Key Points

Methods

Interest Approach

Write plumber’s hourly wages on board and ask students what they could do with $50

• Then tell students that this could very well be the cost of a plumber’s hourly wage if they themselves did not know how to do plumbing repair.
• Also, basic plumbing skills are required to install garbage disposals, faucets, toilets, etc… (about half the cost of what it would take to hire a plumber for the same job)

Ask the students “What do you know about this topic?

Lead into presentation with: “Today we will discuss the basic principles of plumbing.  We will…

• Describe different types of plastic pipes and the advantages of each in plumbing systems
• Differentiate between different pipe connections
• demonstrate the proper steps of preparing and joining plastic pipe and connections

6 minutes

Teacher led Discussion

Key Points

Methods

Intro into plumbing with plastic pipe

• “Primarily used in drainage pipes, but has recently became more commonly used for supply pipes.”

• Supply pipe—supplies the water throughout the home; can be thought of as carrying clean, potable water; faucet in a sink

• Drainage pipe—takes wastewater from fittings to drainage system; drain in a sink

• Benefits of using plastic include: it is easier to work than copper (doesn’t require soldering) and does not corrode

• Drawbacks of using plastic: more support is needed than the more rigid copper, and it has heat limitations

• What does schedule ## mean? The pipe schedule refers to the pipe wall thickness; higher the schedule, the thicker the wall.

Materials used in plumbing (PVC, CPVC, etc…)—

• Polyvinyl chloride—(PVC)  used commonly in drainage and irrigation systems

• Chlorinated polyvinyl chloride—(CPVC) used in hot- and cold-water supply pipes

Pipe connections (elbows, reducers, tees, couplers, end caps)—

• Elbows—change the direction of the pipe (90° and 45° turns)
• Tees—allows for branched lines

• Coupling—used to join two straight pieces of pipe of the same diameter

• Caps—used to close the end of a dead end pipe.

• Plugs—close an opening on a pipefitting normally used for inspection and cleanout

Now that we know the basic terminology of plumbing, we can proceed to joining plastic piping.

Tools needed (pipe cutter/hacksaw, solvent cement, primer, deburrer/file)--

Joining Plastic Pipe—

1. Cut using a miter saw/hacksaw
2. remove any burrs with file
3. coat end of pipe and inside of connection with purple primer
4. apply PVC cement carefully to pipe and connection
5. assemble the pipe and connection
6. hold in place to ensure proper setting

17 minutes

Note-taking guide

Teacher-led discussion

Have different connections for students to look at

What’s the difference between a supply pipe and a drainage pipe?

What does the schedule of a pipe mean?

What are some of the different connections that you have heard of?

Why are some reasons that we must use couplings in plumbing?

Demonstrate how to cut pipe, sand paper, primer, cement

Key Points

Methods

Have each student demonstrate proper use of hacksaw by allowing each student to cut off a piece of PVC piping.

• Go over SAFETY of Hacksaw before letting students use it (have people old the pipe while one person saws, make sure hands are out of the way)

After students demonstrate proper use of hacksaw, they will begin to assemble their marshmallow shooter kits together by properly cementing the different connections together.

Test the joints by having the students “launch” marshmallows at the target one at a time

20

Demonstration by students

Need marshmallows!!

Walk around classroom, observe that students are mastering the objectives

Key Points

Methods

While students are testing their shooters, ask the following questions:

• What is the difference between PVC and CPVC?
• What is one advantage of using plastic piping in plumbing?
• What are the steps of properly joining plastic pipe and connections?

References

3 minutes

Oral Questions