Techlink :: Classroom Practice

This case study was written by Sally about work with her Year 7 and 8 students on a Biotechnology and Soft Materials unit at the Marlborough Technology Centre in which students make and test a range of hair care products and make a hair wrap with a unique button and design.

The Marlborough Technology Centre is a purpose built teaching area with an audio visual suite, a biotechnology laboratory with an attached north facing conservatory, soft and Hard Materials and electronics areas, two kitchens for Food Technology and a central planning area including an ITC suite. All areas are well equipped and teachers, although able to teach across most areas, mostly teach in their speciality area.

Year 7 and 8 students from schools (range of deciles) throughout the Marlborough Area attend twelve 1.5 hour sessions at the centre each term. These twelve sessions usually cover 2 main technological areas and are taught by 2 teachers, ie 6 sessions per teacher. By the end of 2 years students will have covered all areas at least once. The maximum amount of students per class is 18, all classes are co-ed and most classes are not composite (sometimes schools request composite classes).

The idea for the unit came from students' questions during a previous unit on soap making. They wanted to know why soap is not recommended for use on hair, shampoos are so expensive compared to soap and why conditioners are necessary. I received a hair wrap as a present and thought it would be a good idea for students to make one using a common pattern but then individualise it with a unique button that could reflect the theme/logo of the range of their hair care products.

This is a 6 x1.5 hour unit for Year 7 and 8 and involves Biotechnology and Soft Materials.
In short, the students make and test a range of hair care products, make a hair wrap with a unique button and design.

Making sample of Hair wax
Students chose the wax/oil mixture that will best suit their needs and make a sample of hair wax according to this ratio.

Designing the hair wrap out of the Du-kit clay for the hair wrap.

The final product. The hair wrap is cut out and made up from a given pattern.Human need / problem / opportunity established in an authentic context.

An occasion or celebration is often accompanied by the giving and receiving of gifts.

You will make a gift pack to give to a specific person for an occasion of your choice.

You are going to experiment in the Biotechnology Laboratory to develop hair wax or calmer, hair gel, shampoo and conditioner to suit the recipient of your gift. These will be rolled up in a hair wrap that is fastened with a button that has been specially designed and made by you.

In the Foods Room you will design and make a bag for safe storage of your hair care products and decorations.

A display of a variety of hair wraps/buttons/femo clay colours/towellings/hair care products/shampoo and conditioner forms/posters of industry links/electron micrographs of hair /models of hair growth and shampoo and conditioner method of action/essential oil fragrances.

Biotechnology room and equipment,
Soft materials room and equipment.
Jenny Somerville – Jeymar soaps – Wairau valley
Rebecca Midkiff – Aromatics and more
www.aromaticsandmore.com
Bush Honey and Beeswax – old Renwick Road

RHS demo of shampoo (detergent part) molecule, note hydrophilic head and hydrophobic tail;LHS I used this to demo shampoo molecules in my model.

Oil/dirt stuck to a hair (yellow piece of wood) cannot be 'hooked' off by water molecules.

When shampoo is used, the shampoo molecules' tails (hydrophobic) stick into the oil and the water hooks into the molecules' heads (hydrophilic).

water removes the oil/dirt from the hair
The water can now remove the oil/dirt from the hair.

Making shampoo- The ingredients.

Mixing Chemicals
Adding the different chemicals.

A quality survey...pH is tested.

I made and used models to show the structure of hair and how shampoos and conditioners work. Many students are very interested in the chemistry behind hair care and I found that all the research I did beforehand really paid off as they asked some difficult questions.

At first I got the students to design wax, shampoo and conditioner labels after making each product but I found many becoming bored with the designing and therefore producing substandard labels for the conditioner. For subsequent classes, at the beginning of the unit, I got them to design the range of labels with one logo and name.

This worked out excellently as they made their hair wrap button with the logo in mind ie the whole hair care range matched. Doing it this way also required them to decide on fragrances beforehand – this made it easier for me because we only had to have one fragrance sampling session.

