Metal

Rau

Bookworms chapter books are designed to expand the skills of independent readers.

Metal

What makes your cookies crispy and your braces strong? Metal! Baking pans, airplanes, tools, and cars are all made from metal, and metal can be recycled. So don’t throw that can in the trash! Find out how you can use it—and reuse it—in Metal.

Use Us U se I t ! Reusee IIt! t!

a l t e M

Use I t! Reuse I t! Glass Metal Paper Plastic Wood

Dana Meachen Rau

2KLP(S1)

Book Worms Chapter Books (Metal)

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Use Us U se I t! euse R e IIt! t!

M

a l t e

Dana Meachen Rau 1

To the students of JFK Elementary School, Windsor, Connecticut _ D.M.R.

With thanks to Professor Keith Sheppard, Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, for the careful review of this manuscript

Copyright © 2012 Marshall Cavendish Corporation Published by Marshall Cavendish Benchmark An imprint of Marshall Cavendish Corporation All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Request for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown, NY 10591. Tel: (914) 332-8888, fax: (914) 332-1888. Website: www.marshallcavendish.us This publication represents the opinions and views of the author based on Dana Meachen Rau’s personal experience, knowledge, and research. The information in this book serves as a general guide only. The author and publisher have used their best efforts in preparing this book and disclaim liability rising directly and indirectly from the use and application of this book. Other Marshall Cavendish Offices: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196 • Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand • Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited. All websites were available and accurate when this book was sent to press. Editor: Christina Gardeski Publisher: Michelle Bisson Art Director: Anahid Hamparian Series Designer: Virginia Pope Printed in Malaysia 135642

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Rau, Dana Meachen, 1971– Metal / Dana Meachen Rau. pages cm. — (Use It! Reuse It!) Includes bibliographical references and index. Summary: “Examines how we use metal in everyday objects, its unique traits and qualities, and how it is processed to be useful to us. Also discusses how metal can be recycled to use again”—Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-1-60870-516-0 (print) ISBN 978-1-60870-772-0 (ebook) 1. Metals—Juvenile literature. I. Title. TA459.R38 2011 620.1’6--dc22 2010050198 Photo research by Connie Gardner Cover photo by Stockbroker/Superstock The photographs in this book are used by permission and through the courtesy of: Superstock: pp. 1, 13, 19(T), 21(TR) Stockbroker; pp. 4(L), 8(L), 14(L), 18(L) age fotostock; p. 6(TL) F1 Online; p. 6(B) Food and Drink; p. 15 image broker; p. 17(B) Science Faction; p. 18 Vision of America. PhotoEdit: p. 21(TL) Kayte Deioma. Getty Images: p. 3 Allan Shoemake; p. 4 John Zoiner; p. 5(T) Roger T. Schmidt; p. 5(B) Sean Justice; p. 14 Phil Degginger; p. 16(T) Michael Rosenfeld; p. 16(C) David Aschkenas; p. 16(B) Bloomberg; p. 21(B) Tim MacPherson. Corbis: p. 6(TR) Brian Summers; pp. 7(B), 12(R) Corbis News; p. 20(T) Surf. Alamy: p. 17(T) Caro. The Image Works: p. 7(T) Gloria Wright; p. 19(B) Alex Fainsworth. Art Resource: pp. 8, 9 Erich Lessing; p. 10 The Trustees of The British Museum; p. 12(L) SSPL National Media Museum. AP Photo: p. 11(L). Granger Collection: p. 11(R).

Metal Made of Metal

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Chapter 2

Metal through the Ages

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Chapter 3

Melting and Molding

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Chapter 4

Reusing Metal

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Chapter

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Glossary

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Books and Websites 23 Index

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Chapter

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Clear the runway! Here comes a plane made of metal. 4

Made of Metal Chapter Title

H

ere’s a riddle. What do you play with, eat with, travel in, live in, and even wear? It’s metal!

