Topic: Identifying materials and their properties Focus Question: What are the properties of materials? Curriculum Outcomes: ST-1WS-S Observes, questions, and collects data to communicate and compare ideas.
Topic: Identifying materials and their properties
Focus Question: What are the properties of materials?
Curriculum Outcomes:
ST-1WS-S Observes, questions, and collects data to communicate and compare ideas.
ST1-7MW-T Describes how the properties of materials determine their use
Content:
Investigate how different materials can be combined
Learning Intention We Are Learning To [WALT]: we are learning how to arrange materials based on their characteristics.
This Is Because [TIB]: I can recognise the various properties and group them based on their properties.
Success Criteria What Im Looking For [WILF]: I am able to group materials according to their properties.
Differentiation No differentiation as all students are sorting out the materials based on their knowledge.
Classroom organisation Students will be seated on the floor for the beginning of the lesson
Students will then be grouped in small groups
Class discussion
Procedure Preparation:
The teacher will collect different materials as samples for students to examine and test for the property described. The teacher will then arrange the equipment needed for the investigation.
Materials to choose from include: paper towels, newspaper rubber balls, plastic bags, cloth material, , cardboard, lycra, leather, cotton wool, pebbles and rocks, glass, wood, mirrors, sponge, balloons, aluminium foil, sugar, paper clips, cooking oil, salt, flour, sand, modelling clay, chalk, ribbon and elastic bands.
Other equipment to help students test for properties include: torches, scissors and tape measures.
Properties that students will focus on are: hard, soft, strong, bendy, breakable and absorbent to introduce them to the topic of properties of materials.
The Lesson:
Provocation
Students to engage in a class discussion on the floor for the teacher to assess their prior knowledge of the properties of the chosen materials. Students will then be engaged in a Kahoot of what material is this made out of? While the students are playing the Kahoot, teacher is to ask questions to gage what the students know about the topic. (Assessment for learning).
Teacher will explain to the students that materials might vary in shape, size, colour or temperature. Some may be altered in one way and others may change in several ways.
Discussion Teacher will ask the students to provide examples of different materials that can be melted, cut, mixed, frozen, dissolved, boiled, or moulded but which ones will basically remain the same.
In pairs, students will be given the opportunity to explore the properties of different materials the teacher has chosen. Students roam around the classroom in their pairs testing the materials for their different properties. The properties they will assess for include: hard, soft, strong, bendy, breakable and absorbent.
In the same pairs, student will test four materials, considering safety and what property they would like to test for. They would use the same test for all the chosen materials, so the test is fair. For example, if they would like to test for absorbency, they would add water to all the materials and see which one soaks up the most water.
To evaluate the students findings, the teacher will give them the opportunity to discuss their findings and reflect on the methods they used in testing their materials. They will then record their answers in the teacher made worksheet.
Evidence of learning: As a class, students will complete the worksheet where they have the opportunity to sort and classify properties of materials (Assessment as learning).
Resources Various materials
Teacher prepared worksheet to record the students findings when exploring and sorting properties of materials Sorting Materials
Kahoot https://create.kahoot.it/share/what-materials-are-these-made-of/f7e0d991-5e31-4796-b467-6aaf8a8801b8
Questions Do all the materials feel the same?
Do all materials have the same properties?
Reflection Students to discuss their findings and reflect on the methods used in testing procedures and record the final results.
Assessment
Formative assessment using the Kahoot and completion of the student worksheet at the end of the lesson.
Evaluation Did the students learn something new about the properties of materials?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
Learning Area: Science Class /Stage: Stage 1
Topic: Using senses to describe the textures and forms of materials
Focus Question: What are the properties of materials?
Curriculum Outcomes:
ST-1WS-S Observes, questions, and collects data to communicate and compare ideas.
ST1-7MW-T Describes how the properties of materials determine their use
Content:
Investigate how different materials can be combined
Learning Intention We Are Learning To [WALT]: We are learning to use our senses to describe different materials.
This Is Because [TIB]: This is because I am to use my senses to describe different materials.
Success Criteria What Im Looking For [WILF]: I am able to identify the different senses. I am able to use my sense to describe the different materials.
Differentiation Support
Visual aids: picture cards to help make connections between the objects and real world uses.
Structured prompts: sentence starters to help students describe the properties of the materials.
Group roles: the teacher to assign roles to each student in the group. Roles can include: observer (what can I see), feeler (what can I feel), smeller (what can I smell, is there a smell) and hearer (does it make any sound).
