F2 pupils at HSD have woven Dundee’s historic jute industry past into a STEM skills-focused exploration of textile manufacturing.
As part of our Activities Week, the year-group uncovered the science and technologies behind natural and synthetic textile manufacturing by researching, experimenting, manufacturing, and crafting their way through a day of fibrously fun activities.
A visit to the Verdant Works Museum gave the pupils the chance to enrich their understanding of Dundee’s contribution to the global textiles industry.
Meanwhile, hands-on lab sessions saw the youngsters experiment to forensically identify different fibres and textiles, and to weave and knit their very own pieces of modern fabric.
Further challenges and tasks involved researching the science involved in textile-production, examining the modern textiles industry and considering the societal impacts and how they can be addressed.
Head of Chemistry and STEM Co-ordinator at HSD, Nicola Kiernan, organised the event. She said, “The 15th of May, was ‘National Nylon Stocking Day’, so to celebrate the ground-breaking research and development that contributed to this historically innovative wardrobe staple, ”The Fabric of Dundee” activity challenged pupils to explore the science and technology of textile manufacturing past and present.
“We were delighted to see how F2 pupils embraced the various challenges to enrich their understanding of their city’s contribution to the global textiles industry; and acquire some new crafting skills to boot!
“It is crucial for pupils’ future skilling to embed such real-world, interdisciplinary, learning opportunities into the curriculum – whilst allowing staff to model collaborative working, alongside the richness of disciplinary learning, and share their expertise in uncharted contexts.”
