What things are made of
Chemistry · Key Stage 1 · The School
Object vs material
A spoon is an OBJECT. What it is made from — metal, plastic, or wood — is its MATERIAL. The same object can come in different materials: a metal spoon and a wooden spoon are both spoons. Scientists always ask both questions: what is it, and what is it made of?
Property words
Materials have properties — words that describe how they behave. Hard or soft. Bendy or stiff. Rough or smooth. Waterproof or absorbent. See-through (transparent) or not (opaque). Glass is hard, smooth, and transparent; a sponge is soft and absorbent.
Choosing the right material
Properties explain choices. Windows are glass because it is transparent and waterproof. Towels are fabric because it is soft and absorbent. A glass towel or a fabric window would fail at its job — the material must match the task.
Line up a metal spoon, a wooden spoon and a plastic spoon. All three are the same OBJECT — a spoon — and they are made of three different MATERIALS. Now go the other way: find three different objects all made of metal, perhaps a spoon, a key and a coin. One material, three objects. Saying both sentences out loud is what separates the two ideas for good.