R12 Integration of smart and modern materials
This area of the audit has been marked at '1' meaning very little knowledge if not any at all.
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What I have learnt and what I now understand
This section of the audit is a really unfamiliar to me so I am approaching it with no idea or any experience in it what so ever. The first way I've tackled it is by trying to learn and understand the differences between a Smart and Modern material.
I learnt that a MODERN material are examples which are continually changing as technology improves and advances. These materials are created and constructed in comparison to the natural materials.
SMART materials are examples of materials that react to other elements and their properties can change. I now understand that they can change colour, increase heat or rigidity and these are affected by external inputs such as temperature, light pressure or electricity. Also the change is reversible and can be repeated many times.
I have not started to look online and read more about how many different smart materials there are in this current day and the fact that they have different properties that react and change to external conditions such as the examples above. What I now know and understand is that smart materials can actually be catergorised into five different sections. Bitesize has helped me to determine these differences and the section online also gives a nice summary of what they mean.
Below is a screen shot taken from the bitesize website explain the different types of smart materials.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/design/electronics/materialsrev5.shtml
Just by learning a little bit more about these materials it made me realise that actually many of the smart materials can be seen in products that we use even today. It then make me think that I should really have a look at these examples so that I am able to spot and recognise them in the future when I am teaching.
This is a example of shape memory allows which changes shape when heated. I have learnt that it is used for a lot of dental; work, body temperate is used to shrink the wire braces and pull teeth into position.
Piezoelectric materials - this example show a music greeting card and this smart material is used to create an electric current from movement.
Quantum-tunnelling composite helps to operate a touch screen interface conducting the contact from the finger.
Electroluminescent materials that give out light when a electric current or circuit is applied to it
Thermochromic inks. When you touch the material it reacts and changes colour. Bhav showed us her kettle as well the changes colour when switched on to boil.
Photometric glasses. When they are exposed to light the glasses change and will darken, and these changes are reversible.
It has been quite interesting to have a look at the different types of products that you can get which use this smart materials. Some of which have been around for a long time and I did not even know or notice myself!
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Analysis of new gained knowledge and the next step
Before I began this course I had no idea as to what this meant in any kind of context as a result I marked the section as a '1' meaning little knowledge if not any at all. I do feel that this is a fair enough grade but now that I have spent more time learning about what it entails I now can say that I have developed so far in some way shape or form. Looking back I now recognise that I have been successful during my learning process but there have been points where I am aware I could have been better and improved within my learning.
Firstly I felt that I was very quick in trying to make clear of the differences between Smart and Modern materials. I obviously identified that this was a principle to understand and therefore this was the first part that I tackled during this time. I know it may seem quite an obvious stage or starting point for anyone's learning but I feel that personally I have got a great deal better at being able to approach new areas and trying to understand the starting point. Perhaps this is down to the audit, to be honest I feel that it has helped me to learn and look at ways I can tackle a new area of foreign content because looking back I remember staring at the screen for ages trying to work out where to start at some sections of this module. Therefore, I feel that being able to recognise these differences and identifying the principles at a early stage was a really successful part of my process.
I also feel that because of this audit I have become a great deal better at researching books, the internet and other source that can potentially support my learning whilst exploring new content. As a result I have saved certain useful links and books to refer to when in need and during this time Bitezise was a really good source to look at and helped me to understand the different types smart materials that are available today. I think that this website helps me so much more because it is split up into digestible chunks. I know that as I as a learner can become very overwhelmed, uninterested and become confused if faced with a massive amounts on information and because I knew that this area was such a widespread subject i wanted to be able to learn it step by step without having to go into great detail.
During this time what has also helped me is to have a look at products in the market that use smart materials. Looking at these example products I started to realise that I had used or at least seen them before and once I made that connection I was then able to understand so much more about how they worked based on my own experiences. This without a doubt supported and developed my learning and understanding of these different types and I think it is so important as a learner and training teacher to be able to explore further to see if you are able to make links within your own experiences as things will become a great deal clearer. Not only has this helped my learning hopefully in the future it will allow me to pass this on to my students.