Students really enjoyed making and testing a range of hair wax samples. The drop and rub method is a good opportunity to discuss objective vs subjective product testing – it is worthwhile having some mirrors ready as the resulting hair styles are very entertaining. Most pupils changed their recipes after considering their Questionnaire results.This activity provided an effective introduction into the technological processes that are undertaken when a new hair care product is made and we were able to compare what we had done with the processes outlined in the book, "A New Shampoo" which describes the production of a Banana Hair product.

The shampoo and conditioner making sessions were hectic, messy but really successful. Most students also showed a very good understanding of the functions of all the ingredients. Students had a choice of the type of shampoo and conditioner they wished to make and some types involve heating 2 beakers to 750 C and cooling to specific temperatures before ingredients can be added – and also ingredients have to be measured quite accurately but they really rose to the occasion and loved adding and mixing the chemicals and watching the colour changes and viscosity changes. Despite the rule of not tasting ingredients, some students did and found them extremely bitter.

The testing of the shampoos using hair from our local hairdressers was received with mixed reactions. (see experiment in booklet). Quite a few students disliked touching the hair but they got over it and carried out the experiments. Most students managed working with single hairs very well but some needed help with the mechanics of the testing. The activity ended with a negotiated activity... a competition to determine whose hair could hold the most sinkers. Some students even took the activity further and did a Science Fair project on it.

Gateways are always formative. Gateways enable the student to reach the end point but they are not the end point. The teacher still has to complete a final holistic assessment on the students' application of the knowledge and skill gained during the process.

There maybe negotiated gateways with individual students or groups of students or unexpected gateways where the unit develops along different lines to the original planned unit. The teacher will note these in the overall comment.

Students can follow and modify formulae for making a variety of hair care products according to a perceived need or opportunity.

Follow and modify formulae for making hair wax, hair gel, shampoo and conditioner according to a perceived need or opportunity.

Teacher questioning, observation of experimental method, pupil log and final product.

HG4: Is able to follow and modify formulae for making a variety of hair care products with confidence and independence.

HG5: Requires some assistance to follow and modify formulae for making a variety of hair care products.

HG6: Requires some assistance to follow and modify formulae for making a variety of hair care products.

HG7: Requires constant monitoring to follow and modify formulae for making a variety of hair care products

Students can explain the function of the components of a variety of hair care products.

Specific Learning Outcome
Explain the function of the components in hair wax, hair gel, shampoo and conditioner.

Hair wax /Hair Gel; Teacher questioning; Shampoo / Conditioner; and Matching exercise/ testlet.

HG8: Is able to explain the functions of the components of a variety of hair care products.

HG9: Is able to explain most of the functions of the components of a variety of hair care products.

HG10: Is able to explain some of the functions of the components of a variety of hair care products.

Overall statement on the students overall Technological Practice.

Teacher to fill in what they would be looking for during this unit of work.	Report Comment
Very effective Good understanding of processes and systems. Competent in using equipment. Works independently. Design and planning was done imaginatively and in detail. Successful pack developed to an outstanding, excellent, good, standard.	HG11: conscientiously used acceptable technological procedures to follow through the production of a variety of products from conception through design, laboratory testing, evaluation, production and packaging.
Mostly effective Some understanding of processes and systems. Competent in using equipment. Usually works independently. Design and planning was done imaginatively. Successful pack developed to an acceptable standard	HG12: used acceptable technological procedures to follow through the production of a variety of products from conception through design, laboratory testing, evaluation, production and packaging. HG13: needed assistance to use acceptable technological procedures to follow through the production of a variety of products from conception through design, laboratory testing, evaluation, production and packaging. HG14: had to be reminded to use acceptable technological procedures to follow through the production of a variety of products from conception through design, laboratory testing, evaluation, production and packaging.
Not very effective • Little understanding of processes and systems. • Required constant monitoring.	HG15: had to be monitored constantly and reminded to use acceptable technological procedures to follow through the production of a variety of products from conception through design, laboratory testing, evaluation, production and packaging.

