Career Blade Welder-A-World-of-Welding

WELDER: A WORLD OF WELDING

LESSON PLAN OVERVIEW

Career: Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers use hand-held or remotely controlled equipment to join or cut metal parts using heat to melt and fuse metal pieces to form a permanent bond. Welders work in shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing, building construction, aviation and aerospace development, and thousands of other industries.

Lesson: This lesson plan provides activities for students to learn what welders do by learning about the different types of welding, welding materials, and industries that employ welders. Students will then test their welding skills by designing and simulating welding a tower together with glue, and testing the strength of the tower.

Grade Level: Middle Grades

Learning Objectives:

〉 Students will explore the career of a welder by learning some of the basics of welding.

〉 Students will identify different types of welding, welding materials, and industries that utilize welding.

〉 Students will experience welding by designing and welding an object together and then test its strength.

〉 Students will gain an insight into the welding profession, including common job tasks, salary, career pathway, and credentials required to perform the job.

Materials Needed:

Activity #1: The Welding World

〉 Student Worksheet: The Welding World

Activity #2: The Strength of Welding

〉 Student Worksheet: The Strength of Welding

〉 Organize individually or in groups

〉 Cardboard, scissors, and markers

〉 Hot glue gun or liquid glue

〉 Testing items: range of light to heavy items such as pen, rubber eraser, highlighter, handheld calculator, stapler, book, etc.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

〉 Meter stick and scale for measuring the effectiveness of the tower

TEACHER GUIDE

Lesson Instructions: The following activities will help you introduce students to basic concepts and processes used in welding. Begin the lesson by reading the Class Message below to your students, then have them watch the recommended career video. Afterwards, facilitate discussion using the Class Questions listed below.

After the discussion, students will work on two activities. Each activity has a printable worksheet with student instructions and areas to record their work. Have students read their worksheets before beginning each activity.

You should also familiarize yourself with the student worksheets to provide assistance when needed, help demonstrate any procedures, and help in facilitating the discussion that ends each activity.

Class Message: Today, we are going to learn about the welding profession. Do any of you know what a welder is? A welder joins two or more pieces of metal together using heat to reinforce the strength of the object.

Welding is the most common way of permanently joining metal parts. Heat is applied to metal pieces, melting and fusing them to form a permanent bond. Because of its strength, welding is used in shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing and repair, and aviation and aerospace design. Welding is also used to join steel beams in the construction of buildings, bridges, and other structures and to join pipes in pipelines, power plants, and refineries.

In this lesson, you will learn what welders do by learning about the different types of welding, welding materials, and industries that use welding. You will then have a chance to test your welding skills by designing and welding an object together and testing the strength of the object.

Let’s watch this short video to learn more about careers in welding.

Class Discussion Questions:

〉 Can you think of some things at home or school that might have been welded together? - Response Suggestions: bicycle, scooter, desk, appliances, metal rack, or other metal products.

〉 What do you think a welder does in the automotive industry? - Response Suggestions: welds all metal parts of an automobile together - welds engine, drive shaft, doors, transmission, axles, etc. to the car frame.

〉 What are some other things that a welder might have made? - Response Suggestions: car, train, boat, rockets, airplane, etc?

Activities Overview: This lesson plan includes two student activities. Activity #1 challenges students to identify the different types of welding, welding materials, and industries that utilize welding. In Activity #2, students will test their welding skills by designing and welding an object together and then test its strength.

Read and familiarize yourself with the student worksheet for each activity.

Activity #1: The Welding World

Students will identify the different types of welding, welding materials, and industries that use welding.

Activity Instructions:

〉 Hand out the student worksheet.

〉 Introduce the activity and guide students as needed.

〉 After completion, facilitate a discussion using the questions for the activity.

Activity Results: This activity will introduce students to welding by being able to identify the most common types of welding, welding materials, and industries that use welding

Type

SMAW/Stick

GMAW/MIG

GTAW/TIG

Activity Discussion:

Materials

iron, steel, nickel, and copper alloys

construction, pipeline, shipbuilding, and farming

aluminum and steel automotive, pipefitting, and railroad

stainless steel, aluminum, magnesium, and cooper alloys

aerospace and oil and gas

〉 What would you to use Stick welding for? - Sample answers may include: welding pipes, ships, or to make a repair or reinforce something.

〉 What types of welders are used in aerospace and why? - Sample answers may include: Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) or TIG welding because it is a stronger, higher quality weld.

〉 Why do you think welding is important? - Sample answers may include: it strengthens steel items to make them safer, because practically everything made of metal has been welded together.

