plastic exploring the science of everyday materials

[...]... if they were made out of a different type of plastic, e.g a garden hose made out of tough, inexible plastic The children could experiment with different plastic bags Can they devise a test to nd out which is the strongest and which is the weakest? Before they do the test, ask the children to predict the results How do their predictions compare with the results? (Remind the children of the dangers of. .. many times Ask the children to think of everyday things which are made from plastic How would the things be different if they were made from other materials? What are the advantages of them being made from plastic? Introduce the children to objects they might not have thought of as being made from plastic, such as contact lenses, vinyl wallpaper and toothbrush bristles pp 4/9 Encourage the children to... objects Do they all bounce? Some types of plastic are quite brittle and will chip or crack if dropped Many things that were once made of glass, such as bottles, jars and windows are now made of plastic Why do the children think this is? pp 16/17 Plasticine is a special type of soft, malleable plastic It can be cut and moulded without the use of heat Find the page Here is a list of some of the words... and nd the plastic things 20 This feels smooth and squashy I think it‛s made of plastic 21 Time to tidy away Look at all these empty plastic bottles We can collect them for recycling 22 The plastic can be used to make new things A sign on the label shows that the bottle can be recycled 23 Notes for parents and teachers The aim of the Science Explorers series is to introduce children to ways of observing... benets of covering these objects in plastic? pp 12/13 Ask the children to separate plastic toys into two groups depending on whether or not the toys oat Can they see any similarities between the objects in each group? Are the toys that oat lighter than those that don’t? Are the toys that sink solid or hollow? pp 14/15 The children could investigate what happens when they drop a variety of plastic. . .The handles are stretching… …it feels like the bag is going to break 9 I wonder what happens when these toys get wet The water runs off them They are waterproof 10 My plastic raincoat and umbrella are waterproof They keep me dry in the rain Hey, Adam, look at me! 11 I wonder if this plastic ball will oat? 12 Let’s try some other things I‛m making a chart of which toys oat and... of plastic bags and the need to use them responsibly.) pp 10/11 The children could make a list of outdoor objects that need to be waterproof and are usually made of plastic, e.g ground sheets and guttering Raincoats contain a plastic material to make them waterproof Investigate objects that are covered in a thin layer of plastic, e.g book covers, fabric shopping bags and vinyl wallpaper What are the. .. investigate the properties of a variety of plastic objects using hearing, touch and sight Are the objects rough or smooth, thin or thick, shiny or dull, warm or cold? Do the objects have a 24 xed shape or can you alter their shape? If you can alter their shape, do they stay in their new shape when you release them, or revert to their original shape? Encourage the children to imagine what the objects... classifying materials, so that they can discover the various properties which make them suitable for a range of uses By talking about what they already know about materials from their everyday use of different objects, the children will gain condence in making predictions about how a material will behave in different circumstances Through their explorations, the children will be able to try out their ideas... in a fair test pp 2/3, 20/21 Plastic is an extremely versatile and varied factorymade material There are many types of plastic, and most are made from chemicals found in oil Plastics can be sorted into two groups depending on the way they act when heated Thermosetting plastics, such as silicone and polyester, can be heated only once and cannot be reshaped Thermoplastic materials, such as nylon and . ball. 9 The handles are stretching… …it feels like the bag is going to break. 10 I wonder what happens when these toys get wet. The water runs off them. They are waterproof. 11 My plastic. without permission in writing from the publisher. e-ISBN 1-59019-860-3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available ISBN 0-7136-5064-8 Exploring the science of everyday materials Nicola Edwards. Cornish-Trestrail 2 Lots of things are made from plastic. Look at all the things we‛ve collected! 3 Don‛t forget your bracelet. That‛s made of plastic. 4 Let’s sort these things into two groups. I‛ll collect the