Learning at Home Week 6: Materials and their uses
This list contains resources suitable for children learning at home. They link to the BBC Bitesize Daily Science programme for week 6 on materials and their uses.
Materials *suitable for home teaching*
Ages 5-7
These activities will support children in thinking about the uses of different materials. They can identify the different materials used to make common objects, such as a chair, and think about why that material was chosen. They can also develop their vocabulary by describing objects around the house and thinking about the materials that have been used to make them.
How Stuff Changes
Reversible and irreversible changes (Ages 9- 11)
This video contains five short clips that explore the non-reversible changes that lead to the formation of new materials. The video clips include:
- burning and explosions of fireworks that result in irreversible chemical changes
- observing chemical changes in a lab, including time-lapse footage of lit candles and the burning of magnesium
- the production of glass
- a baking soda 'volcano’
- changes in the kitchen through heating, roasting and frying
Monsoon Proof Roof
Extra activity Ages 7- 11
This activity provides a practical context to explore the uses of everyday materials. Children are introduced to a problem of building a flood- proof home, which is faced by families in local communities in Bangladesh, looking at solutions that have been developed to solve this problem. This leads into an investigation in which children devise investigations to find out if a local material, straw, is the best material to use or if a different material would be better.
