Metal Textiles Glass Plastic Leather Cardboard Ceramics (Click on a material to find out more about it…)

Metal is found in rocks. Sometimes metal can actually be seen in a rock as small shiny pieces. In other cases, the metal is actually part of the rock and can not be seen by the eye. Different kinds of rocks have different kinds of metals. Sometimes the rocks are collected in mines. The rocks are then crushed and treated with chemicals to remove the metal from the rocks. Pieces or hunks of metal can also be heated up until they melt together. Metal Do you know how metal is made? Click on the house to return to the list of materials 

A Textile is a cloth, which is either woven by hand or machine. ‘Textile’ has traditionally meant, ‘a woven Textile’. The term comes from the Latin word texere, meaning to weave. Fibers are the raw materials for all Textiles. These natural fibers come from plants, animals, and minerals. For most of history, people had only natural fibers to use in making cloth. But modern science has learned how to manufacture fibers in order to create textiles we need and use in everyday life, e.g. clothes, blankets, curtains etc. Textiles Do you know how Textiles are made? Click on the house to return to the list of materials 

Glass is a combination of sand and other minerals that are melted together at very high temperatures to form a material that is ideal for a wide range of uses. Glass is made by melting together several minerals at very high temperatures. Silica in the form of sand is the main ingredient and this is combined with other minerals and melted in a furnace at temperatures of 1700ºC. Other materials can be added to produce different colours or properties. Glass can also be coated, heat-treated, engraved or decorated. Do you know how Glass is made? Glass Click on the house to return to the list of materials 

Plastics are used in thousands of products ranging from computers to toys, cookware, sports equipment, and even clothes. Plastic makes up 11% of average household waste. Plastic is made from oil, which is a non-renewable resource. This means that one day it will run out. Oil has taken millions of years to form. It is made from dead plants and animals and will probably run out in the next half century. There are lots of difficult and long processes to be done for plastic to be made. Do you know how plastic is made? PLASTIC Click on the house to return to the list of materials 

The leather used in making shoes, handbags, belts, gloves, wallets, and many kinds of clothing and furniture is really the skin of animals. It is usually taken from the skin of animals like cattle, pigs, sheep and goats. This skin goes through a few processes before it is ready to be made into products people use. First, all the hair and flesh are removed from the skins. Then the skins are cured, or treated with chemicals, to make them soft and flexible, and keep them from rotting. Do you know how Leather is made? Leather Click on the house to return to the list of materials 

Ceramics are all around us. This category of materials includes things like tile, bricks, plates, glass, mugs, plates and toilets. Ceramics are materials formed by heating and cooling. The surfaces of such materials are usually smooth. Ceramics range from porcelain and pottery to advanced coatings such as the heat-resistant tiles used on the space shuttle. Do you know how Ceramics are made? Ceramics Click on the house to return to the list of materials 

Cardboard is a generic term for a heavy duty paper based product. They make cardboard out of outer flat sheets (liners) of puncture resistant paper, sandwiching a central ‘filling’ of corrugated short fibre paper. The chemicals in the paper are used to ‘stretch’ the fibres, making it stronger and stiffer.paper Do you know how Cardboard is made? Cardboard Click on the house to return to the list of materials 