Glass, Plastic, Wood, Metal

We have been doing some more research into our four materials:
glass, plastic, wood and metal.
We tried to find out at least five facts about each.

We now know that glass:

• is a material made by humans
• is made by heating sand (just like the sand on the beach) and chemicals together
• is made in factories
• is used to make marbles
• lets light through
• can be transparent or opaque
• is used to make mirrors
• does not stick to a magnet
• feels smooth and cold

We now know that plastic:

• is a material made by humans
• can be made into many different things
• is made in factories
• can be very soft
• is made from oil which is found under the ground in rocks, pumped out using water and sent in pipes to a refinery
• does not stick to a magnet
• can last for ever

We now know that wood:

• is a natural material
• burns
• is used for furniture
• can be hard or soft
• can be heavy or light
• has bark which feels rough
• needs to dry out before it is used
• does not stick to a magnet

We now know that metal:

• can be hard and shiny
• can feel cold
• can be found in rocks
• can be magnetic
• can be used to make nail scissors and spoons
• is a natural material
• can be made by humans
• comes in different types like gold and silver

What else can you find out about glass, plastic, wood or metal?

Meet the Wooden Tops!

What is it like? - Wood

First we collected different examples of wood products; we found toothpicks, match-sticks and sawdust. What other things did we find?

We looked carefully at the properties of the things in our collection so that we could choose what would be best to make our faces.
We found things that were:
Rigid Brittle Hard Flexible Shiny Dull Soft Rough Smooth

Most of us used flexible cane to make the shape of the face. Some of us used lolly-sticks to make the eyes. Some people made eyebrows from pencil sharpenings. What have we used for the hair?


What would you have used? Why?

What is it like?

For our four materials: glass, plastic, wood and metal, we asked ourselves the question, 'What is it like?'

We wondered:
'Is it hard or soft?'
'Is it strong or weak?'
'Is it heavy or light?'
'Is it shiny or dull?'
'Is it breakable?'
'Is it stretchy?'
'Is it reflective?'
We learned some new vocabulary along the way:
'Is it flexible or rigid?'
'Is it transparent, or opaque; is it translucent?'

We had a few surprises along the way: glass can be both strong and weak; wood can be either heavy or light; metal can be shiny or dull and plastic can be transparent, opaque or translucent.

Below is a VoiceThread of some of our questions. Click on this link to see a larger version.

New Year; New Unit

We have just begun our third unit of inquiry on materials. Our central idea is that the world is made up of different materials which have different uses.

We began by asking the question 'What is a material?' and decided that materials are what things are made of, although there was a bit of confusion about the word when it is applied to fabric.

Once we had agreed on our definition, we had a brainstorming session; to think of as many different materials as possible - and we came up with a pretty impressive list including: glass, plastic, wood, metal, paper, leather, silk, iron, clay, stone.......and as we learn more during the unit, we will add to it! Every now and then we reminded ourselves of our definition, by asking the question, 'Can things be made from this?' or by thinking of something and asking, 'What is it made of?'

Then we split up into 4 groups, with each group choosing one material which they would take a closer look at; these were glass, plastic, wood and metal.

We hunted through magazines to find as many different things made from our material. We cut these out and used them to make a collage in the shape of a wine glass; a wooden boat; a metal can; a plastic carrier bag.





We went on a 'treasure hunt' with a digital camera, in and around the school and made a collection of photographs of our materials. We spotted a glass fish tank; a wooden train set; the metal school bell; a plastic sand tray.

We brought in treasures from home to share at school. Giulia shared a metal vase and a glass bead; Sofia brought in a black glass ring; Patricia showed us a plastic toy cat; Matthew found a plastic toy inside his snack.