Most metals are shiny. That makes them a good

material for jewelry, like rings and necklaces. Metals also withstand heat. That’s why cookie sheets are made of metal.

Silver is used to make jewelry.

Electricity can run through metal easily. So the wires in your house are made of this material. Metal is strong. It’s used to make streetlights and machines, such as computers and refrigerators.

Use oven mitts when you take a cookie tray out of the oven. The metal gets hot!

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A motorcycle is made of metal. So are many kitchen tools.

It’s used for parts of vehicles, like bikes, cars, boats, and planes. Check the toolbox. Hammers, screwdrivers, and other tools are made of metal. So are kitchen tools, like forks, spoons, measuring cups, and aluminum foil. Metal cans hold cat food, tomato sauce, and vegetables. Soda and other beverages also come in cans. Metal can be melted and then molded into shapes—like a paper clip 6

Metal cans keep food fresh for a long time.

or trumpet. Bits of metal are also found in medicines, paint, and makeup. Copper, gold, iron, lead, silver, tin, and aluminum are just some of the metals we use every day.

Metal makes music, too!

Your home, planet Earth, is made of metal. Earth has a very hot iron center. Closer to the surface, you can find rocks that contain metals. These rocks are called ores. Metal makes up many things around you.

You have metal in your mouth if you have braces.

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Chapter

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More than 4,000 years ago, people crafted this axe head from copper.

Metal through Title the Ages Chapter

A

ncient people used natural materials to make tools, weapons, and decorations. If they lived near the shore, they might use

shells. If they lived in the forest, they used wood and rock. Early people discovered metals, too. As far back as 9,000 years ago, copper was one of the first metals used for tools and weapons. Copper, and some other metals, are soft enough to hammer into different shapes. People found that metal could also be melted. When metal got very hot, it turned molten. This liquid metal

People long ago found many uses for copper because it was soft and easy to shape.

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could be poured into a mold. When the metal cooled, it turned hard again. So people could mold it into arrowheads, bracelets, or any shape they needed. People also discovered they could mix metals together to make them stronger. Mixtures of metals are called alloys. Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. It became the main material to make spears, knives, shields, and swords in many ancient civilizations. Iron, one of the most common metals on Earth, was hard to melt. It needed very high temperatures. But about 3,000 years ago, people built 10

Metal was a good material for weapons, such as this shield from more than 2,000 years ago.

A furnace heats metal to make it soft.

Then it can be hammered or molded into different shapes.

furnaces and developed ways to make iron usable. They heated it and hammered it into shape. They melted it and poured it into molds. Many communities had a blacksmith. He made lots of everyday items, such as nails, door hinges, bells, and horseshoes. Iron helped farming by giving farmers stronger and better equipment to use. Iron was used to make weapons, like guns. Buildings and bridges could be made stronger and last longer than ever before. 11

The use of metal reached new heights when it was used to build skyscrapers.

Metal makes up the framework, and many other parts, of a car.

The alloy steel was discovered thousands of years ago, but was not widely used until the 1850s. Steel is a mix of iron and another substance called carbon. People found that steel was much stronger than iron. They used it to make railroad tracks, bridges, cars, and skyscrapers. Steel is the most common metal that we use today. 12

There are lots of other metals on Earth. Many were not discovered until after 1800. One of these was aluminum. People started using aluminum to make soda cans in the 1960s. Before that, soda came in glass bottles. Today, soda cans are still one of aluminum’s main uses. Aluminum is lighter than steel, so it is used to make airplanes. It also does not corrode as much as steel. When steel corrodes, it gets rusty. Gold is a very valuable metal. It is the only metal that does not corrode in nature. It can also be shaped by hammering or melting and molding. That’s why people make jewelry out of gold.

