Clarification details
Updated November 2015. This document has been updated in its entirety to address new issues that have arisen from moderation.
General Notes
To achieve this standard, students will need to investigate a range of products that include combined preservation mechanisms - see Explanatory Note (EN) 3 - in their manufacture.
Preservation mechanisms
Combined preservation mechanisms are given in EN4. The products should have a combination of at least three preservation mechanisms (See EN5).
Students are expected to explain why combinations of preservation mechanisms are used to maintain the integrity of specific products. This should include description (or, for Merit, an explanation) of how each preservation mechanism contributes to the overall product integrity. Explanations should be supported with specific reference to products.
EN6 gives examples of product integrity.
EN7 gives example of possible materials.
Students are also required to explain why the same material may be preserved in different ways in relation to the situation of use (EN8). For Merit, this explanation should be extended to cost, required storage life and environmental sustainability.
At Excellence, discussion should consider how the nature of materials used in the product influences and/or is influenced by preservation mechanisms. This will include user requirements, cost, storage life, and environment sustainability.
Students could either gather evidence for this standard through a stand-alone research project or as they develop products that require multiple preservation mechanisms. Annotated drawings, photos, flow diagrams, tables and evidence of functional modelling are generally effective in demonstrating understandings.