Hi Josh!

Materials

Uses of materials related to their properties.

Josh can you name 5 different types of materials?

Metals

Plastics

Glass

Wood

Fabric

Josh can you name 5 different properties of materials?

Materials have different properties that make them useful for different jobs. Here are some properties that materials have.

Illustration of window Transparent or opaque
Transparent materials do let light through (you can see through them). Opaque materials do not let any light through (you cannot see through them).

Illustration of hat Waterproof
Waterproof materials do not let water through and do not soak up water.

Illustration of wooden chair Strong
Strong materials are very difficult to break.

Illustration of scarf Flexible
Flexible materials are easy to bend.

Illustration of diamond Hard
Hard materials are difficult to scratch.

Illustration of magnet Magnetic
Magnetic materials are attracted to magnets.

Illustration of saucepan Conductors
Some materials are good conductors of heat. This means heat can travel through them easily. Some materials are good conductors of electricity. This means electricity can travel through them easily.

Do an Activity

Uses of materials

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Know about natural and man-made materials (be able to give examples).

Natural materials

These are materials that are found around us. We may have to dig them out of the ground, grow them, or take them from living things

Josh can you name examples of 5 different natural materials?

Wood

Wood can be cut into shapes and It is hard wearing. It is abundant (lots of it), reasonably cheap and very attractive.

Leather

Leather comes from animal skins. It is very useful for making hard-wearing clothes and shoes.

Oil
Crude Oil is one of our most precious resources. It is found underground and needs to be piped out from deep below the Earth's surface We depend very much on oil, oil is used to help keep the transport system moving. It is used to make petrol and it is even needed to make soap! Oil is used to make plastics.
Crude oil is not the only oil we use. We can get oils from plants (sunflower oil, olive oil, walnut oil. All these oils are useful to us.

Coal
Coal is a valuable fuel for us. Coal is dug out from underground mines. We use coal to keep our power stations running and providing us with electricity.

Cotton and silk
We grow cotton on plants to make clothes for ourselves. Silk is taken from the cocoons of moths and spun into a very fine material for clothes.

Iron
Iron is dug out from the ground. We use iron in making strong buildings.

Josh can you name 5 different man-made materials?

Man-made (synthetic) syn-thet-ic

We can use many natural materials and by working with them change them into man-made substances.
We have all ready talked about oil (natural) being changed into plastic (man-made).
Here are some more:
Sand (natural) being heated and made into glass (man made). The silicon chip inside this computer is made from sand.
Wood (natural) being made into paper (man-made).
Oil (natural) being made into nylon (man-made).
There are a great many man-made substances that we use everyday.

Remember if we change natural materials into something else, they are then man-made

Conductors of electricity.

Some materials let electricity pass through them easily. These materials are known as electrical conductors.
Many metals, such as aluminium, copper, iron and steel, are good electrical conductors. That is why the parts of electrical objects that need to let electricity pass through are always made of metal.

Illustration of electrical plug showing metal pins and light bulb showing metal filament

Non-conductors of electricity

Some materials do not allow electricity to pass through them. These materials are known as electrical insulators.
Plastic, wood, glass and rubber are good non-conductors of electricity. That is why these materials are often used to cover materials that carry electricity.

conductors of electricity

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Cells

The structures of plant and animal cells – be able to label a diagram.

The presence of chloroplasts in plant (leaf) cells for photosynthesis.

Sound

Know what sound is.

Sounds are vibrations

Sounds are made when objects vibrate. The vibration makes the air around vibrate, and the air vibrations enter your ear which you hear as sound.
You cannot always see the vibrations, but if something is making a sound, some part of it is always vibrating.

Illustration of guitar string vibrating as it is being plucked and vibrations travelling to an ear.

Sound vibrations can travel through different materials

Sounds as vibrations can travel through many different materials. They can travel through solids such as metal, stone and wood. They can travel through liquids such as water and they can travel through gases such as air.
Sound vibrations travel better through some materials than others. For example, sound vibrations travel very well along metal pipes.
Sound cannot travel through a completely empty space (a vacuum), which has nothing, not even air, in it. If there is a vacuum between a sound-making object and our ears, we won’t be able to hear the sound.

Know about frequency, pitch and amplitude and how these are changed.

Pitch of a sound

The pitch of a sound is how high or low the sound is. A high sound has a high pitch and a low sound has a low pitch.
When plucked, a short string gives a higher-pitched sound than a long string.
When banged, a tight drum skin gives a higher-pitched sound than a loose drum skin.

Illustration of two drums being hit, one with tight skin (High pitch) and one with loose skin (Low pitch)

The amplitude is the height of the wave - the volume - the loudness

Loudness of a sound (The amplitude)

The loudness of a sound is how loud or soft the sound is.
A guitar string plucked strongly makes a loud sound. A guitar string plucked gently makes a soft sound.
A drum skin hit hard makes a loud sound. A drum skin hit gently makes a soft sound.
A recorder blown hard makes a loud sound. A recorder blown gently makes a soft sound.

Illustration of recorder (flute) being blown very hard (Loud sound)

Organs

The main organs found in plants and humans.

The main organs found in plants

These are the main parts of a flower.

Illustration of flower with parts labelled

Plants

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Soil

Soil types (clay, sandy, loam)

different types of drainage.

Change of state

The terms melting and freezing.

The Bpt. and Mpt of water.

The apparent expansion of ice on freezing.

The water cycle, evaporation and condensation.

Light

Luminous and non-luminous sources.

Light diagrams to show how we see things.

Opaque, translucent and transparent materials.

Transparent materials let light pass through them in straight lines, so that you can see clearly through them. Glass is an example of a transparent material.
Translucent materials let some light through, but they scatter the light in all directions, so that you cannot see clearly through them. Tissue paper is an example of a translucent material.
Opaque materials do not let any light pass through them. They block the light. Wood is an example of an opaque material.

How shadows are formed?

A shadow is made when an object blocks light. The shadow appears the side of the object furthest from the light source.
The object must be opaque or translucent to make a shadow. A transparent object will not make any shadow, as light will pass straight through it.
Opaque objects make dark shadows. Translucent objects make faint shadows.
If an object is moved closer to the light source, the shadow gets bigger.
If an object is moved further away from the light source, the shadow gets smaller.