Natural Sciences and Technology - Grade 4 - Term 2

Topic 6 – Materials around us

Unit 1 – Solids, liquids and gases 14 April – 15 April 2020

 Matter makes up all the materials and substances that exist on Earth.

 Everything around us is matter (Everything around us is either a solid, a liquid or

a gas)

 Matter/ materials can exist in three different forms – solids, liquids and gases

 We call these three forms the states of matter

 Properties of the three states of matter:

o Solids

 Has a fixed shape

 You cannot change the shape easily, you will need some force to

change the shape

 E.g. If you hit a brick with a hammer, its shape will change

o Liquids

 Does not have a fixed shape

 A liquid will take the shape of the container you pour it in, it flows

 E.g. If you pour milk into a glass, it takes the shape of the glass.

When you pour it into a bowl, it will take the shape of the bowl
o Gases

 Has no shape but it takes up space

 A gas moves around freely and spreads out into open spaces.

 You cannot keep it in an open container, the container must be

closed

 You cannot see, feel or smell some gases

 E.g. Air is made up of different gases. If you blow up a balloon and

tie it off, the gas (air) is trapped inside. But when you untie the

balloon, the gas escapes and the balloon shrinks again.

Unit 2 – Change of State 16 April – 17 April 2020

 A substance changes from one state of matter to another when it gains or loses

heat

 A thermometer is used to measure temperature (how hot or cold something is)

o Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius (°C)

o Water freezes at 0 °C

o Water boils at 100 °C

 Melting

o Changing from a solid to a liquid by adding heat

o E.g. If ice cream gets warm and melts

 Evaporating

o Changing from a liquid to gas by adding heat

o E.g. When you boil water in a kettle steam (gas/water vapour) is released

 Condensing

o Changing from gas to liquid by cooling it down

o Gases condense when they lose heat

o E.g. When you boil water in a kettle, hold a plate above it. The steam will

collect on the cold plate and change back into water

 Solidifying

o Changing from liquid to solid by cooling it down

o E.g. If you put water in the freezer it will change into ice
Unit 3 – The water cycle 20 April – 22 April 2020

 The Earth has a limited amount of water

 The movement of water from the land and sea, to the air and back again

 Water will change its state through evaporation, condensation, melting and

freezing

o Water on the Earth’s surface evaporates and moves up into the air as

water vapour

 Water from the sea, rivers, dams is heated by the sun, and

changes into gas

o The water vapour cools and condenses as it rises into the air

 The gas collects in the sky because it cools down

o Drops of water high in the air form clouds

 The more water that collects, the darker the clouds become

o Drops of water will fall to the Earth as rain

 Water in the clouds can freeze and will fall to the Earth as snow or

hail. It will melt when it touches the warm surface of the Earth

o Rain, snow and hail bring water back to the Earth’s surface
Topic 6 – Activity 23 April – 27 April 2020

1. Use the words to complete the sentences.

states solids cool solidify shape space melt condense evaporate

a. The ________________________ of substances are solid, liquid and gas.

b. __________________ keep their shape.

c. Liquids take the ________________ of the container they are in.

d. Gases have no __________________, but they take up

__________________.

e. When we heat solids, they ______________ and become liquid.

f. When liquids are heated they _______________ to form gases.

g. When gases ________________ they ________________ to form liquids.

h. When liquids cool, they _____________________ and become solid.

2. Identify the states of matter (materials) in each of the pictures.

__________________ _________________
 __________________ _____________________

__________________

3. Which changes listed below are examples of melting and which are examples of

solidifying? Give a reason for each answer.

a. You have a piece of chocolate in your pocket on a hot day.

b. You put jelly in the fridge to set.

 c. You put butter in a pan so that you can fry an egg.

