What if there were no wood?

Lesson Content

• Lesson Plan Template:

  CTE Lesson Plan

• CTE Course Info and Benchmark Notes

  
  

  Program Title: Materials and Processes Technology

  Course Title: Materials and Processes Technology 2

  Course Number: 8601120

  Career Cluster: Engineering & Technology Education

  CIP Number: 0821010700

  Course Type: High School Technical Educational Programs

  CTE Standard Benchmarks:

  • CTE-TECED.912.8601120.5.1 - Define and describe the term "pre-processing" as it relates to industrial materials.
  • CTE-TECED.912.8601120.6.1 - Define and describe "processing" as it relates to industrial materials.

  Grade Levels: 11 and 12

• Unit Outline

  
  

  This lesson is designed to be used with the case study, "What if there were no more wood?" See CPALMS resource ID #:215776

• Career Connection

  
  

  These are solid carpentry and woodworking skills needed to differentiate the tools needed to refinish wood products and wood materials. Students will have to use pallet wood and adept processing to create a professional product. Students will use problem solving in determining what tools will help create a professional product. Work ethic will have to be applied as students have not chosen an easy method to create a professional product.

• Learning Objectives

  
  

  Students will be able to:

  • Define pre-processing and processing of materials as it relates to woodworking.
  • Describe steps that can be taken during the pre-processing of wood to be used for woodworking projects and explain their importance.
  • Describe steps that can be taken during the processing of wood to be used for woodworking projects and explain their importance.
  • Evaluate a piece of wood substrate to identify issues in the wood that should be addressed through processing and orally present a plan to address them.

• Prior Knowledge

  
  

  Students should be familiar with:

  • basic shop safety.
  • proper use of woodworking tools.
  • characteristics of quality wood substrate based upon look, feel, and balance.

• Guiding Questions

  
  
  • How can discarded material be reconditioned and used to create a quality substrate?
  • How can we tell the difference between damaged wood and a quality wood substrate?

• Procedure

  
  
  1. Send two students to get a quality substrate from the storage area. (They shouldn’t be able to find any because there will be none there.)
  2. Pass out copies of the case study, “What if there were no more wood,” CPALMS resource #215776. Students will read the case study independently or as a class. After completing the reading, ask the class to share their takeaways and relate it to their current situation in class (with no quality wood substrate).
  3. Have wood pallets ready to introduce to the class. Show them how to use a hammer and crowbar to remove a piece of wood from the pallet. Be sure to point out hazards such as nails, wood staples, or sharp broken ends and splinters. Ask students if this piece of wood is now ready to build with.
     1. Students should be able to see that the wood is not ready yet by identifying hardware hazards, rough or uneven surfaces, or broken ends.
     2. Explain that the wood must first be “pre-processed,” or made ready for processing, and then it must be processed, or made ready to build with.
  4. Quickly demonstrate the pre-processing steps by checking a piece of wood from the pallet for nails or staples and removing them, then evaluating whether surfaces need to be cut or smoothed. Explain to students what you are doing and why as you demonstrate this step.
  5. Next, share a piece of wood from a pallet that you have already processed and have students compare it to the un-processed piece. Have them brainstorm steps you likely took or tools you likely used to produce the quality wood substrate from its unprocessed state.
     1. Briefly share with students the steps you took to process the wood and the tools you used to refine it. This may include planing, sanding, measuring, or turning the wood.
     2. Review with them the importance of the pre-processing step in preparing the wood to be worked with.
  6. Split the class into small groups, each group with its own wood pallet. Instruct each group to disassemble their pallet, taking care to minimize breakage. As the first step in pre-processing, have the group sort the wood into useable pieces in a pre-processing pile and unusable pieces in a trash pile.
  7. Ask each student to select one piece of wood as their sample to work with. Pass out the Producing Quality Wood Substrate handout. Students will use Part 1 of the handout to evaluate their wood and prepare for pre-processing.
     1. After completing Part 1 of the handout, students will pre-process their wood by:
        • identifying and removing any remaining hardware such as nails or staples.
        • identifying broken ends and cutting them square.
  8. Next, students will use Part 2 of the handout to evaluate their wood for processing, then they will use Part 3 of the handout to prepare for processing.
  9. Have students share their findings within their small groups. Each student will describe the condition of their wood to the group and the steps and tools they will use to process it so it will be ready to build with, with logical and coherent focus during their explanation.
  10. After all students have presented within their groups, have groups share with the class some of the common aspects of processing they discussed when sharing their plans.
  11. End class by asking students to reflect on the impact of pre-processing wood when preparing for processing by writing a short paragraph as an exit ticket.

• Teacher Notes

  
  
  • Prior to class, remove all quality wood products from the storage area to ensure students are unable to find good wood substrate when sent at the beginning of class.
  • Prior to class, prepare one piece of quality wood substrate from a pallet to use in Step 5 to compare with an unprocessed piece of wood.
  • Have all tools ready to be used by students along with safety equipment such as goggles. Remind students of the importance of safety in the shop.
  • Extension Activity Idea:
    • Have students estimate waste. Have student decide is this truly worth the destruction and clean-up associated with the process.
    • Go over their result and have them give opinions on whether this is worth the effort.
    • At the end have students write a paragraph on their opinion of if this is worth the work.