In Science, Year Two have been learning all about materials. To begin, the children named different materials and identified that a material is what something is made from. Next, the children discussed why certain materials are used for different things. They found out that a material has properties which make it suitable for a purpose. The children identified the properties of different materials and decided why they were the most suitable. For example, glass is used in window panes because it is transparent.
Next, the children investigated whether materials can change shape. They were given a range of objects including a coin, a paper straw and blu-tack. The children tried to bend, twist, squash and squeeze each object to see whether they could change the shape of it. The children identified that they could change the shape of a flexible material but not a rigid material. However, the boys and girls had an interesting discussion about plastic. They recognised that some things that are made from plastic can change shape, whereas others can’t.
After that, the children learned all about natural and man-made materials. They found out that a natural material comes from the natural world and a man-made material is made by humans. The children had to sort pictures of different materials to show where they come from.