Science – Autumn 2 Term Overview

🔬 Science – Autumn 2: Everyday Materials

This half term in Science, Year 1 will be exploring the wonderful world of materials! We’ll be investigating what different objects are made from, how materials can be used, and why certain materials are chosen for different jobs.

🧩 What We’re Learning

Identifying Materials

• We’ll explore and name a variety of everyday materials, including:
  wood, plastic, glass, metal, water, and rock.

• Children will look closely at the objects around us and identify what they’re made from (e.g. a wooden door, a glass window, a metal key).

Describing Properties

• We’ll learn to describe materials by their simple properties, such as:
  hard, soft, stretchy, shiny, dull, rough, smooth, bendy, waterproof, transparent.

• Children will use scientific vocabulary to explain what they see and feel.

Investigating Uses

• We’ll explore why different materials are used for certain purposes – for example,
  Why is a spoon made of metal? Why are windows made of glass?

• Children will compare and group objects based on their materials and uses.

Science in Action

• Through hands-on activities and simple experiments, we’ll test which materials are waterproof or bendy, and discuss what makes them suitable for building or protecting things.

• Children will work scientifically by observing closely, asking questions, and recording their findings in simple ways.

Cross-Curricular Links

• Design & Technology: Choosing suitable materials for making models or vehicles (linked to the “Touring the UK” project).

• English: Using descriptive language to talk and write about materials and their properties.

• Maths: Sorting and classifying materials by different properties.

🧠 Skills We’re Developing

• Naming and identifying different materials

• Describing properties using scientific vocabulary

• Observing and recording findings from simple tests

• Asking and answering scientific questions

• Understanding how materials are chosen for their purpose

🏡 How You Can Support at Home

• Go on a “material hunt” around your home – what can you find that’s made of wood, plastic, metal, or glass?

• Talk about why things are made from certain materials (e.g. Why is a raincoat waterproof?)

• Read stories or watch videos that explore materials, such as The Three Little Pigs (and discuss which house was strongest and why!).

• Try a simple experiment: test which materials float, sink, or let water through.