or system after it is sold or leased. These services could include installing, troubleshooting,
maintaining, and repairing.
I. Chemical technologies are used to modify or alter chemical substances.
The products of chemical technologies include synthetic fibers, pharmaceu- ticals, plastics, and fuels.
J. Materials must first be located before they can be extracted from the earth through such processes as harvest- ing, drilling, and mining.Because few materials occur in nature in a usable state, they must be changed into new forms before they can be used as inputs in the manufacturing process. There also are other resources that are needed in order for manufacturing systems to operate properly, such as financing, people, tools and machines, information, and time. Natural (raw) materials are typically converted into standard stock items, which, in turn, become the resources that are used by manufacturers.
K. Marketing a product involves
informing the public about it as well as assisting in selling and distribu- ting it. Marketing entails assessing what the public wants and then advertising and selling products to the buyers.
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V I G N E T T E
This vignette presents some activities that deal with plastics as a manufactured product. Students not only study plastics, but they also design and make plastic products. Finally, they communicate to others the material which they learned. [This vignette highlights some elements of the Grades 6-8 STL
standards that provide connections with Standards 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, and 19.]
The seventh-grade technology, language arts, and science classes worked together to implement an interdisciplinary unit on making and recycling plastics. The students were challenged to investigate the chemistry of plastics, the various products made with plastic, how new products are made from recycled plastic and plastic scraps, and the benefits the community receives through the use of plastics and recycling. The students developed an action plan to complete the project, interviewed various engineers, scientists, technologists, and industry personnel, and toured a local plastic manufacturing plant and a recycling facility. In the course of the unit, the students worked with various types of plastics and designed and made examples of the individual objects they had investigated.
Students also conducted research on how synthetic materials differ from natural materials. Additionally, the teacher asked the students to create a company that involved the design, development, production-line operation, and assessment of a plastic product made in quantity. During their activities, the students documented their work by using videos and cameras. They produced a three-minute presentation describing what they had learned and then broadcast the segment on the school’s television station. Finally, they produced a similar presentation for their school’s World Wide Web site.