4. Identify the change of state in the following parts of the water cycle:

a. Clouds form __________________

b. Snow forms __________________

c. Water vapour forms __________________

d. Snow becomes liquid water __________________

Topic 7 – Solid Materials

Unit 1 – Raw and Manufactured Materials 28 April – 30 April 2020

 Raw materials are natural material such as wood, sand and clay that can be

used to make things

 Natural materials come from nature

 Sometimes we can use raw materials as they are

 When people change raw materials to make something else, we call it

manufactured materials

 Raw materials that are used to make other materials:

o Sand is used to make glass

 Rocks are broken down by the wind and water to become sand

 Sand is heated and melted into liquid

 The liquid can be shaped into different objects

 When it cools down, it solidifies to become glass objects

o Clay is used to make ceramics

 Clay is made from very fine wet sand

 It can be shaped into different objects

 The objects are heated in ovens to become hard

 These ceramic objects are hard but brittle (it can break easily)
o Coal and oil are used to make plastics, paints and fabrics

 Coal is a hard black substance that comes from deep underground

 Oil is a dark liquid that is found deep underground

 Through different processes coal and oil is used to make plastic

objects, fibres such as yarn or fabric or paint.

o Animal wool and hides are used to make fabrics and leather

 Sheep’s’ wool is spun into yarn. The yarn is woven or knit into

fabrics

 Animal hides are changed into flexible soft leather to make shoes,

handbags, etc.

o Wood and fibre from plants are used to make paper

 Wood chips are cooked to a pulp. It goes through rollers that

remove the water and dries the pulp out. Then the paper is cut into

different sizes
Unit 2 – Properties of materials 4 May – 5 May 2020

 We make things out of different materials, that is why we need to know what the

properties of the materials are – what each materials looks like and how it

behaves

 E.g. if you need a container to store water, the material that the container is

made from must be:

o waterproof so that it doesn’t leak

o strong enough to hold the water

o light enough to carry around

 Properties of materials

o Hard or soft

 If you cannot scratch or dent a material, it is hard

 E.g. you can scratch a candle with your fingernail, so it is soft

 E.g. you cannot make a dent in a piece of wood, so it is hard

o Stiff or flexible

 Flexible materials bend easily without breaking, e.g. a hosepipe

 Stiff material doesn’t bend easily, e.g. a plastic ruler

o Strong or weak

 Helps us to see if it is the right material to use

 E.g. a stone is very strong, but it is very heavy to build

o Light or heavy

 Helps us to see if it is the right material to use

 E.g. Plastic is light but can also be very strong

o Waterproof or absorbent

 Many fabrics are absorbent and can take in liquids, e.g. a

washcloth

 Other materials don’t allow liquids to pass through, e.g. a raincoat

Topic 7 – Activity 6 May – 8 May 2020

1. Match each word in column A with the correct description in column B.

A B

1. Plastics a. Threads in plant and animal materials

2. Absorbent b. Made of clay and sand

3. Brittle c. Made from oil and coal

4. Fibres d. Breaks easily

5. Ceramics e. Soak up a liquid easily

1._____ 4._____

2._____ 5._____

3._____

2. Describe the raw material of each of the following:

a. Ceramics

b. Leather
3. Write a sentence to describe what glass is.

4. Tick the properties of glass, clay and plastic.

Properties Glass Clay Plastic

Flexible

Brittle

Becomes hard when baked

Waterproof

Soft

5. Use the words in the word box to answer the questions below.

Wooden walking
Wool slippers Polyester pillow Glass jug
stick
Plastic shopping Plastic knitting
Floor tile Knitting wool
bag needles

a. Name one object that is made of a hard material.

b. Give two examples of objects that are made of soft materials

c. List two objects that are made of stiff materials

d. List two objects that are made of flexible materials.

Topic 8 – Strengthening Materials

Unit 1 – Ways to Strengthen Materials 12 May – 15 May 2020

 Structures like buildings must be strong enough to stand firm against powerful

winds, hail and rainstorms

 The materials used must also be strong

 There are different methods/ ways to make materials stronger to build structures.

 Methods to strengthen materials:

o Strengthen by folding

 Bending a material over on itself can make it stronger

 E.g. cardboard boxes have a folded layer in the middle that makes

it stiff, harder and stronger to carry heavier things in.

o Strengthen with hollow pillars

 We can save materials by using strong, hollow pillars to hold roofs

up

o Strengthen materials with struts

 Struts are lengths of strong materials that are joined to make a

strong frame.

