Autumn Leaves By Year 8
28th November 22
Year 8 students have been getting to grips with the basics of Metalwork in Design Technology and these beautiful copper leaves are the result.
The lessons help the students to understand the properties of metal and how they can be affected by heat and hammering. Design Technology teacher (and Head of Year 8) Adam told us about the process: “They began by sourcing leaves from around the school site to use as inspiration – they aren’t supposed to be making exact replicas but it’s useful to have real leaves in front of you when you’re making your metal leaf so you can see how the veins are arranged and how the leaf is divided into sections. Firstly they cut out the basic shape for their sculptures using tin snips they then used cold chisels, wire wool, bossing mallets and leather beanbags to create the veins and textures of the leaves. To allow them to shape the leaves they used a process called annealing which involves heating the copper until it goes cherry red and then cooling it quickly in water which leaves it malleable. The annealing process also leaves amazing colours on the copper and students can choose how much of these to polish off to create the amazing patterns and mottling.
As the last of the real leaves fall from the trees around Manor Wood – it’s lovely to have these beautiful replicas to remind us of the beauty all around us at KAS. Click on the image below for a carousel of creativity!
