Protect from what?
Overview Rusting is a chemical process that, can take place in metals exposed to the atmosphere. Not all metals however rust. Rusting is common with the metal, iron. Certain conditions in the air around a metal have to be present for iron to rust. Iron rust which, generally appears brown, is itself a chemical compound quite different from the iron itself. The rusting of iron can be prevented. In towns and large cities where iron sheets are used for roofing houses, rusting can also take place if the iron sheets are not protected from rusting.
3. Purpose When an iron sheet rusts, it forms a new coating around the iron itself. The purpose of this lesson is to show that the brown corrugated iron roofs in some villages is as a result of the rusting of the iron in the sheets. Rusting can be prevented.
4. Objectives Students will be able to:
i. Identify what is iron rust.
ii. Demonstrate how a piece of iron can be made to rust
iii. Show that rusting in iron can be prevented.
5. Resources/materials
Strips of different metals-iron, copper, aluminium, tin
Test tubes, iron nails
World map showing iron ore deposits,
Wall charts showing iron and its uses.
6. Activities and Procedures Iron and its allied product, steel are important in the development of many countries. Iron ore, the raw material for the manufacture of iron is found as mineral deposit in some countries of the world. Here the teacher should guide the students to search and study the iron mineral deposits in the world.
