Classifying Materials
Plan and conduct an investigation to classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties
What a learner can do afterwards
- Design a simple test to compare one property across several materials
- Record observations in a table or chart during the investigation
- Classify the tested materials into groups based on the results
1 · Read
You already know how to sort materials into groups. Now you will learn how to test them first. A test helps you find out a fact about a material, like whether it floats or sinks, before you sort it. Keep the way you test the same each time, so the test is fair.
Mia wants to know which objects float. She drops five objects into a bucket of water, one at a time, and watches what happens. She uses the same bucket and the same amount of water for every object, so the test is fair.
Write down each result while you test, not after. If you wait until the end, you might forget what happened to the first material.
Write each result in a table or chart while you test. When your test is done, look at your chart. Put the materials that behaved the same way into the same group.
Test each material the same way, write down what happens, then sort your results into groups.
2 · Watch
Take it off screen
Where it sits
Learn first
This opens up
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 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.