 For example:

 The clothes you are wearing are made from

fibres.
 The chair you are sitting on is made from
plastic.
 The windows in the school are made from
glass.

 Can you see any other examples

around you?
A material is a physical substance used to
make things.

Metals, plastics, ceramics, glass and fibres

are some of the main categories for
materials.

If we look around, everything we see is

made from a material, sometimes more
than one ....
 A property of a material is a description of
the characteristics which it has. They are
adjectives which tell us about the material.

 Materials have different properties and

characteristics depending on what they are
used for.

 Some materials are hard, others are soft.

Some are strong, others are weak.
 Here is a list of the properties which describe different
materials:

 Shiny – It reflects light

 Strong – It won’t break easily

 Flexible – It can be bent easily without breaking

 Light - It doesn’t weigh much

 Heavy – It weighs a lot

 Coloured – Has colour

 Magnetic – It’s attracted to magnets

 Bendy - Flexible
 Hard – Something which can’t be bent easily

 Brittle – It’s hard but will break easily

 Malleable – It can be shaped easily

 Magnetic – It’s attracted to magnets

 Bendy – Flexible

 Transparent – Something you can see through

 Translucent – Something you can partially see through

 Opaque – Something you can not see through

 Conductor – It allows heat or electricity to pass through

 Insulator – It doesn’t allow heat or electricity to pass through.

 Which of the previous words could you
use to describe:

 A) a pencil...
 Hard, light, opaque

 B) A window
 Transparent or translucent, hard, brittle

 C) A piece of paper...
 Light, opaque, malleable

 D) A fork...
 Shiny, hard, magnetic, opaque, conductor
 Materials can be categorised into
groups. One of the main groups is...
Shiny
Strong
Good
conductors of
heat and
electricity

Some are
Usually opaque
E,g aluminium, magnetic
copper, iron,
lead...
 These properties make metals
suitable for many things...

 Tools

 Bridges

 Coins

 Knives, forks and spoons

 Can you think of any other uses of

metals?
 Q) Why is copper suitable for electrical
wiring? What properties must it have?

 - Good conductor
of electricity

- It is strong.
 Why are saucepans made from metal?
Which properties make it suitable for the
use?

 - It is a good conductor or heat.

 - It is It does not melt with high

temperatures.

 - It is strong