What is our school made of?

By Year 2

Toy Collection- Classifying Materials We made a

toy collection in the classroom to classify our toys by the materials they were made from. We wanted to find out more about the materials our school is made from.

Some children could name and classify materials by sorting the toys. These children are making lists of the materials the toys were made from.

ResearchIn order to find out more about the different materials, their properties and their uses we used the computer, looked in books and had practical experiences with our chosen materials.

Each group was given a material to research. The materials we researched were clay, plastic, wood, paper and fabric

Thinking about materials and their uses

To find out more about the physical properties of a variety of materials we investigated which materials would soak up the most liquid.

Naughty Nora the puppy dog has had an accident (wee’d) on the floor and Discovery Dog needs to soak it up quickly. Which material should he use and why?

The Results

We were able to describe the properties of different materials using words like transparent or opaque.

Taking a closer look at school We looked

closely at the patterns and shapes around school and sketched these in our art books.

We went on a material hunt around school to see which materials were chosen by the builders and thought about why these had been used.

Putting our materials to good useUsing the materials we had been researching we designed and made a toy. We had to explain why this material was suitable and evaluate our DT skills.

Plastic

These children designed and made music shakers and toy rockets.

Paper These children designed and made toy robots, hammers and secret boxes.

Would paper make a good hammer? Why?

Fabric These children designed and made sock puppets.

Why is fabric a suitable material for making puppets?

Clay These children designed and made clay pots.

What do you know about clay? Would it make a good pot?

The End