STEM Club Activity: the Whole Package

Published by the Royal Academy of Engineering, this activity sheet describes a group activity designing and manufacturing smart packaging which uses thermochromatic pigments to show that the food product is at the correct temperature. The sheet also contains a profile of a mechanical development engineer.

URL: http://stem.org.uk/rx586

HEALTH and SAFETY
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Files

PDF document, Category Three Materials

The whole package

Review

Creative activity

Posted by simmo1977 on 15th August 2012

Activity time: 1 hour
Level: 4 -6
Prior knowledge: Colours,…

Activity time: 1 hour
Level: 4 -6
Prior knowledge: Colours, packaging
Subject: DT/Food Technology/Science
Curriculum links: Heating/cooling, packaging and graphic, Food/drink health and safety
Skills: Creativity
Preparation time: 1 hour
Extra resources: Paint brushes, paint pots, thermochromic pigments, acrylic paints, paper, paper cups, card, thermometer, hot water, hair dryer
Commentary:
This activity is about the engineering applications of thermochromic pigments. These are a type of smart material that can be used to create paints that change colour with temperature change. The activity demonstrates how thermochromic paints can be used to improve health and safety of food and drink products.
I have used this activity during a number of CPD sessions that I have delivered to other teachers/professionals on the RAEng ‘Engineering Ideas Box’. Due to time constraints I only focused on the part of the activity which involves experimenting with thermochromic pigments on a polystyrene cup and then testing with hot water and/or a hair dryer. Teachers then had to consider ways in which the activity could be used to support the curriculum. Some teachers thought that it was a good activity which could be applied to teaching packaging design.
Although I have not yet used this resource with pupils yet, I intend to in future and think it could work well in either a STEM Club or to support DT. It could aid delivery of KS4/5 DT subjects that cover smart materials and could almost certainly be used to support aspects of Food Technology.