Materials In Our World

We recently started a new unit of study...Materials In Our World.  Materials are the things used to make objects.  We have learned that some materials are natural, meaning they come from a plant, animal or the ground.  Others are synthetic, meaning they are made from oil by people.  We launched the unit by reading a version of The Three Little Pigs.  After we read the story, we created an anchor chart about the story.

   

Next, we spent some time observing five different types of wood samples.  We observed samples of basswood (which comes from a linden tree), cedar (which comes from a cedar tree), pine (which comes from a pine tree), particle board and plywood.  

   

   

   

We started out gathering on the rug and distributing safety glasses and the wood samples.  Once we had all the samples, we went to our tables to observe.  Observe means to look closely at the samples.  While observing, we used the sense of sight, smell and touch.