Lesson 1: Session 1: Fanciful Fiction 23/04/2014
Our initial ideas about materials that clothes are made of, and why these materials are chosen…
-A scarf is made from wool because wool keeps us warm and is comfortable (NA)
-Caveman clothes were made out of animal skin because they were the warmest and easiest material to get at the time (BC)
-Socks are made from wool because it keeps feet warm and helps the shoe feel more comfortable (DS)
-Shoes can be made from leather because as it is fairly water resistant, flexible and easier to polish (AS, BS, GL)
-Jackets can have feathers in them because feathers keep you warm (AD)
-Ear rings are made from gold and silver because they can shine and stand out (SC)
-Loom bands are made from rubber because they are flexible to use and stretch (AM)
The object is a… The… is made of … …was used because …
The object is a ruler (OC). The ruler is made of wood (ED). Wood was used because it is strong enough to press a pencil against (EG). It is straight (AS). It is not flexible and easy to shape and there is plenty available (KS).
The object is a headband (ED) The headband is made of silk and sequins and glitter (BS). These materials were used because they are shiny to stand out at discos (ES and AM)
What do we know about materials, properties and their uses ? 23/04/2014
Session 2 – Gripping Gloves 29/04/2014
What might this glove be used for?
–For hiking and going to the snow (AC)
What is the glove made of?
–A leather type material (AC)
-Foam insulator (AM)
-Synthetic material. Elastic (AM)
-Velcro (BS)
Why do you think it is made of that material?
– It’s made of elastic around the wrist so it is tight and the air doesn’t escape (CP)
-They use Velcro to adjust a strap and hold to different wrist sizes (ES and AM)
-They use synthetic material on the outside to keep out the cold and the wet
What else could the glove be used for?
–It could just be for cold days as well (KS)
-Riding a bike because it is weatherproof and it has a grip for where you would grip the handle bars (GL)
Things I know about the properties and uses of materials are…
Things I’m interested in finding out about are…
6/5/14 That’s Not Fair!!
Was it a fair relay? What made it unfair?
-No because the third team had to put on the most art smocks and had to run the furthest distance which made it take a long time (BC)
-I agree with BC’s idea because the people with the most art smocks on shouldn’t have run the furthest (DS)
-It was unfair that the people with the least art smocks had to run the shortest distance (AC)
-The only fair thing was that there was the same amount of people in each of the three groups (EG)
-I disagree with EG’s idea because not all members of each team got to run. If there were less people, maybe each person would have had a chance to run (AS)
Can you suggest things that could affect the amount of time it would take for a team to finish the relay?
-The number of art smocks that the team members had to change into (MT)
-The distance that each team had to run (BS)
-The different types of art smocks (AM)
-The method team members used to remove and put on the art smocks (GL)
-The number of people in a team (ES)
-The speed of the runners (AM)
-The type of clothing being worn for example shoes. (ED)
What makes a test/investigation fair or unfair?
-To have the same conditions/rules (for example, amount of time and space) (DS)
-Make sure that the participants are evenly matched, and equally prepared. For example, in NAPLAN, it would not be fair if one student was able to study and another wasn’t (GL)
-Have the same amount of people in each group (KV)
-Same distance to run (AM)
-If people use different equipment or different quantities of equipment to do the same thing, it is unfair (ED)
Why is it important to make scientific tests/investigations fair?
-Because you are trying to make the test fair so you can get accurate data/information (BC)
-If you have a contest, it is unfair to your participants if the conditions are not fair (AD)
-So you can tell what standard or ability the participants have (AM)
Lesson 2.B Rot or Remain? 13/05/2014
-What happens to your old clothes or bags?
-They smell (ES)
-Throw them or give them away (ED)
-They fade because of washing them (CP and GL)
-They can break down depending on what type of material they are made from (GL)
-They can rip (SC)
-If no one ever threw their clothes out, how much space would our old clothes take up?
-Your wardrobe would be full and you would need to make it bigger and bigger. There would be no space for new clothes to go (OC)
-I disagree with that idea because it depends on how many clothes a person has (KS)
-If we put our clothes in the bin and it goes to the tip/dump, what happens then?
-It breaks down/disintegrates (BS)
-It could get burnt (DS)
It could be recycled to make something else or new clothes (KS)
-What might it mean if something can decompose?