Activity #2: The Strength of Welding Students will test their welding skills by designing and welding an object together and then testing its strength.

Activity Instructions:

〉 Hand out the student worksheet.

〉 Divide students into groups.

〉 Provide the experiment materials such as glue or hot glue gun.

〉 Introduce the activity and guide students as needed.

〉 Have each team of students create a tower that will hold a small weight, such as a calculator, stapler or other object. The tower should be constructed from the sample materials (e.g. cardboard, etc.) and the pretend “welding” process (either glue or a hot glue gun). The winning team will be the team whose tower can hold the object at the greatest height with the least weight of the tower. You can judge the towers by diving the height in meters by the weight in grams to calculate an “efficiency” for each tower.

〉 After completion, facilitate a discussion using the questions for the activity.

Activity Results: This activity helps students understand the basics of welding by simulating the welding process and testing the strength of the weld.

Activity Discussion:

〉 How could you have made your structure stronger? - Allow students to share their experience.

〉 How was this activity similar to actual welding? - Sample answers may include: we were able to use the glue as a welding device to create a structure, and then test the structure to ensure its strength.

〉 Which design was the strongest and why? - Allow students to share their experience.

Sample solution made from posterboard. (Corners are folded pieces of posterboard.)

CAREER INSIGHT

Career Highlight: This lesson plan highlights some of the concepts and skills welders use daily to weld materials together. See the Employers in My Area section to contact businesses and organizations in your area about classroom demonstrations, onsite visits, or other additional career exposure opportunities.

Featured Career:

Welders, Cutters, Solderers, and Brazers

Career Descriptions: Welders use handwelding or flame-cutting equipment to weld or join metal components or to fill holes, indentations, or seams of fabricated metal products.

Welders, cutters, solderers, and brazers typically do the following:

〉 Study blueprints, sketches, or specifications

〉 Calculate the dimensions of parts to be welded

〉 Inspect structures or materials to be welded

〉 Ignite torches or start power supplies

〉 Monitor the welding process to avoid overheating

〉 Maintain equipment and machinery

Welding is the most common way of permanently joining metal parts. In this process, heat is applied to metal pieces, melting and fusing them to form a permanent bond. Because of its strength, welding is used in shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing and repair, aerospace applications, and thousands of other manufacturing activities. Welding also is used to join steel beams in the construction of buildings, bridges, and other structures and to join pipes in pipelines, power plants, and refineries.

Other Names for this Career: Fabrication Welder, Fabricator, Fitter/Welder, Welder, Welder/Fabricator, Maintenance Welder, Aluminum Welder, Sub Arc Operator, Welder-Fitter, MIG Welder (Metal Inert Gas Welder)

STANDARDS ALIGNMENT

Activity #1

English Standards

〉 Read and comprehend a variety of literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 68 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

〉 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the impact of a specific word choice on meaning and tone, including analogies and allusions to other texts.

〉 Support interpretations, analyses, reflections, or research with evidence found in literature or informational texts

Activity #2

Science Standards

〉 Links Among Engineering, Technology, and Science on Society and the Natural World

〉 Engineering Design 2) Design and test different solutions that impact energy transfer.

〉 Energy 1) Analyze the properties and compare sources of kinetic and gravitational potential energy.

Science and Engineering Practices

〉 Developing and using models to develop explanations for phenomena, to go beyond the observable and make predictions or to test designs

〉 Using mathematics and computational thinking as tools to represent variables and their relationships in models, simulations, and data analysis in order to make and test predictions

〉 Planning and carrying out controlled investigations to collect data that is used to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and durability of designs under various conditions.

〉 Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information from scientific texts in order to derive meaning, evaluate validity, and integrate information.

School Counseling Model and Standards

〉 Demonstrate critical thinking and decision-making skills to make informed decisions

〉 Communicate effectively using oral, written, and listening communications skills

〉 Work effectively in diverse groups by developing and employing leadership and teamwork skills

〉 Develop and articulate postsecondary education and career aspirations

EDUCATOR RUBRIC

ITEM Does Not Meet Expectations Meets Expectations Exceeds Expectations

Activity #1: The Welding World

Activity #2: The Strength of Welding

Student did not complete the worksheet leaving some answers incomplete.

Students built structure with lack of attention to detail and/or failed to properly record the results of their tests on their tower

Student completed the worksheet including the discussion questions to a high degree of accuracy.

Students structure demonstrated a clear attempt at “welding” and students adequately recorded the results of their experiment.

Student completed the worksheet including the discussion questions to a high degree of accuracy and consistently added depth to their answers.

Students structure demonstrated clear attention to detail. Students recorded the results of their experiment with great accuracy, using scales to mass their objects tested.

