Teacher's Guide

Aims of the Project

1. The project is designed to help teach part of the appropriate syllabuses for Year 9 Geography, GCSE Science/Chemistry and A Level Geology. It is also relevant for the Diploma in Construction and Built Environment Diploma and can also be adapted for use with the Diploma in Manufacturing and Product Design diploma principal learning.
2. Because it is mapped to appropriate syllabuses it will help to deliver this part of the curriculum to the student in a stimulating and innovative way.
3. In addition the intention is to raise the profile of the extractives and minerals processing industry and building products industries, their importance to UK, and the possible future careers available within these industries.
4. Teaching resources are provided by Proskills via a series of PowerPoint presentations on the sources of building materials with links to leading company websites.
5. The project is delivered by the individual student and the work may be entered for a national competition with prizes for the winning student and their school.

Project brief

1. Students identify a structure then research and take photographs of it to show the building/construction materials. This can be a famous or public building, provided that there is sufficient site access to see the building materials. NB. Public permission may be needed for the photographs. It may simply be their own house or a building around an educational centre such as a school. Also to be included is the parking facility (garage) or hard standing surface outside the building. NB. A building that is mainly constructed from wood or glass (or both in combination) is not suitable for the project.
2. Students use their research to identify the different building and driveway/hard standing materials such as brick, mortar, concrete, cut stone, roadstone, tarmac, etc.
3. Students undertake internet research on the origins of the building materials, using as the starting point PowerPoint Presentations and links to industry websites accessed via the DigIT! to BuildIT! website.
4. Students construct a project on the likely origins of the building materials that make up their chosen building.

The Ideal Project

The ideal project will:

1. Contain a range of suitable photographs/background research of the building.
2. Recognise where each building material is likely to have come from.
3. Include building materials such as plaster as well as its foundations, coatings and paint.
4. Recognise the required geology for different building materials and its age and origins.
5. Research the processes of extraction and waste product disposal.
6. Identify the equipment and types of personnel required for the quarrying operation.
7. Describe the processes involved where manufacture of the building material from a natural rock type is needed.
8. Identify the typical companies/industrial concerns within the extractives industry.
9. Suggest alternative building materials in some aspects of their building. Have due regard to relative costs, aesthetics or environmental issues of the building materials eg how new eco-friendly materials could now be used as substitutes for some of the original materials to reduce the carbon footprint. Include a concluding section, where the candidate identifies restoration and new uses for quarry land and surplus waste, leaving behind a pleasant environment.
10. The project should be well presented, ideally with references.

Twinning

Where possible the organiser will twin participating schools with a local employer in the industry eg a quarry, block making company or brickmaker.

This can be invaluable in providing students with an insight into the industry and may even lead to work experience opportunities etc.

Project Presentation

The project will normally be word processed and should be submitted along with the project cover sheet. The project is expected to include key original photographs followed by sections on each of the building materials. However, where students are not able to access computer/internet, hand written and drawn projects may be submitted.

The work should be submitted to the class or supervising teacher, who will mark them using the simple project cover sheet and select the best two from each participating year group to be submitted to Proskills for final judging by 30 March 2012.

Students MUST complete the Student Surveys included with the project cover sheet before starting and after completing the project.

There is no fixed time available for the project, so it can fit in to any appropriate lesson space or after school or homework time, but four to six weeks of lesson time might be appropriate. There is no word limit on the project. Those projects submitted to Proskills for final judging will be the best two from each participating year group from each school (max of 6 submitted, therefore, per school). Please do not send bulky ring binders – long projects should be bound with a plastic strip or plastic spiral binder.

The work should be submitted to their class or supervising teachers by the end of March 2012. They will mark them using the simple cover sheet supplied by Proskills in the Teachers Guide, then selecting the best two from each participating year group to be submitted to Proskills for final judging by April, 2012.

There is no fixed time available for the project, so it can fit in to any appropriate lesson space or after school or homework time, but two to four weeks of lesson time might be appropriate. There is no word limit on the project. Those projects submitted to Proskills for final judging will be the best two from each participating year group from each school (max of 6 submitted, therefore, per school). Please do not send bulky ring binders – long projects should be bound with a plastic strip or plastic spiral binder.

Prizes

The competition has 3 levels of entry, Key Stage 3 (Year 9), Key Stage 4 (Year 10) and Key Stage 5 (Year 12).The student that provides the best entry nationally at each Key Stage will be awarded a prize. Prize winning entries will be selected by an expert judging panel. Finalists will be informed by the end of April 2012.

Participation Registration

By registering your school for this year you have been able to access this guide and the other reference materials.