Materials

This KS2 resource explores materials which light can and can not pass through. Your class and test a range of objects to determine whether they are transparent, translucent or opaque.

Some objects allow light to pass through them while others do not. Some objects only allow a little light to pass through.

Transparent objects allow light to pass through.

Translucent objects allow some light to pass through.

Opaque objects do not allow light to pass through.

Did you know that ice can be hot?

Water freezes at 0 degrees C and boils at 100 degrees C, so for ice to exist the water has to be at 0 degrees C or below. Once it reaches temperatures of above freezing, it begins to melt. In the natural world, ice is never hot.

In this experiment aimed at LKS2, your class will create a solution that mimics frozen water! The solution is made from acetic acid which is also known as white vinegar and sodium acetate crystals which is called bicarbonate of soda. Vinegar flavours your chips and bicarbonate of soda is used in baking and for household cleaning. When these two ingredients are mixed it makes sodium acetate and carbon dioxide.

All materials are either a solid, liquid or gas. This resource explores in depth about the states of materials, solids, liquids and gases and once completed, your class will complete a cloze style activity.

Some substances such as salt dissolve when you mix them with water. It might look like the salt has disappeared, but it has mixed with the water and has become transparent. A substance that can dissolve is said to be soluble. When this happens, it is called a solution. This means that its particles have spread out so that they can no longer be easily seen.

Sometimes we can create fun reactions by combining different materials. With just a few ingredients we can make something that looks like foamy toothpaste being squeezed from a tube. It looks so big that it looks almost fit for an elephant!

This experiment is an example of an irreversible change. This means that once we combine the materials, new materials are created, and we cannot get back the original materials.

A crystal is a solid material whose parts or molecules are arranged in a regular pattern. Crystals can be naturally-occurring precious gems like quartz. Rare kind of crystals include diamonds, rubies and emeralds. The rarest of diamonds can cost thousands of pounds. Crystals can be everyday substances like sugar and salt crystals or snowflakes. They can also be manmade, like synthetic diamonds and costume gems.

Different materials have different properties and different uses. Some are hard while others are soft. Some are transparent and see though while others are not. Some materials bend and others do not.

Investigate the properties of each material listed in this table. Record your findings using ✔ for yes or ✘ for no.

Melting, freezing and heating materials can cause a physical change. Sometimes these changes can be reversed, but sometimes they cannot. Changes that cannot be reversed are called irreversible changes. When a change cannot be reversed, a chemical change has taken place and a new material has been created.

Your Year 3 / Year 4 class will think about a range of changes and decide if they are reversible or irreversible.

They will then complete the science experiment to make butter.

Water can be found in different states. Water can be a liquid, solid or gas. your class will look at the words at the bottom of the resource and sort them into the correct columns.