Home Page News   St Benildus College "THE BEST EDUCATION MONEY CAN'T BUY" Irish Independent   Technology  2009/2010 < back   Materials Technology 2009/2010 Materials technology introduces pupils to the skills involved in design problem solving, the structure and properties of many materials particularly wood, the skills needed to work various materials into finished items safely and efficiently. The course takes a very hands-on approach with an emphasis on learning by doing. Pupils will be able to design and produce an artefact from a given brief using the skills they have learnt over the junior certificate cycle. The following is just some of the topics that are covered:     * Health and safety.     * Wood: identification, microstructure, conversion, seasoning, defects-diseases, timber and environment, timber preservation.     * Manufactured boards.     * Hand tools and power tools.     * Woodwork: joints, shaping, carving, woodturning, veneering, inlaying, bending, laminating timber.     * Finishing: types of adhesives, finishes and fastenings     * Communication and Design: design, report writing.     * Mechanisms: types of forces and structures.     * Basic electronics. Assessment: Materials Technology is assessed in two parts in both higher level and ordinary level. At higher level by a written exam which accounts for 100 marks and a pupil’s own project consisting of an artefact made by the pupil from a given brief and portfolio,130 marks for artefact and 70 marks for portfolio.