3
Natural or made?
Workbook 2: Topic 3.1, pp. 29–31
GoalSort materials into natural and made, and say where an object came from.
New words
sort · to put things into groupssource · the place something comes fromknit · to make cloth from wool thread using two long needles
Explanation
To sort a material, ask one question. Did people have to change it a lot to make it? If not, it is natural, like a rock or a log. If people made it, like paper or glass, it is a made material. Many things have a story. A sheep grows wool. A worker spins the wool into long thread. Then the thread is knitted into a warm scarf. Wool is natural, but the scarf was made by people.
Worked examples
Kenji picks up a smooth pebble on the beach. It is a natural material.
Grandma’s scarf began on a sheep. Its story goes: sheep, wool, thread, scarf.
A paper cup comes from wood, but a clay cup comes from the ground. Both start as natural materials.
Class activity
Sorting game (with an adult): find ten objects at home, such as a wooden spoon, a glass jar, a stone, a wool sock and a paper bag. Make two hoops or circles on the floor. Put natural things in one and made things in the other. Say what each object started as.
Practice
1
Is this log natural or made?
Natural.
2
Is paper natural or made?
Made. People make it from wood.
3
Put these in order, starting with the natural material: book, wood, tree.
Tree, wood, book (the paper in the book is made from wood).
4
Name one thing in your classroom made of wood and one made of plastic.
For example: a table or a pencil (wood); a ruler or a pencil case (plastic).