Investigating Materials (What Are Objects Made Of?)

Is chocolate a good material for making a teapot? Will a cardboard umbrella be waterproof? And once we’ve fried an egg, can we reverse that change to make it raw and runny again?

It’s time for kids to think like scientists and get hands-on investigating materials. Students will:

• Carry out structured investigations and fair tests to observe, compare, test, and classify materials, including wood, metal, plastic, paper, and fabric.
• Compare observable properties, such as color, texture, hardness, strength, flexibility, and absorbency, and whether a material is liquid or solid.
• Analyze data from testing to determine which material properties—such as hardness or absorbency—make materials suitable for different purposes. They will also learn how some bigger objects can be made from smaller pieces.
• Investigate how some materials change when they are heated or cooled and construct arguments with evidence to explain why some changes can be reversed (such as freezing water) while others (such as cooking an egg) cannot.
• And discover how everyday materials, including paper, steel, glass, and plastic are manufactured.

The book builds early scientific skills including: planning and carrying out simple hands-on investigations, making and recording observations, comparing results, and using evidence to answer questions. The fact-packed text supports informational text reading standards while meeting core science requirements and reinforcing scientific vocabulary. Ready-to-go downloadable resources and worksheets are available. This book delivers hands-on, inquiry-based learning aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) for Grade 2, directly targeting the NGSS Physical Sciences performance expectations: 2-PS1-1 to 2-PS1-4.