Advanced
Hypothesis building: ask the students to predict what would happen to the materials if you
Heat them
Put them in water
Freeze them
Comparing: students can compare the materials they have explored and see which material is best to use for building a boat and why?
Classroom organisation Class discussion on the ground
Students will be exploring the different materials in groups
Procedure Background Information:
Start this lesson by listening to the song about the five senses to the tune of When Youre Happy.
Ask students what they can discover using their senses. Class discussion about what each sense is used for and what they can help us do.
Questions to ask:
What do our senses help us do?
What is each sense for?
What would happen if we lost one of our senses?
Preparation:
Teacher will provide students with a variety of materials with different textures, smells, colours, and other properties (metal, glass, wood, leather, plastic, paper and sponge)
The Lesson:
Exploration of materials
In small groups, teacher will give students the opportunity to explore the materials provided. Students will be encouraged to act like scientists and use their senses to explore the materials. They will touch, smell, and observe the items and discuss these findings with their classmates. (Assessment for learning).
Questions to guide their exploration:
How does the material feel?
How does the material look?
Does it smell?
What colour is it?
Does it make a sound?
Can you see through it?
Students will choose items from around the classroom to compare the properties of the materials they have chosen with the materials provided. They will use scientific vocabulary playing the senses activity to describe the properties of the materials they choose for example My eyes can see. My hands can feel. My nose can smell. My ears can hear..
Class discussion
Students to be seated on the floor again and to have a whole class discussion and elaborate on the properties of the materials they have explored. The teacher will ask a thought-provoking question like if metal is quite strong, why are books not made from metal? to spark curiosity and a greater sense of the materials used in everyday life.
Evidence of learning: As a class, students are to complete the teacher-prepared worksheet that allows them to describe the properties of materials they explored using their senses. (Assessment as Learning).
Resources Various materials
Senses activity
Class discussion
Teacher prepared worksheet
Youtube song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xQgjryKO08
Questions What are our five senses?
What do our senses help us do?
What is each sense for?
What would happen if we lost one of our senses?
How does the material feel?
How does the material look?
Does it smell?
What colour is it?
Does it make a sound?
Can you see through it?
Reflection Students to complete the teacher made worksheet and discuss how our senses help us explore and describe different materials.
Assessment
Summative assessment using the completion of the student worksheet at the end of the lesson.
Evaluation Did the students learn something new about the properties of materials?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
Teacher to check student understanding through the worksheet and class discussion
Learning Area: Science Class /Stage: Stage 1
Topic: Changing the physical properties of materials
Focus Question: What are the properties of materials?
Curriculum Outcomes:
ST-1WS-S Observes, questions and collects data to communicate and compare ideas.
ST1-2DP-T Uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity.
ST1-7MW-T Describes how the properties of materials determine their use
Content:
Investigate how different materials can be combined
Investigate how materials can be changed by bending, twisting and stretching
Learning Intention We Are Learning To [WALT]: We are learning to become aware of our surroundings and the different materials used.
This Is Because [TIB]: It is important for students to develop an understanding of why we use certain materials for different items.
Success Criteria What Im Looking For [WILF]: I am able to identify different materials based on their physical properties.
Differentiation Classroom organisation Materials around the room in stations
Procedure Background Information:
This lesson explores the physical changes that can happen to different materials when subjected to actions such as bending, twisting, or stretching.
Preparation:
Have different types of materials set in stations around the classroom for students to begin their investigation.
The Lesson:
To engage students with a game of eye spy, the teacher will choose an item in the classroom and describe what material it is made of and what it is used for. Students will then guess the object. This will go on for two to three rounds depending on time.
After the game the teacher will explain how different objects are made from different materials. Then introduce the concept of why different materials are chosen for different purposes.
Give students the opportunity to identify the different materials they can find in the classroom. As a class make a word wall of all the materials found. (Assessment for learning).
The students will reconsider the idea that materials have certain properties, which allow them to be used for specific purposes.
Explain that we can sort these materials in different groups according to what they are made of.
(Paper, glass, wood, concrete, metal and plastic). Explain that various actions can change the state of materials. Start a word wall with these action words, for example, stretching, bending, tearing, breaking, twisting.
Have students discuss and elaborate on what groups we can classify the materials in according to the actions that can be done to them.
Explore: The experiment:
Provide students with a range of items. Allow them to use different actions to change the state of the material they have. For example, rubber can be stretched, plastic can be bent, and cardboard can be ripped.
Students will record their observations in their Science workbooks and classify and compare the materials.
Evaluation
Following the experiment, students discuss their answers as a class. Ask students, if their prediction matched their answers. (Assessment as learning).
