Changing Materials

In our Science class I told my students that a material was anything that was made of matter, for example; wood, plastic, wool, cotton, sand, etc., and we also talked about what humans do with them. How they can change these materials to make useful things for us.

We did an experiment in class where children could observe how some materials changed.  We made plasticine. This experience was amazing!

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ cup salt

½ cup water

1 tsp.vegetable oil

½ tsp. food coloring

Steps

In a large bowl mix the salt and flour.  Add the oil and the water little by little.  Add the food coloring.  If you feel that the mix is sticky you have to add more flour.

We also made an experiment by observing how jelly dissolves into hot water because of temperature and how also size and shape changes.  Then students were able to deduced what will happen if we freeze it again.

I added to the theme some games on the Smart board that were very useful to help children to classify materials according to their characteristics.  Finally students worked in groups looking for pictures that illustrated things that were made by man and materials.  Children made nice presentations.

Congratulations, good job!

Here are the web pages of the games.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/6_7/grouping_materials_fs.shtml

http://www.warrinerprimaries.com/exes/sortingmaterials.exe

Changing Materials on PhotoPeach