Module 5: We Love Our Things
We Love
Our Things
LEARN
Objective: to learn a variety of materials that humans use to make things
Vocabulary: material
Reading: Little Blue Chair
Discovery Activity: Find a Thing
Earth Friends Lesson
Module 5: Lesson 1
Begin Lesson
move & discover: 7 minutes
Materials Make Things
Passing around the materials will be repeated at the beginning of each lesson; however, each week the children will be asked to identify or categorize the materials in a different way.
Materials Needed: a sample* of the following 10 materials
Wood
Plastic
Rubber
Metal
Fabric
Glass
Paper
Ceramic
Cardboard
Leather
Have the children sit in a circle and then pass around the material samples one at a time. Is it hard or soft? Light or heavy? How does it feel?
*Samples of materials should be: nondescript (plastic cannot be a straw, metal cannot be a can), about the size of a smart phone, safe with no rough or sharp edges. You can find a good amount at a home renovation store or flooring store.
Curious Question
What is a thing? I wonder what humans use to make things.
Allow each child to think about what a thing is or see if they can name things they see.
Main Lesson
Humans can make all kinds of things. Humans can make toys, buildings, tools, clothes, boxes, books, shoes, cars, and more. All our things are made from materials.
sit & engage: 5 minutes
Earth’s Energies
FIRST, choose a physical characteristic and ask each child to find a thing that matches it. For example: Find a thing that is hard [light, soft, white, heavy, big, tiny, rough].
NEXT, gather the things in a circle and discuss what each is made of. How are they different or the same? For example, for “hard” could be a block, book, plastic animal, or pencil.
NOW, find several objects that share characteristics.
Bonus: As children count what they find, there is an opportunity for older children to record and interpret data using the following methods:
tally marks to show number of objects that share a characteristic
soft II
heavy IIII
tiny IIII III
bar graphs to show categorization of different soil friends
.
Closing Sentiment
We use many different materials to make our things. Some materials are hard and some soft. Some are heavy and some are light. Materials feel and look different.
sit & learn: 8 minutes
Use the photo book to show the children the different kinds of materials.
End Lesson
Teachers in the Classroom
Teacher Activity
What I Made
Take the children outside to go on a scavenger hunt for 3 objects. This can be anything in nature or a material object that is found outside (a bottle cap or string) as long as the 3 objects are safe. Once back inside, give the children a selection of art supplies and tools. Ask them to create something. It does not have to be specific or themed. Give them the freedom to make any "thing" they want out of their objects.
Throughout the Week
Discover: the materials in the box. Either individually or in a circle let the children hold and feel the materials and see if they can remember what they are.
Explore: what things you can find outside that humans make. Cars, playground apparatuses, garbage cans. What materials were used?
Create: Using paper and crayons, ask the children to draw pictures of their favorite things that humans make. Some children may draw a tree or a bird, and you can use this as an example to talk about things made by nature (natural) or things made my humans (material).
Reading: Little Blue Chair
Vocabulary: material
Good Choices
I can ask what my things are made of.
I can take care of the things I own.
I can ask before I use other people's things.
Vocabulary:
material: Humans make all different kinds of things, and our things are made out of different materials.
Families at Home
Discuss: We talked about what different materials are used to make our things-wood, plastic, metal, fabric, glass, paper, ceramic. You can walk around your house with your child and talk about what different things are made of. Share what some of your favorite things are made of.
Wood
Plastic
Rubber
Metal
Fabric
Glass
Paper
Ceramic
Cardboard
Leather
Discover: what materials are in your home. This is a little like Eye Spy, but it focuses on the physical characteristics of objects. Find A Thing that is ... hard, soft, heavy, light, fragile, tough... You can either let your child bring it to you or walk around and find things together.
Once you have a selection of things that are soft (for example), you can talk about what materials each soft thing is made out of.