plastic exploring the science of everyday materials

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 be

Electronic book published by ipicturebooks.com

24 W 25th St.

New York, NY 10010 For more ebooks, visit us at:

http://www.ipicturebooks.com

All rights reserved Text copyright © 1999 Nicola Edwards and Jane Harris Photographs copyright © 1999 Julian Cornish-Trestrail

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,

including photocopying, recording, or by anyinformation storage and retrieval system, without

permission in writing from the publisher

e-ISBN 1-59019-860-3Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available

ISBN 0-7136-5064-8

Exploring the science of everyday materials

Nicola Edwards and

Jane Harris

Photographs by

Julian Cornish-Trestrai l

Don‛t forget your

bracelet That‛s made

of plastic.

Let’s sort these things into two groups.

I‛ll collect the hard things.

I‛ll collect the soft

and bendy things.

My plastic toy box is strong and hard.

It stays in the same shape.

I can  ll it with

my toys.

It‛s too heavy

to lift now!

This plastic bag is thin and stretchy.

I can scrunch

it into a ball.

I wonder what

happens when these

toys get wet.

The water runs off them They are

waterproof.

I wonder if this plastic ball will  oat?

Let’s try some other things.

I‛m making a chart of which toys

 oat and which toys sink.

This plastic ball

is very light.

I can throw it into the air.

This Plasticine is soft and bendy

I can mould it into lots of different

shapes.

Look, I‛ve made

a face!

When I‛ve  nished,

I can squash it up and make something new.

We’re making biscuits for tea.

These biscuit cutters are strong

and sharp.

They cut

through the

mixture easily.

How many different shapes can you see?

This looks like

a heart!

Look what’s inside our ‘feely’ box We’ve got to try and  nd the

plastic things.

This feels smooth

and squashy I think it‛s

made of plastic.

Time to tidy away Look at all these empty plastic

bottles.

We can

collect them

for recycling.

The aim of the Science Explorers series is to introduce children to ways

of observing and 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.

Notes for parents and teachers

pp 2/3, 20/21

Plastic is an extremely versatile and varied

factory-made 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 polystyrene, can be melted and reshaped

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 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

 xed shape or can you alter their shape? If you canalter their shape, do they stay in their new shapewhen you release them, or revert to their originalshape? Encourage the children to imagine what theobjects would be like if they were made out of adifferent type of plastic, e.g a garden hose made out

of tough, in exible plastic

The children could experiment with different plasticbags Can they devise a test to  nd out which is thestrongest and which is the weakest? Before they dothe test, ask the children to predict the results

How do their predictions compare with the results?(Remind the children of the dangers of plastic bagsand the need to use them responsibly.)

pp 10/11

The children could make a list of outdoor objects thatneed to be waterproof and are usually made of plastic,e.g ground sheets and guttering Raincoats contain aplastic material to make them waterproof Investigateobjects that are covered in a thin layer of plastic, e.g.book covers, fabric shopping bags and vinyl wallpaper.What are the bene ts of covering these objects inplastic?

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 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

pp 18/19

Many kitchen implements, such as storage boxes and

measuring jugs are made out of plastic because it is

durable, non-absorbent and easy to clean Some

kitchen equipment, such as toasters and kettles have

handles and other parts made of heat-resistant plastic

Electrical  ttings are made from plastic materials

because they do not conduct electricity

pp 22/23

Plastic rubbish such as discarded packaging is not

easily broken down by microorganisms and is dif cult

to dispose of The children could investigate types of

packaging that use less plastic (such as the containers

and re ll pouches in which washing liquid is sold), and

which can be used more than once Discuss the

importance of collecting waste plastic for recycling

Find the page

Here is a list of some of the words and ideas in this book

bouncing 15 describing plastic 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9,

14, 15, 21

 oating 12, 13 hard 4, 6, 7, 18 heavy 7

light 14 moulding plastic 16, 17 recycling plastic 22, 23 sinking 13

soft 4, 16 stretching plastic 8, 9, 16 strong 5, 18

water 10, 11, 12, 13 waterproof 10, 11