Identify everyday materials such as glass, metal, wood and rubber from their physical properties. Review suitability for your learners before teaching.
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Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Everyday materials & properties
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Which property of metals allows them to be drawn out into long thin wires (such as copper wire): ductility or brittleness?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
2. What happens when salt or sugar is stirred into warm water: it dissolves to form a solution, or it turns into metal?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
3. Which material is waterproof and suitable for making rain boots: rubber or tissue paper?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
4. Which property describes a material like ceramic or glass that shatters easily when dropped: brittle or flexible?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
5. What do we call a mixture of two or more elements, where at least one is a metal (such as bronze made from copper and tin, or steel from iron and carbon): an alloy or a solvent?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
6. Which property of metals allows them to be hammered or rolled into thin sheets (such as aluminium foil) without shattering: malleability or solubility?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
7. Which material is attracted to a magnet: iron (steel) or wooden pine?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
8. Why is expanded polystyrene or woollen fleece used as thermal insulation: trapped air pockets slow down heat transfer, or it generates electricity?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
9. Why is stainless steel used for surgical instruments and kitchen sinks: it resists rust and corrosion, or it dissolves in cold water?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
10. Which property describes a material like a rubber band that stretches when pulled and returns to its original shape: elastic or rigid?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
11. Does sand dissolve when stirred into a glass of water, or is it insoluble and settles to the bottom?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
12. When sugar dissolves in water, which substance is the solvent and which is the solute: water is the solvent and sugar is the solute, or sugar is the solvent?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
12 questions · Seed 95 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
View the answer key
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Everyday materials & properties
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Which property of metals allows them to be drawn out into long thin wires (such as copper wire): ductility or brittleness?
Ductility
Ductile materials can be stretched into wire under tension.
2. What happens when salt or sugar is stirred into warm water: it dissolves to form a solution, or it turns into metal?
It dissolves to form a solution
Salt and sugar are soluble in water, dispersing evenly to form a clear solution.
3. Which material is waterproof and suitable for making rain boots: rubber or tissue paper?
Rubber
Rubber is flexible and waterproof, so water cannot soak through it.
4. Which property describes a material like ceramic or glass that shatters easily when dropped: brittle or flexible?
Brittle
Brittle materials crack or shatter under impact rather than bending.
5. What do we call a mixture of two or more elements, where at least one is a metal (such as bronze made from copper and tin, or steel from iron and carbon): an alloy or a solvent?
Alloy
Alloying combines metals to improve strength, hardness or corrosion resistance.
6. Which property of metals allows them to be hammered or rolled into thin sheets (such as aluminium foil) without shattering: malleability or solubility?
Malleability
Malleable materials can be shaped by hammering or rolling without cracking.
7. Which material is attracted to a magnet: iron (steel) or wooden pine?
Iron (steel)
Iron and steel are ferromagnetic metals; wood is non-magnetic.
8. Why is expanded polystyrene or woollen fleece used as thermal insulation: trapped air pockets slow down heat transfer, or it generates electricity?
Trapped air pockets slow down heat transfer
Still air is a poor conductor of heat, so materials that trap air insulate well.
9. Why is stainless steel used for surgical instruments and kitchen sinks: it resists rust and corrosion, or it dissolves in cold water?
It resists rust and corrosion
Chromium in stainless steel forms a protective oxide film that prevents rusting.
10. Which property describes a material like a rubber band that stretches when pulled and returns to its original shape: elastic or rigid?
Elastic
Elastic materials deform under force and spring back when released.
11. Does sand dissolve when stirred into a glass of water, or is it insoluble and settles to the bottom?
Insoluble and settles to the bottom
Sand (silicon dioxide) is insoluble in water and can be separated by filtration.
12. When sugar dissolves in water, which substance is the solvent and which is the solute: water is the solvent and sugar is the solute, or sugar is the solvent?
Water is the solvent and sugar is the solute
The liquid that does the dissolving is the solvent; the dissolved solid is the solute.
12 questions · Seed 95 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioPractice pack · Ages 7-9
Everyday materials & properties
Take your time. Show your thinking.
