Exploring Everyday Objects
FoundationLook and touch to compare weight, hardness, elasticity and transparency, then sort objects into groups.
- Eyes and hands help us observe the features of objects.
- Objects differ in weight, hardness, elasticity and transparency.
- Rubber bands and sponges are elastic — they spring back.
文體小知識：說明文配上觀察活動，教你用感官認識物品特性，再按特性分類。
§Text Passage
1The things around us are made of different materials: wood, metal, plastic, glass, cloth and paper. Each material has its own features. Using our senses — looking, touching and smelling carefully — we can learn the features of everyday objects and sort similar ones into groups.
2First compare weight: a wooden block and a stone of the same size — the wood is light, the stone heavy; a feather feels almost weightless in the hand. Then compare hardness: press a pillow and it sinks softly; knock a stone and it is rock hard. Soft things squash easily; hard things keep their shape.
3Elasticity is another interesting feature: pull a rubber band and it stretches; let go and it returns to its shape. Press a sponge flat and it springs back. Changing shape and then recovering is called elasticity. Plasticine keeps whatever shape you squeeze it into, so plasticine has no elasticity.
4Letting light through is useful too: hold a glass up to the light and light passes through, so we can see the other side — glass is transparent; hold a wooden door to the light and no light passes — wood is opaque. Windows are made of glass because glass lets sunlight into the house.
5Using these features we can sort objects: by weight, by hardness, by elasticity or by whether light passes through. Knowing features helps us use and store things properly — glasses are made of transparent material, cushions of soft, elastic material. Observe carefully and science is everywhere!
1Summary 重點摘要
Look and touch to compare weight, hardness, elasticity and transparency, then sort objects into groups.
2Vocabulary cards Vocabulary
What things are made of, such as wood, metal and plastic.
How heavy or light a thing feels.
Whether a thing is easy or hard to squash or bend.
The feature of returning to the original shape after a change.
A small elastic ring that stretches and snaps back.
A soft object full of little holes; it springs back after being pressed.
Letting light pass through, like glass.
Not letting light pass through, like wood.
To sort things into groups by their features.
To look at and feel things carefully to learn about them.
3Step by step Steps
- Step 1: Use your senses to observeObserve objects with different senses: eyes for colour and shape, hands for smooth or rough, hands for heavy or light, ears for the sound when tapped. Remember the safety rules: do not touch sharp parts of unknown objects and never put anything in your mouth. Lay out a group of objects on the desk, feel each one carefully and say its features out loud — that is the first step of sorting.
- Step 2: Compare heavy and lightCompare weight by holding in the hands or by using a scale. Blocks of the same size: the wooden one is light, the stone one heavy, because the materials differ. Hold a feather and a coin: the feather feels like nothing, the coin is heavier. We compare weights in daily life too: ask Mum and Dad for help when the schoolbag is too heavy, and watch the shopkeeper weigh fruit. Always say whether an object is light or heavy.
- Step 3: Press to test soft and hardTest hardness by pressing with the fingers and squeezing with the hand: pillows and soft toys sink when pressed — they are soft; stones and metal spoons will not give — they are hard. Soft things make comfortable cushions and quilts; hard things make steady desks and buildings. Neither is better; each has its use: choose soft for comfort and hard for strength.
- Step 4: Stretch to find elasticityElasticity means changing shape and then returning to the original. Stretch a rubber band and it snaps back; press a sponge and it puffs up again; press a spring and it jumps up and down. These are elastic things. Plasticine keeps the shape you press it into, and crumpled paper will not flatten out — they are not elastic. Sock cuffs use rubber bands and mattresses hide springs: good examples of using elasticity.
- Step 5: Hold to the light to test transparencyPut objects near a lamp: if light passes through and you can see the other side, the material is transparent, like a glass, cling film and a clear bottle; if no light passes at all, it is opaque, like a wooden door, a tin and thick card. Using transparency, windows are fitted with glass so sunshine enters, spectacle lenses are transparent so we can see, and curtains are cloth to block strong light. Whether light passes decides how we use things.
- Step 6: Sort objects by their featuresWith the results ready, sort them: one pile light, one pile heavy; or soft with soft and hard with hard; or by elasticity and transparency. Choose a standard first — objects in the same pile must share a common feature. Sorting makes finding and storing easier: books lined up by size, wardrobes divided by season. Learn to sort, and life becomes tidy.
5Worked example Example
Example: There are five things on the desk: a sponge, a glass, a feather, a stone and a rubber band. Sort them by hardness and elasticity, and explain why.
- Observe one by one: press, squeeze and stretch each object to feel its hardness and elasticity.
- The sponge and the rubber band are soft: the sponge dents when pressed, the band stretches when pulled, and both return to their shape — so they are elastic.
- The glass and the stone are hard: they cannot be pressed or squeezed and never recover from a change of shape, so they are not elastic; the feather is very soft, but it does not spring back either, so it is not elastic.
- The sorting: soft and elastic — sponge, rubber band; hard and not elastic — glass, stone; soft and not elastic — feather.
- Answer: By hardness and elasticity: the sponge and the rubber band are soft and elastic, recovering after being pressed or stretched; the glass and the stone are hard and not elastic, unable to be pressed or to recover; the feather is very light and soft but does not spring back, so it is soft and not elastic.
6Common mistakes Mistakes
7Quick check Quick check
Q1How can we tell whether an object is heavy or light?
Q2What does elastic mean?
Q3Which is elastic, a sponge or a stone?
Q4Why do windows use glass?
Q5What must we decide before sorting objects?
8Recap Recap
- Eyes and hands help us observe the features of objects.
- Objects differ in weight, hardness, elasticity and transparency.
- Rubber bands and sponges are elastic — they spring back.
- Glass lets light through; wood and metal do not.
- Sorting by features makes storing and finding easy.