A Whitefish High School unit on glass was cast in chemistry ending on an artistic note.

After students got down to the nitty-gritty of molecular structure, they learned about glassworking techniques such as lampworking and glass fusing to make glass beads and tiles. The project was made possible by a $5,800 grant from the Whitefish Community Foundation for purchase of glass and supplies and a $1,500 grant from the PTA to purchase a kiln to fire the glass, in addition to other supplies.

In February, Todd Spangler’s chemistry students studied the properties of glass, from application to ingredients, chemicals and manufacturing process involved, which may result in Pyrex glass you might use in the kitchen oven, fiberglass used in insulation, safety glass that is laminated to keep a car windshield from breaking apart or glass that resists bullets.

On Friday, five advanced chemistry students took a field trip to glass artist and teacher Eric Klein’s Whitefish studio where they were able to get more hands-on experience using a variety of professional tools to stretch, pull, bend, pinch and tweeze molten glass.

“I want them to have a real-world application and understand with something artistic like this, the science behind it,” Spangler said.

After Klein gave a tutorial in safety and described the different furnaces — which Klein welded together himself ­— he demonstrated how to manipulate molten glass using shears and a steel rod.

“This is a stretch test to show how hot glass is coming out of the furnace, how long you have to work with it and what happens at that point — I’m sure you can guess what happens,” Klein said, holding a rod of molten glass, which glows a translucent orange after being heated to about 2,000 degrees. He picked up shears and began to pull the glass into a long thread until it thinned out, cooled and hardened, looking a lot like fishing line.

“Who’s going to go first?” he asked.

Senior Emily Lawrence stepped up, plying and bending the glass around like putty.

Lawrence said the chemistry makes more sense after physically working with glass. Senior Gauge Anderson echoed the sentiment.

“We did a little unit researching different types of glass, and how they were composed, and what chemicals were put into the glass to give them the properties they have. So, it’s really interesting to see how we actually manipulated it ourselves in the lab,” Anderson said.

Anderson also tried manipulating the glass.

“It’s so weird,” Anderson said, twisting the glass.

As the glass thins, it began to cool quickly and lose its plasticity.

“That’s all I got,” Anderson said when he couldn’t wind the glass around any more.

Klein then demonstrated how to use an oversized pair of tweezers to pinch another glob of molten glass — making it look like petals of a flower — and a rake tool to keep it from bending down to the floor.

While students waited for more glass to be heated, Spangler, who is taking classes from Klein, attempted to form a glass lily.

Knowing the properties of glass is crucial for an artist, Klein said.

“When you mix color with glass it has to be coefficient. Coefficient means it has to be compatible — the properties have to be very similar,” Klein said.

Pyrex glass, for example, couldn’t be combined with a colored piece of stained glass.

“It would shatter every time,” Klein said.

Anderson said the unit has taught him how complex making glass is, particularly fine art glass.

“I guess I’ve never realized how complex the entire process was. When you look at the shelf at your home and you see all this amazing glass, OK, I wonder how it was made, and now I know it takes a lot of patience and a lot of time.”

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.