Whole Earth Curriculum WEC

Lesson 06 — Properties of Materials

Learners discover that things are made of materials, and that materials have properties — hard, soft, shiny, heavy, light — they can observe and describe with their senses.

D06 P3: Intellectual & Cognitive Awareness D06.S3 45 minutes Draft

Objectives

Essential question

What is a thing made of, and how does it feel and behave?

materialpropertyhardsoftshinyheavylight

Materials

Standard materials

Low-tech / no-cost

Enriched / lab & device

Works in different contexts

Five labeled cards pairing an object with a property — a stone is hard, a cloth is soft, a spoon is shiny, a big stone is heavy, and a feather is light — with a note that one thing can hold two properties at once
Five labeled cards pairing an object with a property — a stone is hard, a cloth is soft, a spoon is shiny, a big stone is heavy, and a feather is light — with a note that one thing can hold two properties at once

Lesson 6 — Properties of Materials

Summary

Learners discover that every thing is made of a material, and that materials have properties — hard or soft, shiny or dull, heavy or light — they can observe with their senses. They sort and describe real objects by their properties.

Objectives

  • Observe and describe the properties of materials (such as hard, soft, shiny, heavy, and light). (D06.S3.01.01)

Connection

A spoon, a cup, a leaf, and a stone are all things you can hold. But they are not the same: the spoon is hard and shiny, the cup might be light, the leaf is soft, the stone is heavy. What a thing is made of — its material — gives it its properties, and properties are why we choose one material for one job and another for another.

Materials

  • A collection of objects made of different materials (a stone, a cloth, a metal spoon, a wooden stick, a leaf, a plastic cup, a paper)
  • Paper and crayons

Preparation

  • Gather objects of clearly different materials and properties, safe to handle.
  • Plan a simple way to compare heavy and light (hand-feel, or a simple balance).

Facilitator note

This lesson is written to the learner (“you”). Keep it sensory and concrete — this is not about memorizing material names (wood, metal, plastic) but about observing properties: hard, soft, shiny, heavy, light, rough, smooth. All such words are welcome, including in learners’ home languages. Honor every body: a learner who is blind or has low vision feels weight and texture; a learner who does not speak points or sorts; a learner with a motor difference may need objects brought close or a partner to lift and compare. The technology lens is quiet here: talk about how people everywhere choose materials for a job — a clay pot for water, a metal pan for cooking, a wooden bowl for food — and that no material is “better,” only better for something. There is no correct answer for how a thing feels; notice differences without ranking.

Procedure

  1. Gather (5 min). Pick up two things near you. Are they the same? How are they different? What they are made of gives them their properties.
  2. Meet the property words (10 min). Feel and look at the objects. A stone is hard; a cloth is soft. A metal spoon is shiny; a leaf is not. A stone is heavy; a feather or a paper is light. Say each word and find an object that shows it.
  3. Sort by a property (15 min). Choose one property and sort the objects into two groups: hard / soft, shiny / dull, heavy / light. Then try another property. Does the same object land in a different group? (Yes — an object can be hard and shiny.)
  4. Draw two materials (10 min). Draw two objects and write or say one property for each: “The stone is hard.” “The cloth is soft.”
  5. Close (5 min). Things are made of materials, and materials have properties. Our senses tell us what those properties are — and why each material is good for its job.

Differentiation

  • Support: Use two properties only (hard/soft) and sort a small pile.
  • Support (blind/low-vision): Describe by weight and texture (heavy/light, rough/smooth) by hand.
  • Support (non-speaking): Point to the object that is hard, soft, heavy, or light, and sort by moving the objects.
  • Extension: Sort the same objects by two properties at once (hard and shiny, soft and light) and explain.

Assessment

  • Formative (observation): Can the learner name (or show) at least two properties of a material and sort objects by one property?
  • Artifact (portfolio): The “two materials” drawing with a property for each.

Home connection

At home, find one thing that is hard and one that is soft, one that is heavy and one that is light. Tell a grown-up what each thing is made of and what it is good for.

Resources