-It breaks up and after a while it turns into soil (BC)
-It rots (EG)
-Materials we think will rot/decompose
-Apples and sometimes bananas and very old food (DJ)
-Fruit (CP)
-Clothes can sometimes rot (NA)
-Natural things such as trees (things that are not man-made (AD)
-Plastic bags. They take a long time but will still eventually rot (AM)
-Materials we think will not rot/decompose
-Books (AS)
-Hair (MT)
-Metal and glass (AM)
-Gold, silver, copper (OY)
-Stone
Below is a picture of the bottom of a plastic container filled with with 5 different types of materials and moist soil dated 13/05/2014. We are experimenting to find out the amount of decomposition that will occur over a period of time between the apple, plastic, fabric, paper and rubber materials. Which do you think will rot/decompose the most rapidly and why?-Mr.Tottenham
Lesson 3: Leak, soak or repel? 20/05/2014
Leak, soak or repel variables table
Why do we wear swimmers and not woollen jumpers when going swimming?
-Because once you get in the water the clothes will become too heavy (OC)
-The woollen jumper would absorb the water more than a swimsuit because of the wool being absorbent and swimmers are made of waterproof material (BC)
-Sometimes it can become uncomfortable and tight (NA)
What kind of material would you want your library bag to be made of if it were raining?
-The stuff that rain jackets are made from because it is waterproof and you don’t want your books to get wet because the paper in the books is absorbent (GL)
When wiping a spilt glass of water, what kind of material would you want the cloth to be made of and why?
-An absorbent material such as spongy stuff because it would soak up the water (BS)
-I would want it to be light (CP)
-Soft because you don’t want to scratch the floor. Also, cloths dry out because they are absorbent (AMT)
After the investigation…
Which materials soaked up a lot of water?
Which materials didn’t soak up any water?
-The plastic didn’t (OC)
-The paper didn’t (CP)
-The shopping bag because the water just stayed on top of it (AC)
Which materials soaked up a little water, then leaked? What happened to the water?
-The paper. The water dropped to the bottom of the cup (MT)
Which material soaked up the most water?
-The sponge (NA)
What kinds of things use materials that soak up water?
-A tissue because it sucks all the water in and holds it (OY)
-A mop (DS)
-A towel (OC)
-Cotton in T shirts (TH)
-Bathers (AM)
What kinds of things use materials that don’t soak up water?
-Plastic bags and bottles (BC)
-Bricks (TH)
-Thermo flask (BS)
-Glass (KS)
-Metal (DS)
What kinds of things use materials that soak up a little water, then leak?
-Your bathers (NA)
-Newspaper (AMT and OY)
-Paper towel, toilet paper (BC and AMT)
Tissue paper (EG)
Define the following terms…
Absorb:
-Water will go into the material. Materials that soak up liquid.
Waterproof:
-A material that does not absorb liquid
How do they link to the terms ‘leak’, ‘soak’, and ‘repel’?
-Waterproof involves repelling because it keeps water away.
-Absorbing is soaking water up so soaking and absorbing is the same thing (OC)
Lesson 4: Snap, tear or stretch? 27/05/14
If you had something heavy to carry, what kind of material would you want your bag to be made of?
Plastic or paper because they are really light. Paper is more friendly to the environment (GL)
I disagree with that idea because paper will rip. It should be made out of a fabric material because it doesn’t really stretch so much so it won’t rip (NA)
Hessian is a natural product so it will break down and it is extremely strong (BC)
What would you select to wear if you wanted to perform gymnastics?
A leotard because it is very stretchy and you don’t want something stiff to do cartwheels and stuff in (CP)
It sticks to your body and if you are doing flips, you don’t want it your clothes to get tangled or fall off (AD and AM)
Why would you select to wear those clothes and not something like tight jeans?
Because the jeans would be too heavy (ES)
Jeans are not flexible (AS)
Have you ever had a material from your clothes, bags or other accessories snap, tear or stretch?
A plastic ruler I was bending snapped (DJ)
My sister was wearing her jeans and they tore when she fell (OC)
Once I had a plastic head band and it snapped when we were trying to dry it after it had been thrown in the pool (AMT)
I was playing with a loom band at home and they are really stretchy. When you stretch rubber bands and you let go, they whack you. Something will stretch to a certain amount and then snap (SC)
Can we define the following terms..?
