Year 5 Science Properties of Materials – Block 5PCM – Music Festival Materials

Session 3:Food packaging challenge
Science curriculumarea: Properties of Materials / i. give reasons, based on evidence from comparative and fair tests, for the particular uses of everyday materials, including metals, wood and plastic
Working Scientifically (UKS2) / i. planning different types of scientific enquiries to answer questions, including recognising and controlling variables where necessary
ii. taking measurements, using a range of scientific equipment, with increasing accuracy and precision, taking repeat readings when appropriate
iii. recording data and results of increasing complexity using scientific diagrams and labels, classification keys, tables, scatter graphs, bar and line graphs
iv. reporting and presenting findings from enquiries, including conclusions, causal relationships and explanations of and degree of trust in results, in oral and written forms such as displays and other presentations
v. identifying scientific evidence that has been used to support or refute ideas or arguments
Teaching Objectives /
  • Plan and carry out an investigation on a range of papers that explores their strength
  • Record and share investigation results in the form of a ‘paper presentation’
  • Researchthe properties of materialsused for making drinks bottles

Key Vocabulary:opinion/fact, variables, accuracy, precision, bar chart
Resources‘Lunch food’ (include something greasy), sample questions for encouraging strength testing, equipment (see list) & guidance for investigation, video recording devices. / Weblinks
- How paper is made from wood: watch to 5mins 30.
Whole Class:Get all equipment and resources ready and have each table set up with a plate of lunch food (including something greasy, like a cake or sausage roll!).Explain to chn they are going to take food outside later and have a picnic, but that they can’t take the plates outside. Give chn 2 mins to think about how they should transport it and how they can take a drink of tap water with them. Share ideas and explain that this is usually the case at festivals - you buy food and take it away. Hopefully chn have suggested that paper bags/card boxes and plastic or glass bottles seem to be the way to go when it comes to take-out refreshments, but explain thatthe festival organisers want to know which paper is the best to use, and whether stall holders should go with glass or plastic for their drinks bottles.Clarify that chn know what paper is made from (wood, plant or material pulp) – show them the image and ask what it is! Watch the video on paper manufacturing and give 1 min to name as many types of paper as chn can in pairs (tissue, kitchen roll, computer paper, calligraphy paper, card board, etc.). Chn need to test a range of papers to decide which they think is the strongest and most suited to becoming a take-out food bag. Get chn to complete this paper challenge first (see below). Once completed, explain chn are now going to consider two bottle options to be used at the festival: plastic or glass. The bottles need to be fit for purpose, but also safe and environmentally friendly.Chn do some online research and come up with a list of pros and cons for using both materials under the following headings: Fitness for purpose; Health and safety; Environmental issues; Preservation of contents. Point out that while plastics are cheap, light and easy to make, they generally need to be recycled after use (and downgraded in terms of use to things like carpet padding, as the plastic loses its integrity), unless they are robust enough to be reused; while glass is heavier it is easier to reuse (better than recycling – this was commonly done 30 years ago) as well as being recycled back into quality glass bottles.Have a range of bottles available (include transparent and translucent). Explain that many drinks can be affected by light ‘damage’, so more opaque or translucent bottles might be better - why don’t we find more opaque bottles? (Cost; harder to recycle; harder to see the drink that you are buying!)
Activities:Using the sticky-note approach, chn need to identify an enquiry question, variables, and suggest a way to test strength. Support chn to ensure they are on the right lines. Encourage chn to come up with a table for recording the results. Encourage chn to come up with their own ideas for testing the strength (see sample questions). The guidance on running this experiment is mainly for teacher reference or to support LA chn.Ask chn if they can now think of any other features of a paper bag that might improve its longevity and fitness for purpose when it comes to transporting greasy food like a sausage roll (some kind of coating that prevents grease soaking into the paper – can chn predict that the bag will weaken if it absorbs moisture of any kind?). Get chn to do further investigations byoil soaking their papers. Get chn to share results in a videoed ‘paper presentation’, looking at the merits of each.
Plenary / What did chn recommend and why? Why is it important that we consider a range of properties when we are looking for fitness for purpose? (Because ‘purpose’ often requires more than one property) What happened when the paper was oiled? How do chn think the paper could be treated to prevent the grease soaking in? (Show them pre-prepared PVA glue coated paper.)Make a list of the pros and cons of plastic and glass for drinks (ask chn what other material drinks can be stored in – aluminium cans) – which would they recommend. Explain that carbonated drinks also don’t last as long in plastic as they do in glass – can chn suggest why? Plastic is more porous!
Outcomes / Children will
  • Plan and set up an investigate into the strength of various papers
  • Select the best paper from a range of papers to make a take-out food bag
  • Research glass and plastic as bottle materials and identify their key properties
  • Recommend a material for drinks bottles, based on a range of environmental and property based criteria

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