Science and Innovation KS3 / LESSONS 1-5 WORKSHEETS
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WWI: Science and Innovation KS3 / LESSONS 1-5 WORKSHEETS IN ASSOCIATION WITH LESSON 1: WORKSHEET Harry Brearley Harry Brearley was born on 18 February 1871 in Sheffield. Like many children who grew up in the city, Harry was the son of a steelworker. When he left school at the age of twelve (leaving school at an early age to get a job was not uncommon in this age) he became a labourer at his father’s steelworks. In later years he would be promoted to the post of general assistant in the company’s chemical laboratory, where metals were turned into useful parts. Harry worked hard at the lab but also studied at home and in evening classes, learning how to specialize in steel production techniques and chemical analysis. By his early thirties Harry had earned a good reputation in the industry. Industrial change All through the 19th century, Europe had seen a massive industrial transformation which helped to bring about many new scientific inventions. Developments in metallurgy (the study of metals), chemistry and electricity led to new forms of explosives, made firearms more reliable and also made communication by telegraph possible. It was in 1908, when two of Sheffield’s two biggest steelworks decided to jointly launch a new research laboratory, that Harry was asked to lead on the project. He went on to join Brown Bayley’s Steel Works (also in Sheffield) and he became a director of the firm in 1925. The science of war Britain began manufacturing large quantities of weapons before WW1, but there was a problem when they were used in battle – the barrels of the guns eroded. As a prominent Metalurgist, Harry began researching new steels which would not erode at high temperatures. He tried adding extra chromium to the steel to see if this would help preserve the barrel casing for longer. The accidental discovery When at the testing stage, he discovered completely by accident that this new combination of traditional carbon steel and chromium was very resistant to chemical attack and he immediately named it ‘rustless steel’. WWW.RBL.ORG.UK/REMEMBRANCE 2 LESSON 1: WORKSHEET Being from Sheffield, ‘The Steel City’, Harry saw the potential for the new metal to be used in cutlery and household utensils. Until now, household cutlery had been made from other metals, including silver. As well as making cutlery quite expensive, it also meant that all food that was eaten had an odd taste of metal that came with it. Today you’ll find lots of things around you made from stainless steel, like kitchen sinks, pots and pans, tools, medical equipment and even artwork – all because of Harry’s accidental invention. Charity In 1941 Harry Brearley created a charity called The Freshgate Trust Foundation. The Foundation is a grant making charity operating in Sheffield and South Yorkshire which aims to help out people from ‘modest’ circumstances like himself to experience travel, education, the arts and music. QUESTIONS 1. Where was Harry Brearley born? (1) 2. What was Harry’s first job after leaving school? (1) 3. How do you think Harry became an industry expert in steel working? (2) 4. What is metallurgy? (1) 5. What did Harry try adding to the steel to improve it? (1) EXTENSION QUESTIONS 6. What was the name of the Steel Works Harry became a director of? (1) 7. What was the original name for Harry’s invention? (1) 8. Name two household items that stainless steel can now be used for. (2) 9. What is the name of the trust Harry set up after the war? (1) 10. What are the activities the trust wishes to help people with? Name at least two. (2) WWW.RBL.ORG.UK/REMEMBRANCE 3 LESSON 2: WORKSHEET Serendipity Bad news for the snack you were saving I hope it’s a liquid you’re craving. That magnetron cooks Everything by the book Now we can all get microwaving! Don’t throw your attempts out the window Your wall cleaner works don’t you know – Not to get spic and span, It works better man, As a fun, sticky, smelly Play Doh! I’d like to invest in your plane goo. Have a look at what this stuff can do! Please share with the group, Your bizarre looking gloop, You’ve discovered a Superglue! That spring is too wobbly and kinky So knock it away with your pinky. But do not despair, As my friend you have there, The world’s greatest plaything - the slinky! Your doggy my friend is a hero! Grabbing nature while out on the go, As nature got stuck, Oh my friend you’re in luck, A fur problem known as Velcro! PAUL JENKINS WWW.RBL.ORG.UK/REMEMBRANCE 4 LESSON 2: WORKSHEET INVENTION: MICROWAVE OVEN DISCOVERED BY: PERCY L SPENCER HOW DISCOVERED:Spencer was using a Magnetron in his lab and realized the radiation