Activity Discussion Student did not participate in activity discussions

Student participated in activity discussions

Team Work Struggled to participate and share responsibility in the group work environment

Worked well in a team environment

Student actively participated in activity discussions and made clear connections to the careers in welding.

Worked will in a team environment and exhibited group leadership skills

ACTIVITY #1: THE WELDING WORLD

Introduction: Welding is the most common way of joining metal parts together. Heat is applied to metal pieces, melting and joining them to form a strong bond. Almost everything that is made of metal has been welded in some way.

Activity Description: Read the material below and then complete the Welding Chart.

Welding is a skill and art form that takes various raw materials and uses heat to create something. Welding is found most in the manufacturing industry. The goal of manufacturing is to take various components and use them to build a product that could not exist without welding.

Take a look at one of these videos to help understand the different types of welding:

〉 The Differences Between TIG vs MIG vs Stick Welding (http://tn-caps.com/r/68WL1)

〉 MIG vs. TIG vs. STICK Welding (http://tn-caps.com/r/68WL2)

This video shows a more detailed view of what happens during welding:

〉 What Is Welding? (http://tn-caps.com/r/68WL3)

Let’s discuss some different types of welders:

〉 Welders join two or more pieces of metal together using heat to form a single piece. Welders work in a wide variety of industries such as shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing, building construction, and aerospace development.

〉 Cutters use heat to cut and trim metal objects to specific dimensions. Cutters stamp or cut out metal pieces that are then welded together to make an object.

〉 Solderers and brazers use heat to join two or more metal objects together except the temperature used to melt the filler metal is lower. Solderers usually make electrical and electronic circuit boards, such as computer chips. Brazers usually apply coatings to parts in order to reduce wear and protect against corrosion.

Now that you know a little about the different types of welders, let’s take a look at the three most common types of welding and the materials that are used for each process.

〉 Shielded Metal Arc Welding (SMAW) or Stick welding is the most basic form of welding. An electric arc is formed between a short electrode stick and the metals to be joined. The electrode’s coating evaporates into a protective vapor layer that helps the workpieces and the electrode melt together and form the weld. Stick welding is used on iron, steel, nickel, and copper alloys mainly for maintenance and repair in the construction, pipeline, shipbuilding, and farming industries.

〉 Gas Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) or MIG welding is another common welding method. With this method, a welding machine sends a current through a spool of wire and pushes it out of the welding nozzle. The wire arc with the metals being welded to produce the weld. This process also uses a tank of gas, like argon or carbon dioxide, to keep the weld area clean from impurities that would keep the metals from forming a proper weld. MIG welding uses aluminum and steel and is found in the automotive, pipefitting, and railroad industries.

〉 Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) or TIG welding uses a non-consumable tungsten electrode with a powerful electric arc sent through the electrode, to produce the weld. The weld area and electrode are protected from contamination by spraying argon or helium gas through the welding machine nozzle. TIG is most commonly used to weld thin sections of stainless steel, aluminum, magnesium, and copper alloys. The operator has greater control over the weld and allows for a stronger, higher quality weld. TIG welding is more complex and difficult to master and is more expense to use. TIG welding is used in the aerospace and oil and gas industries.

Activity Procedure: Complete the Welding Chart below using the information in the passage.

Type

of Welding Materials Used

SMAW/Stick

GMAW/MIG

GTAW/TIG

Activity Discussion:

〉 What kind of work would you use Stick welding for?

〉 What types of welders are used in the aerospace industry? Why?

〉 Why do you think welding is important in so many industries?

ACTIVITY #2: THE STRENGTH OF WELDING

Introduction: In teams, you will test your welding skills by designing and welding an object together and then test its strength.

Activity Description: In teams, students will design an object, and then use the materials provided to create a model of the object by welding the materials together using glue. After the model has dried, students will test the strength of the model by placing a range of light to heavy items on top of the object and documenting the results.

Scenario: You are a team of welders who have been tasked to create a tower to hold cell phone antenna. Your task is to make the tallest tower with the least weight.

Activity Procedure:

〉 In teams, discuss and design the shape for the tower.

〉 Use the materials provided to simulate the welding process to make the tower

〉 Once the glue has set, test the strength of the tower by placing the testing items provided starting from light to heavy and document the results of your test below.

〉 The best tower is the tallest with the least amount of weight (height divided weight).

〉 Present your steel tower to the class and outcome of the strength test.

Activity Discussion:

〉 How could you have made your structure stronger?

〉 How was this activity similar to actual welding?

〉 Which team’s design was the strongest and why?