step 1 of 6
You have sorted materials into groups by their properties. Now those properties get a job to do. A window must let light in and let you see outside.
Why are windows made of glass instead of wood?
Choosing the Right Material
Identify and compare the suitability of everyday materials for particular uses, explaining why specific materials are chosen for specific purposes
What a learner can do afterwards
- Explain why a specific material is chosen for a purpose based on its properties (e.g. glass for windows because it's transparent)
- Compare two materials and decide which is more suitable for a given use with reasoning
- Suggest an alternative material for an object and explain why it would or wouldn't work
1 · Read
Every material has its own properties, like hard, soft, see-through, waterproof, or light. When people choose a material for a job, they match its properties to what the job needs.
Try it together
Windows are made of glass. Glass is see-through, so light comes in and you can look outside. Wood is strong, but you cannot see through it, so a wooden window would leave the room dark with no view.
Try it together
Wellies are made of rubber, not paper. Rubber keeps water out and bends easily around your foot. Paper soaks up water and tears, so your feet would get cold and wet.
Before you pick a material, ask: what job does this thing need to do? Then find a material with the right properties for that job.
Good material choices match a material's properties to the job it has to do.
The rewritten readings were written for this dataset.
2 · Watch
3 · Play
Take it off screen
Print a worksheetA4 with an answer key page for grown-ups. No screen, no internet.
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
Then practise
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.