Year 2 - Science
Absorbent materials
Uses of everyday materials
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This pupil-friendly study guide includes a unit summary, clear notes, common mistakes, and quick questions with answers.
Unit Summary
This unit explores identifying and comparing the suitability of everyday materials like wood, metal, and plastic for specific uses. It examines how solid objects' shapes can change by squashing, bending, twisting, and stretching. The focus is on simple tests, and using data to answer questions.
Lesson Summary
You will learn to investigate which materials are absorbent and explain how suitable they are for different uses.
Key Notes
- The properties of materials make them suitable or unsuitable for particular uses.
- Being absorbent is one such property of some materials.
- If a material is absorbent, it soaks up something, often a liquid such as water.
- Some materials are absorbent, and this makes them suitable for certain uses.
- Scientists test materials to find out which are absorbent and which are not.
Vocabulary To Learn
- material: A material is what an object is made from. An object can be made from more than one material.
- suitable: Someone or something that is suitable for a particular purpose or occasion is considered right or acceptable for it.
- properties: The describing words we use for a material are called its properties.
- absorbent: Absorbent materials soak up other materials.
- investigate: When scientists investigate they are trying to find out what happens when something is changed.
Common Mistakes To Avoid
- In comparing the extent of a given property in two materials, pupils may rely purely on observation, rather than on active testing.
3 Quick Questions (With Answers)
1. Explain the scientific idea in this lesson using two key points.
The properties of materials make them suitable or unsuitable for particular uses. Being absorbent is one such property of some materials.
2. Define this scientific word and use it in context. 'material'
A material is what an object is made from. An object can be made from more than one material. Include the word in a full scientific explanation, not as a single label.
3. Correct this common scientific misunderstanding.
Mistake: In comparing the extent of a given property in two materials, pupils may rely purely on observation, rather than on active testing. Correction: Provide opportunities to test different materials and observe what happens.
More Lessons In This Unit
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