How do materials help us in our classroom?
4. Consider the results
Invite students to take home a blank copy of the notebook page and use it as a scientist and engineer would, recording the details of a backpack, or a toaster, or any object that interests them. Have the students offer some suggestions.
The idea that students depend on the properties of materials in their everyday lives is one that they can carry with them long after this class session. Whether it’s pencils, lunchboxes, bicycles, or bathtubs, students can start to make more sense of the objects in their world as they develop a greater awareness of the materials they count on every day.
Keeping it real: Over the next several months, keep up the conversation about objects, materials, properties, and uses. One way is to display all the children’s scientific drawings in a special area of the classroom. Another is to keep asking the question: How do materials help us in school? As you pull down a window shade, write on an erase board, or play a game of basketball, pause long enough to ask: “What is this shade, board, or basketball made of? How does the material help make it work?”
