TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Making "Magic" Sidewalks of Pervious Pavement
Students use everyday building materials- sand, pea gravel, cement and water- to create and test pervious pavement. Groups are challenged to create their own pervious pavement mixes, experimenting with material ratios to evaluate how...
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Are You Gellin'?
Chances are, you have several materials around your house made of gelatinized materials. Gels are used in all kinds of products and materials: pudding, diapers, insoles, packaging, ice cream, toothpaste, and much more. In this project,...
Museum Network (UK)
Wallace Collection: Material World: Paint
Learn about the material composition of paints used by artists and where pigments that give paint its color come from. Emphasis is on natural pigments obtained from plants, animals, and minerals, rather than on paints created for...
Other
Freie Universitat Berlin: Everyday Objects [Pdf]
In our daily lives we are surrounded by objects which have specific roles and functions. Some are relatively simple, like a drinking cup. Others are much more complex, like a mobile phone. This wonderful 56-page handbook presents...
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: North Sea: Netherlands: What Is It Made Of?
Finn is joining his father on their boat. Join them and help Finn sort materials based on their properties.
E-learning for Kids
E Learning for Kids: Science: Scotland Kilt Store: Classify by Property
Mr. Wallace owns a store and needs help sorting items in his shop. Help him explore properties of common objects.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: Silk, the Ancient Material of the Future
Fiorenzo Omenetto shares 20+ astonishing new uses for silk, one of nature's most elegant materials- in transmitting light, improving sustainability, adding strength and making medical leaps and bounds. On stage, he shows a few intriguing...
University of Manchester
Children's University of Manchester: Talking Textiles: What Are Textiles?
Interactive exploration of different objects made with textiles, a useful investigation of the properties of different types of fabrics.
Other
American Chemistry Council: How Plastics Are Made
This resource provides an introduction to plastics chemistry, from the basic elements involved, to bonding, plastic types, and production methods.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: What Is Metallic Glass?
Steel and plastic are essential to much of our infrastructure and technology. Steel is strong and hard, but difficult to shape intricately. Plastic can take on just about any form, but it's weak and soft. Wouldn't it be nice if there...
Other
Rooted and Growing: Kindergarten Science Unit: Objects and Materials [Pdf]
A collection of science lessons where young scholars explore the characteristics of different materials and everyday objects and create their own objects and art. They study the properties of the materials that make them strong,...
Other
Perkins School for the Blind: Object Functions
This activity helps students who are blind or visually impaired to identify the functions of common objects. Alternatively, for other students a blindfold could be used.
Other
Objects and Materials and Everyday Structures
In this unit, students will make the distinction between objects and materials through investigation of the observable characteristics of objects and the specific properties of the materials from which the objects are made. Students will...
Science Struck
Science Struck: Iron: Uses of Iron
Learn about the many important ways that humans use iron.
Science Struck
Science Struck: Uses of Silicone Grease
Silicone grease has many uses in everyday life. Learn what it is and how it is used in industry, in a chemical laboratory, and by consumers.
Other
Why Is It Like This? [Pdf]
A worksheet where students examine four everyday objects, identify its purpose, what it is made of, and how it has been designed to serve that purpose.