Can I Forge My Own Knife? The Ultimate STEM Activity

I recently spent a morning at Tombalek, a traditional craft workshop, with my friend Shaun. We are both makers at heart, but this was a new challenge: forging a knife. It was an incredible experience—taking raw steel, heating it to high temperatures, hammering it into shape, and carefully grinding the blade.

But as I stood there covered in dust and sweat, I wasn't just thinking about the knife. I was thinking about our responsibility as educators. Our job is to connect what students learn in school to the real world. We need to show them that the knowledge they acquire is actually used by professionals.

The Hidden Connection: PBL and Standards

In my new video series, I examine real-world projects alongside Project-Based Learning (PBL) elements and student content standards. By looking at my knife-making experience through an academic lens, we can see how to design truly authentic learning experiences—even using 2nd Grade Science standards!

1. The Challenging Question Every great project starts with a question. For us, it was: "How might we forge a metal tool?" This is open-ended, student-friendly, and cognitively demanding. It triggers Sustained Inquiry, leading students to ask, "Which steel should we use?" and "How do we shape it?"

2. Material Science (Standards 2-PS1-1 & 2-PS1-2) To answer "Which steel?", students must plan investigations to classify materials by observable properties. They test for hardness, strength, and malleability to determine what is best suited for the intended purpose. In the workshop, we decided to use 1050C carbon steel because data shows it has a good balance of strength and toughness. This allows for Student Voice & Choice—students analyze data to make their own decisions.

3. The Physics of Forging (Standard 2-PS1-4) Next, we heated the steel to 1,500°F–1,600°F. This connects directly to constructing arguments about reversible changes. Students learn that heating steel is a reversible change; it softens to be shaped by a hammer, but returns to a hard state when cooled.

4. Critique, Revision, and Public Product The process didn't end at the anvil. We had to grind the blade, normalize it, and harden it. In a classroom, this is the phase for Critique & Revision—testing the tool and applying peer feedback.

Finally, after polishing and attaching the handle, the knife becomes a Public Product. Presenting this work allows students to reflect on the obstacles they encountered and the strategies they used to overcome them.

When we pair hands-on, real-world tasks with rigorous academic standards, we build a lasting understanding of the subject matter. We transform abstract concepts into tangible skills.