Unit Of Inquiry - Materials

Back in early 2009 when he was in Grade 1, Ilham learned about different materials, how they were used and the different properties that each material had. It was covered under the Unit of Inquiry - How The World Works.

I remember Ilham was learning the same thing when he was in kindergarten back home. We used to read and look at the different materials in the books. I have to admit though... after leaving primary school for soooo many years ago, I found that describing some materials were difficult or rather I was confused !! Yes I did !! I'm ashamed to admit it. The fact that I was in science stream makes it even worse !! All these while I thought when you describe a material, you just need to find a single adjective to explain it such as "hard" or "soft" or "transparent" or "smooth" etc.... The books that I bought from the shop (meant for kindergarten or primary school) always explain the different property in a single way too!!! Sometimes, I came across a material that have conflicting properties such as it might be hard and yet it was smooth to the touch at the same time. I remember having to think real hard before I could decide on a final single adjective to explain to Ilham. How wrong I was !!! I wonder whether I was the only parent who was s****d enough not to understand it... he...he...he... Only when I came here and saw some of their works at school, that it occurred to me that there were many ways of explaining the materials. The materials could have two or more adjectives to explain them and they were all correct !!! When I think back, I think the books at home (and I think the school textbooks too - please correct me on this, I'd appreciate it :D) are misleading and they fail to convey the right messages/information. Some of the terms they use here are so unexpected to my mind like "bendy".

Back to the UOI, the students were looking at properties and uses of different materials. First of all they explored different materials. As they were exporing they asked themselves questions - such as what does it look like? What can I do with it? Then the students went around school to find objects with the properties they had listed and took photographs of them. They then looked at different way they could sort the materials into groups. The students also used proscopes, which allowed them to look in detail at the materials. Throughout this unit the students have put this work into a web blender project. This involved them making a web page, adding titles, pictures and typing in a sentence.

Let's see how they were busy in class doing the project....

Concentrating hard on studying the different materials.

Discussion and cooperation needed...

Sorted into groups...

The followings are the students work which was placed in the "web blender project" which I obtained from the school website. The teacher would choose a few students work to repreent the class. If parents want to see their child's work, they have to click on the child's name.

Page by Alice.

Page by Earl

Page by Ilham.

Page by Nandinee.

Page by Soma.

Page by Tamaki.

And these are the materials as seen through the proscopes...

Glass and plastic.


Metal and stone.

Cardboard paper and wood.

And this is what they meant by "bendy"...

Well... I'm glad that I learned something new even though it was rather late.

:D