1. Which property of metals allows them to be drawn out into long thin wires (such as copper wire): ductility or brittleness?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
2. What happens when salt or sugar is stirred into warm water: it dissolves to form a solution, or it turns into metal?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
3. Which material is waterproof and suitable for making rain boots: rubber or tissue paper?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
4. Which property describes a material like ceramic or glass that shatters easily when dropped: brittle or flexible?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
5. What do we call a mixture of two or more elements, where at least one is a metal (such as bronze made from copper and tin, or steel from iron and carbon): an alloy or a solvent?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
6. Which property of metals allows them to be hammered or rolled into thin sheets (such as aluminium foil) without shattering: malleability or solubility?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
7. Which material is attracted to a magnet: iron (steel) or wooden pine?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
8. Why is expanded polystyrene or woollen fleece used as thermal insulation: trapped air pockets slow down heat transfer, or it generates electricity?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
9. Why is stainless steel used for surgical instruments and kitchen sinks: it resists rust and corrosion, or it dissolves in cold water?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
10. Which property describes a material like a rubber band that stretches when pulled and returns to its original shape: elastic or rigid?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
11. Does sand dissolve when stirred into a glass of water, or is it insoluble and settles to the bottom?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
12. When sugar dissolves in water, which substance is the solvent and which is the solute: water is the solvent and sugar is the solute, or sugar is the solvent?
Material Properties Test · Rigid · Flexible · Waterproof
12 questions · Seed 95 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification
Worksheet StudioAnswer key · Ages 7-9
Everyday materials & properties
Answers and reasoning. Review before teaching.
1. Which property of metals allows them to be drawn out into long thin wires (such as copper wire): ductility or brittleness?
Ductility
Ductile materials can be stretched into wire under tension.
2. What happens when salt or sugar is stirred into warm water: it dissolves to form a solution, or it turns into metal?
It dissolves to form a solution
Salt and sugar are soluble in water, dispersing evenly to form a clear solution.
3. Which material is waterproof and suitable for making rain boots: rubber or tissue paper?
Rubber
Rubber is flexible and waterproof, so water cannot soak through it.
4. Which property describes a material like ceramic or glass that shatters easily when dropped: brittle or flexible?
Brittle
Brittle materials crack or shatter under impact rather than bending.
5. What do we call a mixture of two or more elements, where at least one is a metal (such as bronze made from copper and tin, or steel from iron and carbon): an alloy or a solvent?
Alloy
Alloying combines metals to improve strength, hardness or corrosion resistance.
6. Which property of metals allows them to be hammered or rolled into thin sheets (such as aluminium foil) without shattering: malleability or solubility?
Malleability
Malleable materials can be shaped by hammering or rolling without cracking.
7. Which material is attracted to a magnet: iron (steel) or wooden pine?
Iron (steel)
Iron and steel are ferromagnetic metals; wood is non-magnetic.
8. Why is expanded polystyrene or woollen fleece used as thermal insulation: trapped air pockets slow down heat transfer, or it generates electricity?
Trapped air pockets slow down heat transfer
Still air is a poor conductor of heat, so materials that trap air insulate well.
9. Why is stainless steel used for surgical instruments and kitchen sinks: it resists rust and corrosion, or it dissolves in cold water?
It resists rust and corrosion
Chromium in stainless steel forms a protective oxide film that prevents rusting.
10. Which property describes a material like a rubber band that stretches when pulled and returns to its original shape: elastic or rigid?
Elastic
Elastic materials deform under force and spring back when released.
11. Does sand dissolve when stirred into a glass of water, or is it insoluble and settles to the bottom?
Insoluble and settles to the bottom
Sand (silicon dioxide) is insoluble in water and can be separated by filtration.
12. When sugar dissolves in water, which substance is the solvent and which is the solute: water is the solvent and sugar is the solute, or sugar is the solvent?
Water is the solvent and sugar is the solute
The liquid that does the dissolving is the solvent; the dissolved solid is the solute.
12 questions · Seed 95 · Age guidance, not curriculum certification