What is it
Children learn to distinguish between an object and the material it is made from, and to identify and name common materials — wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, rock — describing their simple properties like hard, soft, stretchy or rough.
Why it matters
This is a child's first step into physics and chemistry — understanding that the same material can make many different objects, and that materials are chosen because of their properties, is the seed of engineering and materials science.
Exam tip
Practise describing a material using more than one property word (e.g. 'metal is hard and shiny') — single-word answers earn fewer marks than a full, descriptive sentence.
Related topics
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