Materials worksheets
Making things louder
This simple investigation demonstrates how sound can be amplified and made louder.
Make your own sundial
A sundial tells the time by using the position of the sun. This is how it works: the sun casts a shadow onto a surface marked with lines indicating the hours of the day. As the sun moves across the sky
the shadow aligns with different hour-lines. Do you think you can make your own sundial?
the shadow aligns with different hour-lines. Do you think you can make your own sundial?
Make your own parachute
Using what you have learned about air resistance, your challenge is to make the most effective parachute for a toy figure.
Make your own guitar
A guitar makes music when the strings vibrate. This simple experiment will help you make your own guitar and see how the length and tightness of the strings can affect the notes made.
Make a waterproof for a teddy
It may be a wet day, but Teddy wants to go out and play! How can we keep Teddy dry in the rain? Let's choose materials to help make something waterproof for Teddy.
Kitchen-roll instrument
We’re going to be playing with our voice sounds and muffling them using a kitchen roll. Make different sounds into the tube (ring a bell, clap, whistle, rattle some keys). Blindfold the person who is listening and ask them to guess what sounds you are making.
Kitchen materials
In your kitchen look at what different cooking utensils are made from. Talk to an adult about the different materials. Do you know their names? Now look for or think of household objects that could be made with these materials. How many can you find?
Investigation: will it dissolve?
When we add some solids to water (or other liquids), they dissolve. Try this simple experiment to see which household solids will dissolve and which won’t.
Identifying materials
Look at the pictures. What is the main material that each of these items is made from? Cut out the picture cards and match them up with the label cards on the next page. Now shuffle the cards up and play a game of matching pairs!
How green are you?
Look in your recycling bins to find out what your family recycles and write it down on a list. Look on your local council website to find out if there is anything else you could recycle that you don’t at the moment. Can you encourage your family to recycle more? Make a recycling-bins poster to show them what they can recycle and what they can’t.
How does sound resonate?
Resonance is described as the intensification and prolongation of sound, especially of a musical tone, produced by sympathetic vibration. Now ask an adult if you can borrow some glasses to investigate how the amount of water in a glass can affect the resonance sound made.
Does fire need oxygen?
In this experiment we will look at the effects of air (oxygen) on a candle flame. You will need an adult to help you with this one!
Dissolving salt investigation
In this experiment we will be investigating to see if the temperature of the water affects how quickly salt will dissolve in it.
Dissolving experiment
This is an experiment to help you learn about which materials will dissolve and which ones will not.
Cleaning water experiment
In this activity you will learn how to clean some water!
Changing states: solid, liquid or gas?
Materials usually exist as either a solid, a liquid or a gas. Look at the pictures on the next page. Can you cut them out and place them in the correct column to show whether they are a solid, liquid or gas?
Changing sounds: how does string length affect sound?
Sound is made by vibrations in the air. Many musical instruments use different length strings to make different sounds. This investigation will examine how the length of string changes the sounds made.
Are you a recycling superhero?
Choose some packaging that is going to be thrown away. Ask each member of your family what they would make it into if they were going to recycle it creatively. Choose your favourite idea and be a recycling hero: design a recycled toy or something new for your home, then make it!
Understanding magnets: Make your own magnetic compass
The Earth has a weak magnetic field caused by the movement of molten iron in its core. The Earth’s magnetic field acts on a magnetised needle, pulling one end towards the north and the other towards the south magnetic pole. Understand more about magnets by making your very own magnetic compass from a polystyrene pizza base, a needle, a pin and a strong magnet.
Materials treasure hunt
Encourage your child to find soft and hard objects around the house and then record what they found.