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Material Properties and Purposes

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What you will learn from this videoWhat you will learn
- Some materials have properties best suited for certain purposes.
- In this lesson we will learn about stretchiness, absorbency and strength.
- Comparing different materials involves doing experiments.
- Discussion Questions
Before Video
What kinds of materials have the property of being stretchy?ANSWERRubber bands, bungee cords and balloons are all stretchy.
Paper towels, sponges, diapers and towels can all absorb liquid.
Metal, wood and bricks are examples of strong materials.
Since a bridge needs to hold up a lot of weight, it is best to choose a strong material such as metal or concrete.
It’s not strong enough. It’s not water or weather proof.
Test each material to see which one makes the object go the farthest.
After Video
Why is pizza not a good choice for building a chair?ANSWERIt’s not strong enough to hold a person up. It will just collapse when you sit on it.
You could test each material by seeing which one absorbed the most liquid.
The sign is brightly colored so that people see it.
If it wasn’t stretchy you wouldn’t bounce back up. It also allows you to slow down safely.
A raincoat, umbrella and a house should not be absorbent.
They need to choose the right materials based on the purpose of what they build.
- Vocabulary
- Property DEFINE
A quality of a material.
- Purpose DEFINE
What something is used for.
- Flexibility DEFINE
How easily something can bend.
- Strength DEFINE
How strong something is.
- Stretchiness DEFINE
How easily something can be pulled apart and returned back to its original shape.
- Absorbency DEFINE
How well something can soak up a liquid like water.
- Property DEFINE
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