 E.g. roll paper into thin tubes to make a chair with.

 A fair test

o When we investigate things, we need to test them

o A test is fair when we test everything in the same way

o A fair test has two parts – control and experiment

 Control – the materials have not been changed in any way

 Experiment – one thing about the experiment is changed at a time

to see how the materials will act

o An example of a fair test:

 Test the strength of a folded paper

 Method:

 Use two sheets of paper (one folded zig-zag, the other flat),

four empty boxes of the same size (e.g. jelly boxes),

two pencils (same length),

a ruler

 Conduct the test:

o Put the boxes exactly the same distance apart from

each other

o Put the folded sheet over two boxes, and the flat

sheet over the other two boxes

o Put the pencils in the middle of each sheet

 Results:

o Which sheet could hold the pencil? Which sheet was

stronger?

 Conclusion/ Interpretation:

o What does the results of the fair test prove?

Topic 8 – Practical Task 18 May – 22 May 2020

 Test and compare the strength of hollow pillars

 Watch the video of the fair test being carried out or try it at home

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bhl8HkmCzo

o Use three paper pillars

 Square – fold a paper into four equal parts, stick the edges with

cellotape to make a square shape

 Circular – bring the sides of the paper together and tape the sides

together

 Triangular – fold a paper into three equal parts, tape the sides

together

o Use books or other flat items of the same size to put on each of the pillars,

one at a time until the pillar collapses.

o Count how many items each pillar could support

o Write down the results and conclusion

 Results from the video:

Square pillar Triangular pillar Circular pillar

Number of items
14 4 18
supported by
pillar

 A bar graph is a picture that shows information in bars or columns

20

18
Number of items supported by pillar

16

14

12

10

0
Square pillar Triangular pillar Circular pillar

 Conclusion (Interpret the results):

o The circular pillar is the strongest because it could hold the most books.
Topic 8 – Activity 25 May – 27 May 2020

1. Match each word in column A with the correct description in column B.

A B

a. Bending something over on itself to strengthen a

1. Square hollow pillar sheet of material
b. A length of material that we insert into a frame
2. Folding structure to strengthen it
c. When a flat sheet of material is folded into a
3. Triangular hollow pillar square pillar
d. When a flat sheet of material is folded into a
4. Struts triangular pillar
5. Factors e. Explain what a result means
6. Control f. A test where one factor at a time is changed
7. Interpret g. Object or material where nothing is changed
h. A diagram or picture that shows information in
8. Fair test bars or columns
9. Experiment i. Things that play a role in the result
j. A special way of doing an experiment with results
10. Bar graph that can be trusted

1._____ 6._____

2._____ 7._____

3._____ 8._____

4._____ 9._____

5._____ 10.____
2. Name a structure from daily life that is a circular pillar.

3. Why does it have a circular shape?

4. Name a structure from daily life that is a square pillar.

5. Complete the sentence: the roof of a rectangular house is an overturned

__________________ pillar.

6. How many things at a time can you change in a fair test?

7. Why must all the other factors be the same in a fair test?
Topic 9 – Strong Frame Structures

Unit 1 – Struts and Frame Structures 28 May – 29 May 2020

 Frame structures :

o Need to be very strong

o Functions of frame structures:

 To hold things up

 To give a certain shape

 To bridge a gap between two places

o Made out of different parts or struts joined together

 Struts:

o Can be joined into triangular shapes to make a strong, stable frame

o Struts are added to unstable square shapes to form stable triangles

o Triangular struts prevent the sides of a structure from splitting open at a

corner joint

o The struts also prevent two sides of a structure from moving closer

together at the corner joints

o Triangulation – To put triangles in a structure

o E.g. roof trusses, bridges, cranes, pylons and skeletons

 Struts in the human skeleton:

o The bones in our legs and arms are struts and give shape to our bodies.

