Section outline

  • Learning Intentions

    Explore the properties of fabrics to understand how traditional Māori garments were constructed. 

    Success Criteria

    Make dye lots and dye natural and synthetic fabrics. 

    We will practice making dye in Week 4 to explore how to get vibrant fabric colours and then make a second batch in Week 5.


    MONDAY -- making the dye

    Materials needed:
    - chopping board
    - knife
    - 1/2 cabbage
    - pot
    - hot plate 
    - strainer 
    - wooden spoon 

    Instructions:
    1.  Groups of 3-4 people only! (6 groups in the class) 
    2.  Chop up the cabbage into small pieces and place in the pot.  Cover with water. 
    3.  Put the pot on the hot plate and bring to a boil.
    4. Keep boiling and stirring for 20 minutes on level 2-3.  
    5.  Strain the liquid into a large ziploc bag (you will use it on Tuesday).  Try to get as much liquid as possible.
    6. Clean up your station, including the sink.  Rinse your pot, spoon and strainer. Toss your left over cabbage into the big blue bucket.

    TUESDAY -- dyeing the fabric

    Materials needed:
    - dye from Monday
    - 3 250 mL beakers
    - glass stirring rod 
    - dropper
    - fabric swatches and/or yarn (be sensible in how much you take... there are two classes ... consider what you have planned to make with the fabric or yarn) 
    - substances to change the cabbage colour:  soap, water, vinegar, baking soda 
    - hot plate

    Instructions:
    1. Divide your liquid into the beakers. 
    2. Using the soap, tap water, vinegar, and/or baking soda, add varying amounts to get the desired colour(s) ... maximum three colours due to the number of beakers required. This part should should take a maximum of 15 minutes
    PLEASE DO NOT BE WASTEFUL with the chemicals as sometimes you only need a drop to make a colour change 
    3.  Once you have your colour(s) place on the hot plate, add your fabric and boil for 15 minutes.  
    4.  Turn the hot plate off at the end of the lesson but leave the beakers on it to cool down.  
    MAKE SURE YOUR NAMES ARE LEFT WITH THE HOT PLATE SO YOU GET YOUR BEAKERS BACK. 


    How does pH work? 

    To understand how pH can alter the colour, we need to learn about the chemistry behind it.

    Success criteria
    1) Explain how elements are organized in the periodic table
    2) Describe and draw atomic structure of elements (protons, neutrons, electrons) using the periodic table's data 

    Activities
    1) Making dye and dyeing fabric
    2) In-class notes -- practice drawing electron diagrams 

    EXPLORE / TŪHURA

    EXPLORE / TŪHURA learning intentions:

    • We are EXPLORING...traditional Maori garments - the colours and fabrics - to find out how natural resources were used to make them
    • We are EXPLORING... and experimenting with natural dyes