MAKING SENSE OF THE MATERIAL WORLD: LEVEL 3

ACHIEVEMENT OBJECTIVES

Students can

investigate and describe ways of grouping a wide range of unfamiliar materials, using readily observable properties;
investigate and describe how the physical properties of materials are related to their use, e.g., fabrics, metals, and plastics;
investigate and report on temporary and more permanent changes that familiar materials undergo, e.g., making butter, baking cakes;
research the use and purpose of technology in the disposal, or recycling, of some common materials, e.g., waste oil, paper, plastics, glass.

Students could be learning by:

visiting a local furniture manufacturer to identify the materials used in the production process;
designing and testing a container to keep a drink hot or cold, to explore the physical properties of materials;
consulting a kaumatua regarding the best sort of heating material to use in a hangi;
investigating the physical properties and uses of flax;
investigating the use of rubber bands;
investigating suitable materials for use in making jewellery;
using muka to weave bands, then testing their strength;
boiling an egg to investigate change;
shaking cream to make butter and describing the changes observed;
making a crystal garden;
making hokey pokey to explore ways substances change;
slowly evaporating a sugar or salt solution to dryness;
researching the effects of household acids, such as vinegar, on kitchen equipment or building materials;
visiting a local recycling plant;
making recycled paper;
identifying methods for making compost by reading books or by interviewing experts at a local plant centre;
finding out about what happens to bottles after they are put in glass recycling bins;
making a poster about the plastics recycling code to display around the school;
collecting household items made of different plastics and grouping them according to the plastics recycling code;
interviewing a member of a local waste disposal company to find out their method of disposal of a particular chemical.

ASSESSMENT EXAMPLES

Teachers and students could assess the students':

understanding of physical properties, when the students group given materials, explaining their criteria for the grouping;
ability to relate the uses of materials to their physical properties, when the students select, with explanation, appropriate materials from which to make a school bag or a bicycle;
understanding of temporary and more permanent changes, when the students record their before and after ideas on the effect that heat has on a range of materials, such as candle-wax, eggs, butter, bread, or sugar;
ability to find out information, when the students use information from the school library to report on the sources of materials which make up their clothes, classroom equipment, etc.