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These resources have been reviewed and selected by STEM Learning’s team of education specialists for factual accuracy and relevance to teaching STEM subjects in UK schools.

An Introduction to Polymers

Published by the Technology Enhancement Programme (TEP), this booklet provides an introduction to plastics, their history in product design and methods of working with thermoplastics. The text presents a range of valuable resource materials in TEP’s standard photocopiable format. It also includes sections on places to visit, educational resources, other books on plastics and sources of materials. The book's contents includes:

  • The terminology of plastics
  • The early history of polymers
  • A history of plastics invention
  • The development of plastic products
  • Designing with plastics
  • Plastics production
  • The structure of polymers
  • Modifying polymers
  • Plastics processing
  • Plastics and the environment
  • Working with plastics
  • Shaping plastics using heat
  • Transfer printing onto styrene sheet
  • Common plastics and their uses
  • Sources of information on plastics
  • Places to visit
  • Educational resources
  • Books on plastics
  • Plastic materials suppliers

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