Gold has always been a sign of wealth because it is so expensive and beautiful. 13

Chapter

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A blast furnace sends out sparks as it smelts the iron from the ore. 14

Melting and Molding

W

e use the metals iron and aluminum to make many products. The metals start underground as ores. Miners dig, chip, and

blast rock to collect the ores. Next, the metal has to be smelted from the ore. Smelting means removing the metal from the rock. Metalworkers use chemicals, heat, and electricity to take out aluminum. To smelt iron, the ore is sent to a blast furnace. The ore, coke, and other ingredients are heated together with blasts of hot air. Coke is a fuel that burns and gives off heat. The iron turns to liquid. Molten metals may go to another furnace to be combined with scrap metal and other ingredients to make an alloy. Most iron is made into the alloy steel. 15

Miners drill ore out of rock.

The liquid metal is poured into a mold and cooled into the mold’s shape. This is usually a long slab, but it can be a shape called an ingot. Slabs and ingots are sent to foundries where they will be made into products people can use. At the foundry, the steel is melted and poured into molds. Sand is sometimes used for molds. After the metal cools, the sand is broken away from the final piece. Instead of melting, slabs can be made into long bars for railway tracks and beams for buildings. Slabs and ingots can also be squeezed by rollers into flat sheets. Steel sheets can be stamped into molds to make car bodies. 16

A large steel slab is cut into smaller pieces.

Hot, molten metal is poured into molds at a foundry.

Metal is made into many products—from large washing machines to tiny screws. Aluminum sheets are made into soda cans. A machine cuts a circle out of the sheet and then presses it into a deep cup shape to make the body of the can. A flat aluminum top is added to finish the can. The can is trimmed, cleaned, and printed with the name of the soda. Then it is sent to a beverage company to be filled. Besides cans,

Soda cans are one of aluminum’s main uses.

aluminum is also used to make siding for houses, parts for cars, and aluminum foil.

These cans wait in a warehouse to be filled with soda.

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Chapter

18

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Metal needs to be separated into different types at a recycling center.

Reusing Metal

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o you throw all of your trash in the garbage can? Or do you check

to see if something can be recycled first? Metal can be recycled. In fact, many metal items that you use are made from metal that has been used before. Scrap metal is an important ingredient in new metal products. Scrap metal can come from old cars, old appliances, or other metal products. You can help recycle smaller

The metal from old cars and appliances can be used again.

pieces of metal. Some towns and cities pick up your recyclables. In other communities, you may have to bring your recyclables to a center yourself. 19

Steel cans and aluminum cans are easy to recycle. At the recycling center, the metal is sorted by type. A magnet pulls out cans made of steel. Electricity may be used to separate the aluminum. Machines crush the metal into bales. These bundles of metal can be sold back to companies Before you toss a can into the recycling bin, be sure to rinse it well.

to melt down and make into new products. Recycling helps the Earth reuse its metals. If we don’t recycle metal, the Earth may run out! There is only so much metal ore that people can mine and turn into products.

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A machine crushes metal into easy-to-ship bales.

If your local recycling center doesn’t accept some metal items, think of ways you can recycle them yourself.

You may be able to bring aluminum cans

In some states, you can trade in aluminum cans for money. You’re helping reuse metal, and making money for yourself, too!

back to your local grocery store. In some states, the store pays you money for them. Then you can use those metal coins in your pocket to buy something special! 21

Glossary

alloys [AL-ois] mixtures of metals bales [BAILS] compressed bundles of material beverages [BEV-er-ij-es] drinks

chemicals [KEM-i-kuhls] substances found in the earth or created by mixing, heating, or changing them coke [KOHK] a fuel made from coal that contains a lot of carbon corrode [kur-ROHD] to wear away from a chemical reaction foundries [FOWN-dreez] places where molten metal is molded into shapes furnaces [FUR-nis-iz] devices that create a lot of heat ingot [ING-guht] a bar of metal miners [MY-ners] workers who dig in the ground for metals or other natural resources mold [MOHLD] a hollow form used to make an object by filling it with a material that takes the shape of the form molten [MOHL-ten] turned into a liquid state by heating ores [ORS] rocks that contain metal recyclables [ree-SAHY-kluh-buhls] items that can be made into products again scrap metal [SKRAP MET-l] metal that has been used before smelted [SMELT-ed] the way metal is removed from its ore vehicles [VEE-i-kuhls] devices that bring people from one place to another 22

Books to Discover

Fix, Alexandra. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Metal. Chicago, IL: Heinemann Library, 2007.

