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Science · Grade 2

Build with Material Properties

Why are towels cotton and pot handles wood or plastic? Learners connect properties to purposes, then analyze data from material tests, including a simulation that heats one end of metal, wood and plastic spoons, to choose the best material for a job. Finally they take apart a block building and rebuild the same pieces into something new, discovering that small pieces can make many different objects.

  • 3 lessons
  • About 75 minutes
  • Materials for the job check: 8 questions
  • Ways to answer: choose an answer, match pairs, type a number, put in order and true or false
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What learners will discover

  • Analyze data from material tests to choose the material best suited for a purpose.
  • Explain why a material's property suits an object's job.
  • Show that an object made of small pieces can be taken apart and the same pieces built into a new object.

Lessons

  1. Properties fit purposes 4 steps2 practiceabout 20 min
  2. Let the data choose 6 steps3 practiceabout 28 min
  3. Take it apart, build something new 7 steps3 practiceabout 27 min
  4. Materials for the job check 8 questions at the end

Keep exploring

Games to practice with

  • Marble MountainLay straights, curves, drops and splitters to roll marbles down the mountain.
  • Habitat Builder 3DFind the right home for frogs, camels, polar bears and more.
  • Weather LabPredict the weather in a box, then run a fair test to find out why.

More 2nd grade science

Guide for grown-ups