Dyeing to Design
Testing of natural dyes.Copyright 2016 Carly Monfort, Collaborative RET with Central State University, University of Dayton, and Wright State University
Students experiment with various ways to naturally dye materials using sources found in nature—roots, leaves, seeds, spices, etc.—as well as the method of extracting dyes. Then they analyze various materials using statistical methods and tackle an engineering design challenge—to find dyes that best suit the needs of a startup sustainable clothing company.
Acting like chemical engineers, students apply principles of engineering, chemistry, biology, physics, and mathematics to solve problems that that involve the production or use of chemicals, fuel, drugs, food, and many other products. They design processes and equipment for large-scale manufacturing, plan and test methods of manufacturing products and treating byproducts, and supervise production.
In addition, students play the role of dye chemists; they research and create new dye colors, develop new methods for creating or extracting dyes, iterate on previous methods for modifying dyes to formulate products that have longer-lasting effects and are less toxic. They also focus specifically on design methods based on how the dyes are intended to be used for specific end products.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Identify solutes and solvents in a solution.
- Calculate the concentration of a solution.
- Use technology to collect data.
- Analyze real data and create dot plots.
- Employ statistics to analyze two or more different data sets.
- Communicate quantitative and technical information using words.
- Use visual art to solve a problem.