SCHOOL DIRECTORY
Catholic Education South Australia
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Inquiry Questions

What are the properties of natural and processed materials that make them useful for packaging?
How can I design an effective package that will protect a fragile gift during the delivery process?

Australian Curriculum

Teacher notes

In these activities students apply the observable properties of materials to explain how objects and materials can be used. They identify when science is used to understand the effect of their actions and follow instructions to identify questions about familiar contexts and make predictions based on prior knowledge. Students describe ways to conduct investigations and safely use equipment to make and record observations with accuracy as well as use provided tables and column graphs to organise data and identify patterns. 

Resources

Primary Connections: Chemical Sciences-Package it Better

The Package it Better unit links science and technology with literacy in the classroom. It provides opportunities for students to develop an understanding of the design of packages and the choice of appropriate materials to use. Students design and test a package that will safely deliver a fragile gift. Through investigations students observe and gather information about what makes a successful package. 

Package it better provides students with hands-on opportunities to: 

  • explore the properties of materials used in packaging 
  • discuss the environmental impacts of packaging materials 
  • investigate the capacity of different materials to protect food from impact 
  • investigate how the shape of paper impacts its strength 

Students apply their new learning by: 

  • designing, making and evaluating an effective package that will protect a fragile parcel during the delivery process 

Linking science with literacy 

In  Package it better, students represent and explain their understanding about how natural and processed materials have a range of physical properties that can influence their use, by creating these representations: 

  • Design portfolio 
  • Interview 
  • Oral presentation 
  • Procedural text 
  • Summary 
  • Data table 
  • Word wall 

Primary Connections: Package it Better

Kidadl: Types of Materials Explained 

Materials are used to build everything in the world around us.  Read this article to find out why different properties make materials useful for some purposes and less useful for others.  

Kidadl: Types of Materials Explained