Snap:
Tear:
Stretch:
What variables could affect whether the material snaps, tears or stretches
The amount of material that you have. If you only have a thin piece of material it will snap easier (BS)
The speed of the squeeze because the material might tear or not tear depending on how fast you squeeze (CP)
How tight or loose you place the material around the peg (NA)
The size/type of the peg because the amount of force needs to be the same (GL)
The amount of force you are using in your squeeze and who is doing it (BS)
The starting position needs to be the same for the peg (AM)
How does ‘tensile strength’ relate to the terms snap, stretch and tear?
Snap: can be the result of tensile strength being tested
Tear: It is related because when a material tears it is half way between snapping and stretching. There is still force but not enough for it to snap.
Stretch: It is related because under tension, materials stretch before they tear and snap
Lesson 5; session 1: Choosey Consumers
What properties does the materials for a sponge need?
Absorbent (sucks in liquid and hold the liquid) (AC)
Squeezable so you can wring it out (SC)
What properties might you want the materials of a raincoat to have?
Water resistant (OC)
Repel the water (CP)
Soft and comfortable (BC)
Light (AD)
Would you make a shopping bag out of bricks? Why/Why not?
No, because you already have something heavy in it and it doesn’t need to be heavier (NA)
Would you make a belt out of marshmallow? Why/Why not?
No because it can break apart and is not strong and your pants would fall down (ES)
What would you store in the following bags and why?
Thick Fabric
Thin Fabric
Thick Plastic
Thin Plastic
Paper
Lesson 6: Investigating Insulation 24/06/14
Quickly look at learning intentions and then pour water into containers, measure the temperature, set the timer and record the temp of water
Form learning teams
Set timer for every 5 mins (in the meantime , do questions/discussion below)
Which materials keep things the warmest?
What properties of materials would be useful for clothes?
Suggest some types of materials that might be good at keeping us warm and how they do so
How could we go about testing which material could keep things warm?
Today we will be wrapping different materials around metal containers in which we will put warm water. We will then measure the temperature of the water at regular intervals (for example, every 5 minutes)
-Does it matter when we measure the temperature of each container? Why?
-Why might it be interesting to measure the water temperature every 5 minutes instead of once in an hour?
-How long do you think we will need to keep measuring? Why?
-What variables might affect the temperature of the water and the rate at which the temperature goes down
-We need to make this a fair test. What should we keep the same and what do we need to keep the same?
Why do we use graphs? What is their purpose?
Discuss scientific graphs (see points 12 and 13)
Complete graphs
Complete the questions in your Keeping it Warm Investigation planner Discuss graph results
What is the story of your graph?
Which material kept the water warmest?
Does the data in the graphs reveal any patterns?
-Discuss the properties of the materials tested in the investigation
-What do you think is meant by the term ‘insulation’?
-What do you think is meant by the term ‘thermal’?
-What do you think is meant by the term ‘thermal insulation’?
Rot or Remain Results
Which type of materials rotted?
Which types of materials did not rot?
What might cause things to rot?
Why might some things rot while others don’t?
Dear AD
I agree with your idea that Carboard is used for things like toilet rolls I also know that Carboard is also used for things like boxes and packaging , but I wonder what else carboard is used for ?
Regards
OC
Dear AD
I agree with your idea that Carboard is used for things like toilet rolls I also know that Carboard is also used for things like boxes and packaging , but I wonder what else carboard is used for ?
Regards
OC
Dear J.T,
This terms SCIENCE topic has been amazing I have had many new discoveries and learnt lots. I have enjoyed all the activities we have done so many but my favorite would have to be rot or remain because of all the utensils and watching the material change over the weeks i`m very excited to see how they will turn out. I have also enjoyed looking at words to do with our topic I have learnt so many cool new ones such as absorb.
I can`t wait to see what our new topic will be next term
KINDLY REGARDS
A.M 🙂 😉
Dear OY
I agree with your idea that wool is warm and makes us cosy it can also be used for jumper or clothes insulation that is why we get warm when we put jumpers on it can also be used sometimes for the top layer of our beds ( doonas or quilts)
But why can’t sheets be woollen instead of a quilt ?