Generally speaking although I feel as if I have been successful during my learning stages within this section of the audit, I am aware of the fact that I have not yet actually used any smart material to experiment with it and see how I could even use them within my own work. Some of these smart materials are actually really accessible and not highly expensive so I could have had a look further at these examples in order to further my knowledge and general understanding for these materials.
Therefore, this leads me to my next step within this process to further and develop my understanding of smart and modern materials. I want to be able to get my hands on some smart material and experiment, engage and explore with it. I could even have a look at some useful websites or magazines and include them within my audit so that I can use them when I am teaching at a later date.
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Before I began this course I had no idea as to what this meant in any kind of context as a result I marked the section as a '1' meaning little knowledge if not any at all. I do feel that this is a fair enough grade but now that I have spent more time learning about what it entails I now can say that I have developed so far in some way shape or form. Looking back I now recognise that I have been successful during my learning process but there have been points where I am aware I could have been better and improved within my learning.
Firstly I felt that I was very quick in trying to make clear of the differences between Smart and Modern materials. I obviously identified that this was a principle to understand and therefore this was the first part that I tackled during this time. I know it may seem quite an obvious stage or starting point for anyone's learning but I feel that personally I have got a great deal better at being able to approach new areas and trying to understand the starting point. Perhaps this is down to the audit, to be honest I feel that it has helped me to learn and look at ways I can tackle a new area of foreign content because looking back I remember staring at the screen for ages trying to work out where to start at some sections of this module. Therefore, I feel that being able to recognise these differences and identifying the principles at a early stage was a really successful part of my process.
I also feel that because of this audit I have become a great deal better at researching books, the internet and other source that can potentially support my learning whilst exploring new content. As a result I have saved certain useful links and books to refer to when in need and during this time Bitezise was a really good source to look at and helped me to understand the different types smart materials that are available today. I think that this website helps me so much more because it is split up into digestible chunks. I know that as I as a learner can become very overwhelmed, uninterested and become confused if faced with a massive amounts on information and because I knew that this area was such a widespread subject i wanted to be able to learn it step by step without having to go into great detail.
During this time what has also helped me is to have a look at products in the market that use smart materials. Looking at these example products I started to realise that I had used or at least seen them before and once I made that connection I was then able to understand so much more about how they worked based on my own experiences. This without a doubt supported and developed my learning and understanding of these different types and I think it is so important as a learner and training teacher to be able to explore further to see if you are able to make links within your own experiences as things will become a great deal clearer. Not only has this helped my learning hopefully in the future it will allow me to pass this on to my students.
Generally speaking although I feel as if I have been successful during my learning stages within this section of the audit, I am aware of the fact that I have not yet actually used any smart material to experiment with it and see how I could even use them within my own work. Some of these smart materials are actually really accessible and not highly expensive so I could have had a look further at these examples in order to further my knowledge and general understanding for these materials.
Therefore, this leads me to my next step within this process to further and develop my understanding of smart and modern materials. I want to be able to get my hands on some smart material and experiment, engage and explore with it. I could even have a look at some useful websites or magazines and include them within my audit so that I can use them when I am teaching at a later date.
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Further Development
Today I had a play around with Polymorph here are some pictures that I have taken to capture this time.
Today I had a play around with Polymorph here are some pictures that I have taken to capture this time.
I have learnt that once you heat this material using 60 degreed water it forms the granules together and creates a rubber like material. I found it really easy to shape and form different shapes but realised that once it cools down it begins to harden and set. The great thing though is that you can then re-mold it by merely putting it into hot water again, it is a great material and has really made me think about what it could be used for within my projects this semester and next year. At the moment I feel that this material would work really well if you wanted to model something just to see how something may appear without having to go through lots of processes. You have so much freedom to play around with the material so I think it could become very useful when modeling.