← Back to the activity

Year 6 Science — Materials around us

Group materials by whether you can see through them, whether they dissolve in water, and whether they shine — and say what makes something matter.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

How much of the shape behind each pane gets through.

123
  1. 1. Window glass
  2. 2. Butter paper
  3. 3. Cardboard

The same shape sits behind each of the three panes: sharp through the transparent one, blurred through the translucent one, and hidden by the opaque one. Translucent is its own group, not a weak kind of transparent.

  1. 1.Sort each material by how much you can see through it.

    Groups: Transparent · Translucent · Opaque

    • Frosted glass
    • Air
    • Butter paper
    • Wood
    • Cardboard
    • Window glass

  2. 2.Arranging objects into groups on the basis of a property they share has a name. What is it?

  3. 3.A freshly cut piece of iron shines, but an older piece looks dull. What does the chapter give as the reason?

    • a) Iron is non-lustrous once it has been cut
    • b) The older piece has stopped being a metal
    • c) Air and moisture have acted on the older surface
    • d) The older piece was not iron to begin with

  4. 4.Which units does the chapter give for measuring mass?

    • a) Metre and centimetre
    • b) Second and minute
    • c) Litre and millilitre
    • d) Gram and kilogram

  5. 5.Match each word to what it describes.

    • Transparent
    • Translucent
    • Opaque
    • you can see through it clearly
    • you cannot see through it
    • you can see through it, but not clearly

  6. 6.Anything that occupies space and has mass is given one general name. What is that name?

  7. 7.Sort each material by whether its surface shines.

    Groups: Lustrous · Non-lustrous

    • Paper
    • Jute
    • Gold
    • Aluminium
    • Copper
    • Rubber

  8. 8.Rubber is harder than sponge but softer than iron. What does that tell you about hardness?

    • a) Rubber has no hardness of its own
    • b) Hardness changes with the weather
    • c) It is relative — a material is hard or soft compared with another
    • d) Sponge and iron are the same hardness

Answer key — Year 6 Science — Materials around us

  1. 1. Window glass → Transparent; Air → Transparent; Frosted glass → Translucent; Butter paper → Translucent; Wood → Opaque; Cardboard → Opaque
  2. 2. classification
  3. 3. c) Air and moisture have acted on the older surface
  4. 4. d) Gram and kilogram
  5. 5. Transparent → you can see through it clearly; Translucent → you can see through it, but not clearly; Opaque → you cannot see through it
  6. 6. matter
  7. 7. Copper → Lustrous; Aluminium → Lustrous; Gold → Lustrous; Paper → Non-lustrous; Jute → Non-lustrous; Rubber → Non-lustrous
  8. 8. c) It is relative — a material is hard or soft compared with another