Materials best suited for a task: Sort materials by their strength

General

Good scientists can analyze experiences they create in order to come up with conclusions about the world around them. Students will learn about the properties of matter and materials, and learn in-depth about the property of strength. They will conduct a strength test experiment on various everyday materials. This lesson includes activities about the strength of objects, an experiment, and post-experiment activities about the relative strength of objects. It also includes a printable worksheet.

Standards

2-PS1-2

Learning Objective

Students will be able to sort materials by their strength based on how much weight they can hold.

Introduction

Have students discuss what material they would use to create a desk, given the choices of aluminum foil, wood, and LEGOs. Then, explain the best choice would be wood because it’s a sturdy material. After, discuss the idea of the strength of materials as a property, and tell students that they will explore this concept in the lesson and experiment today!

Instruction

Teach students about properties. Then, define and explain the property of strength. Afterward, students can engage in the following activities:

First, students will practice predicting the relative strength of various given objects. Next, they will prepare and then engage in an experiment where they will determine the strength of various materials based on the number of weights the object can hold before ripping or breaking. This experiment requires some teacher set up before students can conduct the experiment. It also requires some data collection during the experiment on a provided chart (on a slide and as a printable worksheet). Instructions for this experiment can be found within the lesson. After the experiment, student groups can discuss their results and prepare for a presentation of their findings to the rest of the class.

Quiz

Students respond to seven multiple-choice questions and 3 true or false questions about properties and strength as a property.

Closing

Students can review the definition of strength by filling in the blank of an incomplete sentence. Then, students will determine if different given objects are strong or weak.