o Limb bones have joints that allow us to bend and move

Unit 2 – Indigenous Structures 1 June – 3 June 2020

 People build different types of traditional houses from raw materials

 They would use materials found in their environment (area where they live) –

Indigenous materials

 E.g. An igloo made by the Inuit people from Alaska

 Examples of shapes of housing structures in different parts of the world:

o Beehive structures – Huts made by Zulu, Swazi and Nama people

o Cylinder or circular shape covered with a cone-shaped roof – Rondavels

made by Xhosa people

o Triangular shape standing on the ground

o A cone-shaped structure standing on the ground – Teepee tents made by

American Red Indians

o A square house with a cone-shaped roof

 Examples of making frameworks out of struts:

o House walls were made from wattle and daub

o Wattle – wooden twigs or strips that are woven into lattice

o The lattices are tied to the square framework and struts

o Daub – a sticky mixture of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw

o Wattle and daub have been used in structures found in Swazi

communities
 Examples of indigenous houses of South Africa

o Rondavel

 Huts have round walls and thatched roofs

 Poles/ pillars are stuck into the ground

 Planks/ struts are attached to the poles

 The structure is covered with a mixture of clay and cattle dung

 Roofs are made of wooden poles covered with thatch and sewn to

the poles. The roof is waterproof

o Beehive-shaped huts

 An arch framework is made from flexible young trees

 Branches are tied together to form triangles

 Ropes and mats are woven from grass and laid over the frame. The

mats are tied to the frame

o Matjieshuis

 Branches from tamarisk trees are cut and held over a hot fire to

bend, and left to cool

 The bent branches are tied together in a dome/ arch shape

 More branches are used as struts

 Reeds are cut and dried out to weave mats. The mats are tied to

the frame
Topic 9 – Activity 4 June – 5 June 2020

1. Look at the pictures. Provide labels for A, B and C. Use the words ‘struts’,

‘pillars’, and ‘triangulation’.

2. Indigenous people used materials in their environment to build their houses.

Complete the table below.

People Materials used to build Houses they built

houses
Inuit people from Ice blocks
Alaska
Zulu people Young trees and grass mats

Nama people from Matjieshuis

Namibia
Xhosa people Poles, stone, thatch
3. Explain what is meant by wattle and daub.

4. Explain what is meant by triangulation.

5. Give two examples of where triangulation is used in modern buildings or

structures.
Term 2 – Revision Activity 8 June – 12 June 2020

1. Jane covered a beaker of water with plastic wrap and left it in a sunny place.

When she came back an hour later she noticed droplets of liquid on the inside of

the plastic wrap.

Answer these questions:

a. What were the droplets made of?

b. Name the process by which the droplets formed.

c. If Jane measured the volume of water in the beaker after one hour, would it

be greater (more than), the same or less than when she started the

investigation? Explain your answer.

2. A group of learners made ice cream. They mixed together milk, sugar and cocoa

powder. They poured the mixture into a plastic container and put it in the freezer.

The learners took the container out of the freezer the next day.

a. Which state of matter was the milk when the learners began?

b. Which state of matter was the milk when they took the ice cream out of the

freezer?

c. Why did the milk change from one state to the other?

d. Name the process that took place to make the milk change state.

e. Why would the learners pour the ice cream mixture into the container before

they put it in the freezer?

3. Look at the words from the word box to answer the questions below.

Glass jug Dish cloth Gum boots Toothbrush Clay pot

Clay brick newspaper Plastic plate Leather belt towel

a. Name two objects that are flexible.

b. Name one object that is waterproof.

c. Name two objects that are absorbent.

d. List the objects that are brittle.

4. State why you would say an object is made of a soft material?

5. Name two ways in which a sheet of paper can be changed into strong hollow

pillars.

6. Which raw material is used to make a glass jug?

7. Give an example of a manufactured ceramic material.

8. Explain how a soft clay brick becomes hard.

9. Compare the properties of a glass jug and a plastic jug.

Glass Jug Plastic Jug

10. Describe what a fabric is, and give one example of a fabric.

11. Make a drawing with labels to show why a triangle is a more stable structure than

a square.

12. Explain how you can test which shape structure is stronger.