So much plastic!
Plastic is a processed material that can be moulded and formed into many different shapes. There are thousands of different types of plastic that can be used for many different purposes. Plastic can be thick or thin, hard or bendy, coloured or see-through.
The word "plastic" comes from the Greek word, plastikos, which means "to mould or form".
Have a look around you. Where can you see plastic being used in your school, your home or other places you go?
Brainstorm your ideas in an AnswerGarden.
Remember to use your best spelling. Keep your answers short (20 characters). If someone else has already included your idea, you can click on the idea, and resubmit it. Ideas that are common will be shown bigger than the other ideas.
The word "plastic" comes from the Greek word, plastikos, which means "to mould or form".
Have a look around you. Where can you see plastic being used in your school, your home or other places you go?
Brainstorm your ideas in an AnswerGarden.
Remember to use your best spelling. Keep your answers short (20 characters). If someone else has already included your idea, you can click on the idea, and resubmit it. Ideas that are common will be shown bigger than the other ideas.
Building our Vocabulary
In this unit we will be encountering many words that may be new to you. Here are some of the words you will need to learn and their meanings:
Property
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A characteristic or function of a material
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Properties
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Characteristics or functions of materials
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Material
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What something is made of
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Plastic
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A processed material that can be formed into different shapes
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Processed
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Created through a manufacturing process
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Chemical reaction
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A process that changes substances
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Characteristic
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A special quality of something
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Function
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The purpose or use of a thing
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How do we get plastic?
Some materials like wood and metal are natural materials. Wood comes from trees. Metal comes from rocks and minerals. We can change these materials from their natural state to make them more useful for our purposes, but we know that they come from the Earth's resources.
Most plastics that we use each day can not be found in nature. Some plastics can be found in nature (such as rubber) but most of the plastics we use are processed from natural materials. Read the explanation on the What are Plastics? page. What are some of the natural materials used to make plastic?
Most plastics that we use each day can not be found in nature. Some plastics can be found in nature (such as rubber) but most of the plastics we use are processed from natural materials. Read the explanation on the What are Plastics? page. What are some of the natural materials used to make plastic?
Let's make some plastic
In this demonstration, the material you will make is like plastic, but it is not really a plastic. Doing this activity will help you to understand how plastic is made from other ingredients.
You will need:
1 cup of milk
4 tablespoons of vinegar
Heat the milk until it is hot but not boiling. Add the vinegar and stir. Separate the liquid from the solids.
You can read more about this demonstration on Science Bob's page.
This demonstration is not an experiment. To make an experiment you will need to work out the variables in the demonstration and decide which ones you will change, measure and keep the same.
Use the Experiment Planner to help you to plan your own experiment about Plastic Milk.
You will need:
1 cup of milk
4 tablespoons of vinegar
Heat the milk until it is hot but not boiling. Add the vinegar and stir. Separate the liquid from the solids.
You can read more about this demonstration on Science Bob's page.
This demonstration is not an experiment. To make an experiment you will need to work out the variables in the demonstration and decide which ones you will change, measure and keep the same.
Use the Experiment Planner to help you to plan your own experiment about Plastic Milk.