Resources Varied plastic items such as plastic spoons, plastic rulers, plastic cup, plastic placemat, plastic sandwich bag, plastic straw
Wooden items such as wooden spoon, wooden ruler, pencils, wooden plate, wooden frame, wooden tray, wooden button, wooden toys, paper, cardboard...
Clothing items such as a shirt, towel, dusting towel, ribbon, leather gloves, woollen gloves, rubber boots, sock, belt, rag doll, teddy bear.
- Assessment For Learning
-Assessment AS Learning
-Discussion
- Eye Spy Game
-Physical changes Experiment
Questions Reflection Assessment
Evaluation Did the students learn something new about the properties of materials?
Did the students understand what was being taught?
Vocabulary: (228 words)
The following definitions are based on The Science Dictionary (2006) definitions for the scientific terms. The Science Dictionary (2006) is a specialised science search engine developed for scientific information.
Word Definition
Inquiry based learning An educational pedagogy that centres active engagement and exploration by students.
Properties The features of an element or material. It can include physical properties (the way it looks) and chemical properties (the reaction), mechanical properties (strength, hardness, elasticity).
Materials A large range of elements used in different ways.
Bendable The ability of a material to be bent without breaking.
Stretchable The ability of a material to be stretched or deformed without breaking.
Twistable The ability of a material to be twisted or rotated without breaking.
Investigate Gathering information, evaluating data and making final decisions.
Breakable The ability of a material to be fractured or broken easily.
Hard Endurance to deformity, scratching or denting.
Soft Materials that are easy to manipulate and change shape.
Absorbent Materials that are used to reduce the risk of leakage of liquids.
Melted Changes of a state of liquid.
Dissolved The process of a material being broken down in a liquid.
Boiled Heating a liquid to create bubbles known as its boiling point.
Frozen Removing heat from a material resulting in it reaching cold temperatures that make it solid.
Mixed Materials that are made of two or more substances.
Misconceptions during the lessons: (198 words)
Some misconceptions that can arise during lesson one include:
Students believing that all shiny objects are made of metal. This misconception can be addressed during the sorting activity. The teacher can discuss with students that not all shiny objects are made from metal and states different materials (such as, plastic, glass, stainless steel). The teacher can discuss how shininess is not only for metallic objects but can be a property of other materials too. The teacher should explain to students how they should analyse a material using its different properties to classify the material.
Students believing that all hard objects are strong. This is a misconception that young children have where they believe that all hard things are strong or unbreakable. For example, glass is hard but not unbreakable as it is a fragile item. The teacher can teach students the difference between hard (endurance to deformity) and strength (resistance to breaking under force) by breaking a hard but fragile material like chalk and stretching a soft and strong material like a rubber band.
Some misconceptions that can arise during lesson two include:
Students believing that your senses are to do things you like (for pleasure or enjoyment) not realising that they help you in everyday life to make important decisions and to interact with the world. This misconception can be addressed through presenting students with essential information about the world. The teacher can show them how our senses are used and in the YouTube video they view during the lesson they can see and learn how senses help us and can be used to keep us safe too.
Students may believe that all materials only have one property.
Some misconceptions that can arise during lesson three include:
Justification:
Why I used kahoot.
Why hands on learning
Why inquiry based learning
Write a justification of the teaching strategies selected and include details of how participation in these lessons will allow students to develop scientific conceptual understanding and scientific skills. The justification should also include information about potential misconceptions and how these will be addressed. A minimum of five current, relevant academic references and links to appropriate syllabus documentation are required to support your teaching strategies.
References:
The Science Dictionary. (2006). The Science Dictionary: Online science and math definitions. https://www.thesciencedictionary.com/
Appendix 1
This is a plan of the unit that should be followed throughout this unit of work.
Primary Science and Technology Unit Plan
Content Strand: Material World/Digital Technologies Stage: 1 Year: 1 Duration: 10 Weeks Detail: 1 hour a week
Unit Title: Our World Unit Overview
Students will explore how materials can be changed in a variety of ways. They will have the opportunity to recognise changes when materials are affected by physical phenomena, such as bending, twisting, stretching, squashing or even heating or cooling. The focus of this unit is to investigate how physical phenomena happen through inquiry-based science framework. Students will be engaged in identifying ways materials can be physically changed and combined for a particular purpose. They will engage in recognising and investigating manufactured products and the processes involved, changing these products from their natural state into a manufactured item to cater for community needs. In addition, they will learn about the early Aboriginal communities ways of making products using natural materials. Students will communicate their predictions and reasoning using a range of communication resources in order to consolidate their Working Technologically skills.
