Study guide: Describe Materials Carefully
Use observable properties to explain a material choice.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- Use supplied descriptions, not touching unknown objects. A property is something you can describe. Two objects may share one property and differ in another.
- Choose the named property before sorting. An object can belong to more than one property group. Shape and color are different features; one does not determine the other.
- A material choice depends on the purpose. These pretend test cards show what happened to water and light. They do not mean every sample of a material behaves identically.
- A direct observation says what a record shows. A guess may be worth checking but is not already measured. Predictions describe what might happen next.
Useful vocabulary
- smooth
- surface without noticeable bumps
- round
- curved outline like a circle
- water blocker
- water stays on the outside in this card
- observation
- what the supplied record directly shows
Watch your reasoning
- Check what smooth and rough each mean. They describe different clues.
- Check what round and square each mean. They describe different clues.
- Check what water blocker and water soaker each mean. They describe different clues.
A worked review example
Worked reference-card problem: a card states “surface without noticeable bumps”; a second states “surface with noticeable bumps.” The first fits smooth and the second fits rough. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case. Worked reference-card problem: a card states “curved outline like a circle”; a second states “four equal sides and four right-angle corners.” The first fits round and the second fits square. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case. Worked reference-card problem: a card states “water stays on the outside in this card”; a second states “water enters the sample in this card.” The first fits water blocker and the second fits water soaker. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case. Worked reference-card problem: a card states “what the supplied record directly shows”; a second states “what might happen in a later test.” The first fits observation and the second fits prediction. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case.
Make a practice plan
- Use an example from Name what a surface feels like. Say what happens and point to the clue that helps explain it.
- Complete Sort by a stated property and correct the specific misconception in its feedback.
- Resolve a changed case from Choose a covering from a record, then combine the four ideas in the transfer task.