Regards OC
Hello B.C,
I think your description on bronze is great. I agree with you that bronze is hard because you would won’t to keep the medal for generations! I do not no if bronze is shiny though.
I think stone is used for houses as well! Do you think you have any bronze?
Dear DJ
I agree with your idea that rulers are made of wood because they are hard and sturdy .It makes it very easy to rule lines straight because the pencil can stay in one spot because it has something to lean on so it can make straight line successfully.
🙂 😀
But why is a ruler made of wood and not another straight and sturdy material?
Regards
OC
Dear SC
I agree that leather is flexible and is used for shoes. Your fantastic idea made me think of other things that leather is used for, for e.g. a leather jackets. I think that leather is used for shoes and jackets because leather is a water proof material and when it is raining or has been raining and there are big puddles around you want to have something that will stay dry on.
Can you think of any other reason why leather is used for shoes and jackets?
From BS
Dear CP,
I agree with your idea that paper is thin and is used in books because you won’t want to be carrying a thick book (especially when you have a hundred page book). I liked your post because you told me about the materials, properties and what it is used for. I’ve noticed that paper can be used for so many other things like posters, worksheets and notices.
Can you think of anything else that is made of paper?
Sincerely AD
Hi E.S
i disagree with your statement about wool. Wool is scratchy, uncomfortable and can distract you.I wonder if socks can be made out of other materials.
Sincerely,
T.H
Dear AS
I disagree with your statement and agree with EG’s idea because i think it was fair that there was 8 members in each team because it was the only way to spread the class out and have no remainder to be left out. I think the only unfair things were that 1 team had to put 8 art smocks on and run the longest , another team had to put 5 art smocks on and run an in between distance to the other 2 teams but the main thing was that the whole grade got see it all happen live and experience cheering for our fellow team member. I still think the experiment was NOT FAIR at all.
Kindly Regards
AM 🙂
Hello O.Y.,
I agree that wool is very warm and cosy. Wool is used for clothing and scarves, they are used in cold weather such as snow and blizzards. Wood is very rough and used for paper, toilet paper rolls and card board. Wood is used for a lot of things we need everyday. Do you have any wool clothes or things made of wood?
Regards, A.C
Hello B.C,
I agree that bronze is hard and is used in the making of medals. I agree with your idea because I have some medals and one of them is made of bronze and it is hard. I am not so sure that bronze is shiny though.
I also agree with your other idea that stone is used in houses. What other objects is stone used for?
Regards
N.A
Hello AM,
I agree with your idea that fun looms are made of rubber because they are stretchy. I also agree with the Idea that they are flexible if they weren’t they wouldn’t be able to stretch as I know this cause I have a set.
I am still wondering why fun looms are made of rubber though. Why aren’t they made of a different material because they are easily broken?
Regards
OC 🙂
Dear E.D,
I agree that wool is warm and is used in scarves because wool is warm and keeps the heat inside your body. Scarves can be used in very cold weather, going to the snow, and going to a high and cold mountain. I also realised that wool can also be used to make beanies. Your idea has got me thinking about things I have never thought about before. I wonder what else wool can be used for? Do you have any other types of clothes or objects that are made out of wool? I also wonder about how you can change the colour of wool to make more colourful things?
Thanks for reading,
From A.Y
Hello NA,
I agree with your idea that leather is flexible and used in shoes. I like the idea of that because it is used in many shoes. It’s flexibility helps the shoes into shape. The leather is also comfortable and can make the people who wear the shoes comfortable. For example, the leather in my shoes makes me extremely comfortable. I still wonder why leather is used in shoes though.
Regards EG.
Dear A.Y,
I agree that glass is see through and is used for buildings. I think that it is a good idea because when you are working up in a building and it is your lunch break you can have a great view looking down at everything and everyone. But I also disagree that glass should be used for buildings because it is fragile and can break easily I hope in the future people invent something that is see through but also strong. Thanks for your comment because it made me think about lots of things I have never thought of.
From K.S
Hello CP,
I agree with your idea that metal is strong and is useful for building chairs. I liked your comment because it gives detail as to what chairs are made of and it got me thinking as to what else a strong material like metal could be used for. I have also noticed that metal can be used to make strong, durable shelving, such as the shelves in our classroom.
What is metal made from I wonder?
Sincerely,
JT