Teaching Sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune in: Is plastic the best material for a pipe?

25 minutes

Find out: What makes plastic a good material for a pipe?

15 minutes

Take action: What is the best material for a pipe?

5 minutes

Reflection

Tune in: Is plastic the best material for a pipe?

Step 1. Begin by explaining:

Humans have been using pipes for thousands of years to both bring clean water into buildings and take sewage and other used water out. Over this time, many different materials have been used for pipes. Look at some of the materials pipes were made from throughout history.

These include:

clay
stone
wood
leather
fibre
metal
concrete
plastic

Then discuss the following:

When it comes to design and the circular economy principles how suitable do you think these materials are for pipes?
Note: If students need a reminder of the circular economy, you could share this presentation: About the Linear Economy and Circular Economy - Presentation.

Extend: Students could take a moment to conduct some research into the different types of pipes and the materials they are made from, as it can be quite amazing to see the engineering behind these creations and the wear and tear on these pipes.

Step 2. Now explain:

In Australia, the vast majority of infrastructure pipelines and pipes used in buildings are made from plastics. Students will explore why we use this material for our pipes in the rest of this lesson.

Find out: What makes plastic a good material for a pipe?

Step 1. Discuss:

Some of the reasons for choosing plastic include:

are long-lasting (longer than 100 years)
are durable
are robust
are lightweight
resist abrasion (the inside of the pipe doesn’t break down if rough materials go through the pipes)
are chemical-proof resistance (chemicals don't affect the pipe from either the outside or what’s inside the pipe)
don’t corrode
are safe for drinking water
are easy to handle and install
are flexible and don’t crack or break easily
are recyclable.

Ensure students have a good understanding of what each of these points refers to in the context of a pipe.

Step 2. Invite students to spend a few minutes finding out more about how plastic pipe systems play their role in the circular economy, focusing in particular on the important role they play in our everyday lives and what this means in terms of design: How plastic pipe systems play their role in the circular economy (ask students to focus on the first graphic 'circular economy' and the text that accompanies the graphic). This article looks at how plastic pipes are designed, manufactured and used. The pipes can then be recycled at the end of their useful life to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

Differentiation: Students could work independently, in groups or as a class to scan and review the information on this webpage.

They should aim to suggest some answers to the following question:

What stood out to you the most about how plastic pipes and the circular economy?
Suggested answers could include:
- Recover & recycle - This is the last stage of the circular economy where plastic pipes can be recovered and recycled! Recovery is managed through take-back schemes. The majority of recovery comes from fittings and off-cuts as the majority of our pipes are still in their first life cycle!! The pipes that are recovered are recycled back into new plastic pipes. This diverts valuable resources from landfill into a closed-loop system.
- Re-use & repair - Plastic pipe systems have repair options already available! This keeps them in service longer without needing to replace them. They can also have a new use after their long service life, and buried pipes can become a host pipe for a new pipe. This significantly decreases the environmental impact of digging up the old pipe.
- Use - While in their 100-year+ service life, plastic pipes need minimal maintenance and are still in their first life cycle!
- Design & make - Plastic pipes are made from materials engineered to be robust, reliable and recyclable. The design of the pipes and the manufacturing efficiencies result in a long life in excess of 100 years. This means they can stay in service longer and don't need to be replaced.

Step 3. Working in groups, students will now create a rubric that includes the reasons why plastic pipes are successful (see above). They should also include the benefits that they identified about plastic pipes and the circular economy.

Note: Where students created a rubric in this lesson, they could convert the rubric to suit this task.

Differentiation: It is up to you how complex you might require this rubric to be. Students might like to use a simple rating system (1 - 5), or they might produce more qualitative scores, as seen in the examples below.

Criteria	Score out of 5
Long lasting
Sustainable
Waterproof
etc.

Rubric Example 1

	Poor	Reasonable/Good	Better
Long lasting	The pipe works for 5 years until it has to be replaced.	The pipe works for 15 years until it has to be replaced.	The pipe works for 50+ years until it has to be replaced.
Recyclable	Not much of the pipe can be recycled after use (<25%)	Some or most of the pipe can be recycled after use (50% or more).	The pipe is 100% recyclable.
etc.

Rubric Example 2

Students could share their rubric with a peer and provide feedback for improvement. Allow students time to incorporate their feedback.

Take action: What is the best material for a pipe?

Step 1. Students will now choose a material other than plastic to make a pipe from. The material could be one of those introduced at the start of the lesson or any other material that they think would be suitable. They will be trying to make a pipe that successfully meets all the criteria on the rubric. This may mean that they have to combine materials (i.e. they might need to use a rope with wood or wire with fabric).

If time permits, you could invite students to create a drawing and a prototype of their design before they start construction of their final pipe.

Differentiation: Students can work in mixed-ability groups to design and construct their pipes.

Step 2. Once students are happy with their final pipes, it’s time to test them. Invite students to think about how the testing might occur and what standards might need to be in place to ensure the testing is fair and accurate. For example:

what angle will the pipe be set at to test the flow of water in the pipe?
how will you ensure that the pipe isn’t leaking (e.g. can you measure the amount of water that goes into the pipe against the amount of water that comes out)?
how will you check that the water coming out of the pipe is clean?
is there a way to measure the speed at which the water travels through the pipe?
how many times will you test the pipe to see how it holds up to repeat use (or could you just submerge the pipe for a while)?
what other tests might be useful?

Step 3. As you are testing each pipe, the creators of that pipe must use the rubric to record how their pipe meets the criteria established by the plastic pipe.

Step 4. Students can then work independently to reflect on the success of their pipes:

how successful was the pipe? How well did it perform compared to the plastic pipe?
what was the greatest challenge facing the pipe? What could you do in future to address this challenge?
what other tests do you think would have been useful that you didn’t get to use?

Reflection

Discuss as a class:

which do you think were the most successful pipes?
given that you probably did get the chance to test these over a long period, how well do you think the different pipes would stand up to repeated use over many years?
overall, how did the pipes compare to the plastic pipes?

Differentiation

We trust that teachers are the best equipped to know how to cater to the diversity in their classes. At Cool Australia, we incorporate a variety of differentiation strategies into each lesson. Firstly, each lesson in this unit appeals to an array of different learning preferences. Learning activities can be completed in a number of different ways - if a student feels more comfortable speaking rather than writing, there are opportunities to accommodate this. In lessons that feature group work or learning stations, we trust that teachers will use their discretion in knowing how to best organise their students in accordance to positive working relationships and ability. Graphic organisers and scaffolds are often included so students can ‘visually think’ and keep a record of their work. While our lessons are designed to be 55 - 60 minutes in length, we trust that teachers will manipulate lesson and segment times according to the needs of their students.

Testing the Best Materials for a Pipe

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Summary

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UN Sustainable Development Goals

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