Year 5 Science Changes of Materials – Block 5PCM – Changing Materials Education Pack

Session 5:The Chemistry Kitchen
Science curriculum area: Changes of Materials / i. explain that some changes result in the formation of new materials, and that this kind of change is not usually reversible, including changes associated with burning and the action of acid on bicarbonate of soda
Working Scientifically (UKS2) / i. planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary
ii. reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations
iii. identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments
Teaching Objectives /
  • To complete research on new materials and their uses
  • To apply knowledge of materials as they create a new substance

Other curriculum areas / Computing
  • understand the opportunities that the www offers forcommunication and collaboration;select, use & combine software (including internet services) on a range of digital devices to design & create content

Teaching Objectives /
  • To complete targeted Internet research on new materials
  • To create a PowerPoint or other presentation

Key Vocabulary:opinion/fact, variables, accuracy, precision, enquiry, new materials
Resourcestablets/laptops and Internet access, instructions for making goo, liquid laundry starch, PVA glue, mixing bowl, spoon, airtight containers, research guidance / Weblinks
Whole Class:Set up your ‘ingredients’ for making goo in advance and make sure you have the research guidance printed off.Welcome chn to the chemistry kitchen! Explain that just as they spent an earlier session mixing, cooking and baking food, so chemists essentially do something similar to create new products for use. Explain that today the chn are going to be making their own new product in your very own ‘chemistry kitchen’ as well as doing some research into some big breakthroughs that have impacted positively on our lives in the ‘chemistry kitchens’ of the adult world. Send chn off in gps with a plastic bag containing some sticky-notes, a cotton item of clothing/teatowel, and a pack-a-mac. Tell the chn that there is something specific about each material that was invented by chemists that at the time of its invention was unique, and ensured each thing was fit for purpose. Give chn a few minutes to decide what they think it is then shares ideas. Show chn pictures of each scientist and read the description of their breakthrough. Explain that these inventions have made life easier and that inventing using the science of chemistry continues today – usually in research laboratories for big organisations or universities. Explain that in gps chn will make their own ‘new’ material, while the rest of the class do some research into two new products that are still in the development stage – Geckel and Graphene.
Activities:For their research, ensure chn have access to the Internet and give them the research guidance. They can then present their findings in a web page or PowerPoint format to go in the education pack/on the Pinterest board. With each gp that enters the ‘chemistry kitchen’,ensure that they predict what they think might happen. Get chn to talk about the mixtures they have encountered so far in the block and if this knowledge can help them to make suggestions about what might happen when they mix the glue and laundry starch. Get chn to describe the changes in the materials and the end product and ask if they think this is reversible. Then get chn to suggest further investigations they could do (amounts of ingredients, etc.) and complete.
Plenary / Get chn to leave their research set up on tablets/laptops around the classroom for appraisal - get chn to look at one another’s work and feedback, using the guidance document as a ‘success criteria’. Ask chn to suggest some key positive impacts that both Geckel and Graphene could have on day-to-day life. Talk about chn’s predictions for their goo and note that this is how scientists work – by drawing on their understanding and knowledge of materials and the ways that they behave and applying that in experiments, where they are predicting and looking for a certain outcome. Ask chn what sort of traits a research scientist needs (patience, resilience, determination, perseverance, creativity, etc.). Explain that in the next session chn will be testing out their education packs on parents/other chn and will need to be on hand to support investigations and to review their work.Homework: get chn to find an old shirt (a large one, probably from an adult) and decorate it – this will be their ‘lab coat’ for the final session, to help identify them as scientists.
Outcomes / Children will
  • Create their own ‘new’ gooey material
  • Know about some famous materials inventors
  • Research and record information about new materials and their possible uses

© Original resource copyright Hamilton Trust, who give permission for it to be adapted as wished by individual users.

We refer you to our warning, at the foot of the block overview, about links to other websites.