Key Inquiry and Focus Questions
-What are the advantages of different materials?
-What are the properties of materials?
Ideas for Scientific Enquiry
Explore a variety of objects with various materials in the class and school playground. Activities could include:
-observing objects and their materials. Students record observations of their properties and identify similarities and differences.
-Take photographs of a variety objects that are made with different materials. These can be used in the classroom to group them in variety of ways and discuss their advantages or disadvantages.
Ideas to integrate Digital Technologies
-Design and create a simple classification system on the properties of materials via PowerPoint kiosk. Could use photographs that students have taken.
-Use iPads to take photos of different materials and describe their properties.
-Use iPads to take photos of their boat design process and create a PowerPoint to present to the class about its design, properties and a reflection.
- Kahoot to test for understanding.
Vocabulary
Materials, properties, purpose, physical, classify, flexible, twistable, squeezable, stretchy, bendy, waterproof, breakable, strong, floatable, sinkable, transparent or absorbent, opaque
Target Outcomes
Science and Technology
ST-1WS-S Observes, questions and collects data to communicate and compare ideas.
ST1-2DP-T Uses materials, tools and equipment to develop solutions for a need or opportunity.
ST1-7MW-T Describes how the properties of materials determine their use
Assessment FOR learning Assessment AS learning Assessment OF learning
Classroom activities allow the teacher an opportunity to assess student understanding
Class discussions
Think, Pair, Share routines
Think, Puzzle, Explore routine
The unit contains regular opportunities for self-reflection and peer evaluation
Classroom activities will allow students to check their understanding of the unit through interaction with peers
Multimedia learning experiences will allow students the opportunity to identify misconceptions and self-assess their level of understanding Portfolio Summative Assessment
Resources
Science & Technology K-6 Syllabus, NESA, 2017, Australian Curriculum Science: Book F, ages 10-11, RIC publications, 2015.
Teacher made worksheets
Kahoot!
Appendix 2
This is a guide of the weekly lessons that would be completed.
UNIT AT A GLANCE
Week Outcomes Overview of Teaching & Learning Experience Assessment
1 ST-1WS-S
ST1-7MW-T
Lesson Sequence 1: Material
Inquiry Questions: What are the properties of materials?
Provocation
-Identifying materials and their properties
Assessment For Learning
Assessment As Learning
Class discussion
Sort through various materials
Kahoot
2 ST1-7MW-T
Lesson Sequence 2: Using senses to describe the textures and forms of materials.
Learning Focus: Using senses to describe materials.
Inquiry Questions: What are the properties of materials?
Assessment For Learning
Assessment AS Learning
Senses activity
Discussion
3&4 ST-1WS-S
ST1-2DP-T
ST1-7MW-T
Lesson Sequence 3 and 4: Changing the physical properties of materials.
Learning Focus: Changing the physical properties of materials and STEM: Build a tower.
Inquiry Questions: What are the properties of materials?
Assessment For Learning
Assessment AS Learning
Discussion
Eye Spy Game
Physical changes Experiment
Reflection on their tower
5 ST-1WS-S
ST1-2DP-T
ST1-7MW-T Lesson Sequence 5: What advantages do properties of materials have when they are used?
Learning Focus: What advantages do properties of materials have when they are used?
Inquiry Question: What are the advantages of different materials?
Assessment AS Learning
Evaluation of students findings
6 ST-1WS-S
ST1-2DP-T
ST1-7MW-T
Lesson Sequence 6: Summative
Learning Focus: Summative Assessment
Inquiry Questions:
-What are the properties of materials?
-What are the advantages of different materials? Assessment Of Learning
Summative Assessment
7 ST1-1WS-S
ST1-2DP-T
ST1-7MW-T
Lesson Sequence 7: Using materials for clothing.
Learning Focus: Using materials for clothing
STEM Lesson: Design and create a warm and waterproof coat
Inquiry Question: What are the advantages of different materials?
Assessment For Learning
Assessment As Learning
Class discussion
8&9 ST1-2DP-T
ST1-7MW-T
Lesson Sequence 8 and 9: How can you design and make a boat with particular properties?
Learning Focus: Design a Boat
STEM Lesson: Design and create a boat that is waterproof and floats
Inquiry Question: What are the advantages of different materials?
Assessment For Learning
Assessment As Learning
Class discussion
Work Sample/experiment
10 ST1-7MW-T Lesson Sequence 10: How did the Aboriginals use natural resources to make useful things?
Learning Focus:
- How did the Aboriginals use natural resources to make useful things?
Inquiry Question: What are the advantages of different materials?
Assessment As Learning