Aluminum (Al)

Student Objectives: Students will recognize possible aluminum uses in their own communities and be exposed to the concept of recycling.

Tips for the Teachers: Display items made of aluminum such as a ladder, lawn furniture, soda cans, house siding and roofing materials. Have students examine them and discuss why aluminum was used.

Suggested Activities:

1. Have students collect and recycle cans. Consider donating the money earned to a charity.
2. Help students write a questionnaire or survey to learn how many families recycle. Make a list of the things families could recycle, other than aluminum.
3. Let students design their own can labels based on  a theme such as recycling, littering, or clean air/water.
4. Have students calculate the number of cans used by their families or class in a week, month or year and estimate figures for larger groups (school, community, state). Relate figures to potential volume recycled and/or earnings using charts and graphs.
5. Play a game called “What Am I?” Have students get into pairs or groups. Each pair or group draws the name of something made of aluminum out of a hat. The rest of the class tries to guess what it is by asking questions.

Measurements/Evaluation:

1. List two important uses for aluminum.
2. Give two reasons why aluminum is a good material for making things.
3. Why is aluminum important to our country?
4. Where is aluminum found?
5. What happens to aluminum when it is recycled?

 Aluminum

Color: Silvery-White
Weight: Almost 3 times heavier than water
Found: In clays with other minerals; never as a pure metal deposit

Aluminum is a very common metal in the earth’s crust. Almost 8% of the surface of the earth is aluminum. Because of its many uses, aluminum has become an important metal to our country. Aluminum is almost as strong as steel, but weights only 1/3 as much. Aluminum is also a good conductor of electricity. What is surprising is that aluminum, which has been polished, reflects heat off its shiny surface (the heat bounces of instead of going into the metal). A very malleable metal, aluminum can be hammered thinner than anything except gold. When used outdoors, aluminum corrodes (changes and gets weaker) only a little on the surface. It does not rust because as soon as air touches it, some of the aluminum combines with oxygen to form a thin protective coating.

Since it is light and can be made strong, aluminum is often used on rockets, airplanes, ships and tractor-trailers. It is also used for wire. Some firefighters wear suits with polished aluminum coatings on them because they reflect heat.

The United States uses large amounts of aluminum, but does not have much of it to mine. We must buy it from other countries. It is too expensive to mine the small amount of aluminum found in most of the clay in the United States. All clays contain bits of aluminum, but only the one called bauxite has enough to mine. Bauxite is usually 40-60% aluminum.

If it is not part of an alloy, aluminum is easy to melt down and use again. This is called recycling. One example of this is the aluminum cans that soft drinks come in, which many people collect and turn in to recycling center for money.