Saint Peter Middle School eighth-grade science students in Angela Schilling’s class participated in a stained glass activity over the past couple of months, as part of their chemistry unit to support concepts of physical/chemical changes and properties. During the entire project, the students participated or had input in every step, according to Schilling.
(PICTURED ABOVE) Some of Mrs. Schilling's eighth-grade science students with the stained glass art/science projects which are on display in the SPMS media center.
“Why I chose to incorporate the art of stained glass into my classroom was to help bring a challenging concept in chemistry into the classroom and involve an unexpected collaboration in the art industry,” Schilling said. “Overall, the classes did an amazing job and were very proud of the finished product.”
The finished products were eventually put on display in the SPMS media center. The following are the steps the students took part in during the project:
Glassmaking - We demonstrated how glass is colorized by metals. We practiced this by observing flame tests of different metallic salts.
Pattern Design - The only step I did for the students but they were the ones that suggested we use their class names (each class chose the name of a constellation at the beginning of the school year). Colors were chosen based on the class colors.
Glass cutting - Represented a physical change, classes collaborated on one piece. We used glass cutters to score and break the glass according to the patterns made. We broke plenty before getting it right, which is part of the process of learning.
Grinding - Using a collection of electric grinders, students smoothed the edges and fitted the pieces better into the piece.
Foiling - Before we solder, students had to foil the edges of each piece of glass with copper foil tape. This gives the solder a surface to bond and stick to.
Soldering - Using soldering irons and 60% tin/40% lead solder, students "glued" the pieces together to complete the final picture. To help the solder bond with the copper foil, flux was used, representing a chemical change.
Patina - The final step after much cleaning was to change the solder from silver to black using a chemical called patina. It is simply brushed onto the metal and a chemical reaction occurs, permanently changing the metal's color.Below are some more photos from the stained glass project, including the five finished art projects as well as some shots of the students hard at work!