George, Lynn. What Do You Know about the Gold Rush? New York: PowerKids Press, 2008. Inches, Alison. The Adventures of an Aluminum Can: A Story about Recycling. New York: Little Simon, 2009. Langley, Andrew. Everyday Materials: Metal. NY: Crabtree Publishing, 2008. Plomer, Anna Llimós. Let’s Create: Metal. Milwaukee, WI: Gareth Stevens Publishing, 2004.

Websites to Explore

Chem4Kids: Metal Basics www.chem4kids.com/files/elem_metal.html Earth 911: Metal http://earth911.com/recycling/metal

4 2 Explore: Mining http://42explore.com/mining.htm Kids Science Experiments: Magnetic Materials www.kids-science-experiments.com/magneticmaterialfacts.html 23

Index

Earth, makeup of, 7 farming equipment, 11 foundries, 16, 16 furnaces, 11, 11, 14

Page numbers in boldface are illustrations.

gold, 7, 13, 13

airplane, 4, 13 alloys, 10, 12, 15 aluminum, 7, 13, 15, 17, 17 aluminum products, 17, 17, 20 aluminum recycling, 20, 20, 21, 21 ancient civilizations, 9–11

ingot, 16 iron, 7, 10, 12, 14, 15

bales, 20, 20 bar steel, 16 beverages, 6, 17, 17 blacksmith, 11, 11 blast furnace, 14, 15 braces, 7 bronze, 10 building materials, 11, 12, 12, 16

machines, 5, 17, 20, 20 metal, corrosion and, 13 metal hardness, 9, 12 metal melting, 6, 9, 10, 13 metal properties, 5, 6 metal weight, 13 miners, 15, 15 mold, 6, 10, 11, 11, 13, 16, 16 molten metal, 6–7, 9, 11, 11, 15, 16, 16 musical instruments, 7, 7

cans, 6, 6, 13, 17, 17, 18, 20, 20, 21, 21 carbon, 12 cars, 12, 12, 16, 17, 19, 19 chemicals, 15 coin money, 21, 21 coke, 15 cookie sheets, 5, 5, 8 copper, 7, 9, 9, 10 corrosion, 13 decorations, 9

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jewelry, 5, 5, 10, 13, 13 lead, 7

ores, 7, 14, 15, 15, 20 recyclables, 19, 19, 20 recycling bin, 20 recycling center, 18, 19, 20, 21 rock, 7, 15, 15

sand molds, 16 scrap metal, 15, 19 sheet steel, 16 silver, 5, 7 smelted, 15 soda cans, 6, 13, 17, 17, 20, 20, 21, 21 steel, 12, 13, 15, 16, 16, 20 steel products, 12, 12, 16, 20 steel slab, 16, 16 tin, 7, 10 tools, 6 kitchen, 6, 6 toolbox, 6, 8, 9 vehicles, 4, 6, 6, 12, 12, 13, 16, 17, 19, 19 weapons, 9, 10, 10, 11 wires, 5

About the Author Dana Meachen Rau is the author of more than 250 books for children. She has written about many nonfiction topics from her home office in Burlington, Connecticut. The metal items Dana uses most every day are a spoon to stir her cocoa, scissors to make crafts, and paper clips to hold her papers together!

With thanks to the Reading Consultants: Nanci R. Vargus, Ed.D., is an Assistant Professor of Elementary Education at the University of Indianapolis. Beth Walker Gambro is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Saint Francis in Joliet, Illinois.