Translating my notes into Māori for the student workbook having all the key words in both languages for the course, and for the equipment stuck up around the classroom was time consuming but definitely the most valuable thing that I did with respect to course preparation. I also had contemporary Māori/ English dictionaries available so that students could use Māori or English names for their hair care product range.

This unit worked well as it has ample opportunities to extend more able students while being accessible to less able students as well. So that all students can get the most out of it however, it needs at least 12 hours as I found that I was sometimes so rushed that I left out the shampoo testing lesson.

Jenny Sommerville, a soap and shampoo maker and Rebecca Midkiff, a soap and shampoo maker and owner of Aromatics and more, a cosmetic chemical supplier, were the technologists I used. I mostly used their advice on ingredients and ratios. I was able to share info/some of my knowledge with Jenny so a 2 way benefit. I hope to attend a workshop on natural cosmetic making this term.

So far the unit has been very successful – quite expensive (many thermometer breakages and ingredients) – some complaints re size of containers (too small) and volume of each product – they wanted to make larger quantities. The comments were favourable from students and parents re quality of shampoo and conditioner (they are better than supermarket brands). A number of parents have come in to learn how to make these products. Safety glasses are crucial as conditioner can "explode" out of beaker if the conditioning emulsifier gets too hot.

The hair wraps proved popular with boys and girls, and students made some amazing buttons out of "du kit" clay.

Technological Areas: Soft Materials, Biotechnology Context: Home, Environmental, Personal Level: 3, 4, 5	Essential Skills		Cross Curricular Links
	Communication	x	Mathematics	x
	Numeracy	x	Languages
	Information		The Arts	x
	Problem-solving	x	Science	x
	Self-Management & Competitive	x	Social Science
	Social & co-operative	x	Health	x
	Physical	x
	Work & Study

Lesson Sequence: Biotechnology – 6 x 1.5 hour sessions
1./ 2. a)	Introduction to Hair's your Gift Unit – A3, B6a	Opportunity/need explored; Demonstration of the stimuli as detailed above; Students design logo and choose name for Hair care range; Students make labels for hair care products.
2. b)	Hair Wrap and Button A1, 2a, 2b, 3	Students choose towelling and cut it using a given pattern; Hair Wrap overlocked and sewn; Students design and make button; Mechanism of hardening of polymer clay explained.
3/4/5	A1, A3, A4, B5	Each of the following take place over 3 lessons
a)	Making of Hair Wax/Calmer	Students chew comb honey to observe from where the beeswax comes; Students handle blocks of wax to observe that wax is too hard to apply to hair; The concept and method of adding oil to wax to soften it is introduced; Students experiment to find the amount of oil that must be added to make a wax that melts at hand temperature but solidifies on hair (They do the drop and rub test); Students make and enhance wax (glitter/essential oil), compile a questionnaire and allow public to sample wax and answer questionnaire; Students modify wax (if necessary) and make, bottle and label final product.
b)	Structure of hair, how hair grows, how shampoos and conditioners work, the function of the various components of shampoos and conditioners, the importance of pH control	Explanation of the above is via models and a series of electron micrographs; Reference to Jeymar products (industrial link); Students chose the shampoo and conditioner they will make from a variety of recipes and examples (unlike the wax and gel, these quantities are given because the ingredients are expensive); Students make shampoo of choice bottle and label.
6.	Shampoo tests and comparison of how our product development compares to that of The Body Shop and Jeymar products A1, B6a, B6b, C7	These tests use 3 commercial shampoos and the shampoo the student made Students test pH using a pH meter and/or universal indicator paper; Students wash hair samples (from hairdresser) in the different shampoos, dry them and then test the tensile strength of the hairs by finding how many keys can be hung from a hair before it breaks; Students look at photos of the production of Body Shop Banana Shampoo from concept to shop, and complete the associated summary; Students look at poster of production at Jeymar; Discussion of how our product development compares to that of The Body Shop and Jeymar products.
7.	Making of conditioner and completion of hair wrap A1, B6a, B6b, C7	Students make conditioner of choice, bottle and label; Students sew button onto hair wrap; Students roll up gift pack; Students do component assessment.