had melted a chocolate bar he had in his pocket. The Microwave was born! INVENTION PLAY DOH DISCOVERED BY: KUTOL PRODUCTS HOW DISCOVERED: Kutol was a cleaning company that was looking for a way to clean wallpaper and invented a squishy ball to do so. When children at the company started playing with it they realized they could add colouring to quickly make it a very popular toy! INVENTION: SLINKY TOY DISCOVERED BY: RICHARD JAMES HOW DISCOVERED: James was a Navy Engineer trying to use springs for sensitive instruments when he accidentally knocked one over. Instead of crashing down to the floor, it gracefully sprang downward and the slinky toy was born! INVENTION SUPERGLUE DISCOVERED BY: HARRY COOVER HOW DISCOVERED: Coover was trying to use a substance he created to coat aircraft canopies. Annoyingly it stuck to absolutely everything making it useless for his job – but perfect for fixing everyday items that needed sticking together! INVENTION VELCRO DISCOVERED BY: GEORGE DE MESTRAL HOW DISCOVERED: Swiss engineer George De Mestral was out walking his dog when he noticed that the small bits of plants were sticking to his dogs fur (and to his socks!) – he realized that the tiny ‘hooks’ on the seeds were the reason for it and Velcro was born! WWW.RBL.ORG.UK/REMEMBRANCE 5 LESSON 2: WORKSHEET Stainless Steel Teabags Vegetarian Zips Sausages Daylight Pilot Savings Time Communications Sanitary Blood Banks Towels Tissues Documentaries WWW.RBL.ORG.UK/REMEMBRANCE 6 LESSON 3: WORKSHEET BBC NEWS - 10 INVENTIONS THAT OWE THEIR SUCCESS TO WORLD WAR ONE Sanitary towels... A revolutionary new material called Cellucotton had been invented before WW1, but nobody had realised just how useful it would prove to be. The company who invented, Kimberley Clark, had been searching for a material which was more absorbent than cotton, but much cheaper to make in their factories. They took it back to the US and trademarked it. Then, once the US entered the war in 1917, they started using Cellucotton to make the wadding for bandages at a rate of 380-500ft per minute. But Red Cross nurses on the battlefield realised its benefits for their own personal, hygienic use, and it was this unofficial use that ultimately made the company’s fortune. “The end of the war in 1918 meant that the army and the Red Cross stopped ordering Cellucotton bandages. This meant that Kimberley Clark had a revolutionary material, but nothing to use it for, until they realised that the Red Cross nurses had already © Antiques & Collectables / Alamy Stock Photo given Cellucotton a new use. “After two years of intensive study, experimentation and market testing, the K-C team created a sanitary napkin made from Cellucotton and fine gauze, and in 1920, in a little wooden shed in Neenah, Wisconsin, female employees began turning out the product by hand,” the company says. The new product, called Kotex (short for “cotton texture”), was sold to the public in October 1920, less than two years after the Armistice. ... and paper hankies Selling sanitary pads was not easy, as many women felt self-conscious buying them in shops in view of other people, especially men. Although more women began buying them, it was not enough to cover the cost of making them, so Kimberley Clark looked for another solution. In the early 1920s, CA “Bert” Fourness conceived the idea of ironing cellulose material to make a smooth and soft tissue. With much experimentation, facial tissue was born in 1924, with the name “Kleenex”. WWW.RBL.ORG.UK/REMEMBRANCE 7 LESSON 3: WORKSHEET BBC NEWS - 10 INVENTIONS THAT OWE THEIR SUCCESS TO WORLD WAR ONE Sun lamp In the winter of 1918, it’s estimated that half of all children in Berlin were suffering from rickets- a condition whereby bones become soft and deformed. At the time, the exact cause was not known, although it was associated with poverty. A doctor in the city - Kurt Huldschinsky - noticed that his patients were very pale. He decided to conduct an experiment on four of them, including one known today only as Arthur, who was three years old. He put the four of them under mercury-quartz lamps which emitted ultraviolet light. As the treatment continued, Huldschinsky noticed that the bones of his young patients were getting stronger. In May 1919, when the sun of summer arrived, he had them sit on the terrace in the sun. The results of his experiment, when published, were greeted with great enthusiasm. Children around Germany were brought before the lights. In Dresden, the child welfare services had the city’s street lights dismantled to be used for treating children. Researchers later found that Vitamin D is necessary to build up the bones with calcium and this process is triggered by ultraviolet light.