A Brief History of the Invention of Plastics

A Brief History of the Invention of Plastics The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes who publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. The material, called Parkesine, was an organic material derived from cellulose that once heated could be molded and retained its shape when cooled. Celluloid Celluloid is derived from cellulose and alcoholized camphor. John Wesley Hyatt invented celluloid as a substitute for the ivory in billiard balls in 1868. He first tried using  a natural substance called collodion  after spilling a bottle of it and discovering that the material dried into a tough and flexible film. However, the material was not strong enough to be used as a billiard ball, not until the addition of camphor, a derivative of the laurel tree. The new celluloid could now be molded with heat and pressure into a durable shape. Besides billiard balls, celluloid became famous as the first flexible photographic film used for still photography and motion pictures. Hyatt created celluloid in a strip format for movie film. By 1900, movie film was an exploding market for celluloid. Formaldehyde Resins - Bakelite After cellulose nitrate, formaldehyde was the next product to advance the technology of plastic. Around 1897, efforts to manufacture white chalkboards led to casein plastics (milk protein mixed with formaldehyde) Galalith and Erinoid are two early tradename examples. In 1899, Arthur Smith received British Patent 16,275, for phenol-formaldehyde resins for use as an ebonite substitute in electrical insulation, the first patent for processing a formaldehyde resin. However, in 1907, Leo Hendrik Baekeland improved phenol-formaldehyde reaction techniques and invented the first fully synthetic resin to become commercially successful with the trade name Bakelite. Here is a brief timeline of the evolution of plastics. Timeline - Precursors 1839 - Natural Rubber - Method of processing invented by Charles Goodyear1843 - Vulcanite - Invented by Thomas Hancock1843 - Gutta-Percha - Invented by William Montgomerie1856 - Shellac - Invented by Alfred Critchlow and Samuel Peck1856 - Bois Durci - Invented by Francois Charles Lepage Timeline - Beginning of the Plastic Era With Semi-Synthetics 1839 - Polystyrene or PS - Discovered by  Eduard Simon1862 - Parkesine - Invented by Alexander Parkes1863 - Cellulose Nitrate or Celluloid - Invented by John Wesley Hyatt1872 - Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC - First created by Eugen Baumann1894 - Viscose Rayon - Invented by Charles Frederick Cross and Edward John Bevan Timeline - Thermosetting Plastics and Thermoplastics 1908 - Cellophane  - Invented by Jacques E. Brandenberger1909 - First true plastic Phenol-Formaldehyde (trade name Bakelite) - Invented by Leo Hendrik Baekeland1926 - Vinyl or PVC - Walter Semon invented a plasticized PVC1933 - Polyvinylidene chloride or Saran also called PVDC - Accidentally discovered by Ralph Wiley, a Dow Chemical lab worker1935 - Low-density polyethylene or LDPE - Invented by Reginald Gibson and Eric Fawcett1936 - Acrylic or Polymethyl Methacrylate1937 - Polyurethanes (trade-named Igamid for plastics materials and Perlon for fibers) - Otto Bayer and co-workers discovered and patented the chemistry of polyurethanes1938 - Polystyrene made practical1938 - Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE (trade-named Teflon) - Invented by Roy Plunkett1939 - Nylon and Neoprene - Considered a replacement for silk and a synthetic rubber respectively by Wallace Hume Carothers1941 - Polyethylene Terephthalate or Pet - Invented by Whinfield and Dickson1942 - Low-Density Polyethylene1942 - Unsaturated Polyester also called PET - Patented by John Rex Whinfield and James Tennant Dickson 1951 - High-density polyethylene or HDPE (trade-named Marlex) - Invented by Paul Hogan and Robert Banks1951 - Polypropylene or PP - Invented by Paul Hogan and Robert Banks1953 - Saran Wrap introduced by Dow Chemicals1954 - Styrofoam (a type of foamed polystyrene foam) - Invented by Ray McIntire for Dow Chemicals1964 - Polyimide1970 - Thermoplastic Polyester this includes trademarked Dacron, Mylar, Melinex, Teijin, and Tetoron1978 - Linear Low-Density Polyethylene1985 - Liquid Crystal Polymers

School Gossip Can Destroy Teachers and Staff Members

School Gossip Can Destroy Teachers and Staff Members A teacher conducts an activity to show her class just how silly gossip can be. She whispers something to a student and then that student whispers it to the next until it had been passed to every student in class. What started as, We are going to have a long three day weekend starting tomorrow ended up as, We will be lucky if three of you arent killed this weekend. The teacher uses this activity to teach her students why you shouldn’t believe everything you hear. She also discusses why it is essential to stop gossip instead of helping to spread it.​ The lesson above is sadly not limited to the students in the school. Gossip runs rampant in just about any workplace. Schools should be a safe haven where this is not a significant problem. The faculty and staff within a school should never start, participate in, or promote gossip. However, the truth is that all too often schools are the focal point of gossip in the community. The teacher’s lounge or the teacher’s table in the cafeteria is often the center of where this gossip occurs. It is mind-boggling as to why people need to talk about what is going on with other people. Teachers should always practice what they preach. Particularly those who have seen the negative impact gossip has had on their students. The truth is that the effect of gossip can be the same or worse as an adult. When Empathy Proves Elusive As a teacher, you have so much going on in your own classroom and life that it can be difficult to truly understand that there is just as much or more going on in every other classroom and co-workers lives. Empathy sometimes proves elusive when it should be commonplace. Gossip is frustrating because it builds walls between teachers and staff members that need to be working together. Instead, they feud because someone said something about the other to someone else. The entire idea of gossip among a school faculty and staff is disheartening. Gossip can split a schools faculty and staff in half and in the end, the people who are hurt the worst will be your student body As a school leader, it is your job to discourage gossip among the adults in your building.  Teaching is difficult enough without worrying about what others are saying.   Teachers should have each other’s back, not talk behind each other’s back. Gossip creates a large part of your discipline issues with students, and it will create even larger problems within your faculty and staff if it is not dealt with quickly. The key to minimizing the gossip issues among your faculty/staff is to educate them on the topic. Being proactive will go a long way in keeping gossip issues to a minimum. Have regular conversations with your faculty and staff members discussing the bigger picture about the damage that gossip can cause. Furthermore, implement strategic team build activities that bring them together and naturally forge solid relationships. When it comes to gossip, make sure they know what your expectations are and how you will deal with it when it becomes an issue. How to Proactively Defeat Conflict It is also not realistic to have a faculty and staff where there is never any conflict. A policy or set of guidelines must be in place when this happens that leads towards resolution between the two parties instead of division. Encourage your faculty and staff members to bring these issues to you and then act as a mediator between the two parties. Having them sit down together and talk out their issues will help. It may not be effective in every case, but it will peacefully solve the majority of conflict issues that you have with your faculty and staff. It is better to take this approach than to have them gossiping about it with other members of the faculty and staff which can lead to bigger issues down the line.