Packaging pioneers
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- identify the materials used in different packaging and containers.
- conduct simple tests to explore the properties of those materials.
- consider why those materials were selected for that purpose.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- discuss ideas and test results with their team and the class.
- record test results.
In this lesson, assessment is formative.
Feedback might focus on:
- students’ identification and description of the materials and properties.
Whole class
Class science journal (digital or hard-copy)
Demonstration copy of the Materials property testing Resource sheet
Each group
3 different types of packaging material: one made of paper, one made of soft plastic, and one made of glass or hard plastic
Access to water
Each student
Individual science journal (digital or hard-copy)
Materials property testing Resource sheet
Lesson
Re-orient
Recall the previous lesson, reviewing all the different types of packaging materials students saw and/or identified.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying and constructing questions is the creative driver of the inquiry process. It allows students to explore what they know and how they know it. During the Inquire phase of the LIA Framework, the Question routine allows for past activities to be reviewed and to set the scene for the investigation that students will undertake. The use of effective questioning techniques can influence students’ view and interpretation of upcoming content, open them to exploration and link to their current interests and science capital.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to spend some time considering the mindset of students at the start of each Inquire phase. What do you want students to be thinking about, what do they already know and what is the best way for them to approach the task? What might tap into their curiosity?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkProperties of materials
Create a list or mind map showing what students know about paper, plastic and glass packaging materials. Encourage the students to identify different types of paper (e.g. paper towel, deli/butchers paper), plastic (both soft such as salad bags and cling wrap, and hard, such as bottles and boxes) and glass packaging (e.g. jars, bottles), as well as their different uses.
Display three examples of these packaging materials that students will be testing during the investigation: one made of paper, one made of soft plastic, and one made of glass or hard plastic.
Introduce the term ‘properties’ as the qualities or attributes of a material that can be observed or measured. Review some properties identified in the previous lesson such as bendy/flexible or see-through/transparent.
Pose the question: What properties do these packaging materials have?
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkTesting for properties
Name some of the properties of different packaging materials students might think are important. These might include:
- waterproof
- puncture resistant
- flexible
- lightweight
- heat resistant (e.g. doesn’t change when heated)
- cold resistant (e.g. doesn’t change under extreme cold conditions)
Note: The resource sheet lists the properties above for testing, however, these can be edited to suit your context or left blank so they can be filled in during the lesson. More columns might also be added.
Discuss what each property means and determine how students will test each property. For example:
- to determine if a material is puncture resistant, students might test if a hole can be made in the material with a pen.
- to determine if a material is waterproof, students might pour a cup of water into it and see if it leaks.
Describe each test in the relevant row on a demonstration copy of the Materials property testing Resource sheet.
Discuss how you will maintain ‘fairness’ during these tests. For example, by having the same students use the same pen to poke each material with the same amount of force, or pouring the same amount of water on each material at the same rate.
Discuss if there are any properties you cannot test in the classroom (e.g. extreme heat and cold). Explain that students will make a prediction about these properties rather than test for them.
If required, model how to record data for each test using the demonstration copy of the Materials property testing Resource sheet.
Teams carry out their testing and record the results using their own copy of the Materials property testing Resource sheet.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkFollowing an investigation, the Integrate routine provides time and space for data to be evaluated and insights to be synthesized. It reveals new insights, consolidates and refines representations, generalises context and broadens students’ perspectives. It allows student thinking to become visible and opens formative feedback opportunities. It may also lead to further questions being asked, allowing the Inquire phase to start again.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment that was undertaken during the Launch phase. Consider if alternative conceptions could be used as a jumping off point to discussions. How could students represent their learning in a way that would support formative feedback opportunities? Could small summative assessment occur at different stages in the teaching sequence?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying properties
Teams share results with the class. Use the demonstration copy of the Materials property testing Resource sheet to tally/record each team’s results for each packaging material.
Reach a consensus decision about the properties of each packaging material. If teams recorded differing results for a material (for example, most teams could puncture the paper with a pen, but one team could not), discuss why this might have occurred.
Introduce the terms ‘natural’, ‘man-made’ and ‘processed’, and discuss their meaning:
- Natural materials occur within the natural environment and have undergone very little modification.
- Processed materials are often modified from natural materials for a particular use.
- Man-made materials often do not look like their original source. For example, plastic is usually made from fossil fuel.
Look at the materials tested and ask students to consider if they are natural or man-made/processed, and if they are man-made/processed, how much processing they went through to become that material. Allow them the opportunity to share any knowledge of experiences they have with these materials being produced.
Discuss how materials could be modified to change their properties (to improve food packaging and storage in the future). You might record some of their ideas and questions in the class science journal.
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- add to the class word wall of vocabulary related to properties and materials
- re-examine the intended learning goals for the lesson and consider how they were achieved.
- discuss how students were thinking and working like scientists during the lesson. For example, if teams did end up with varying test results, consider what scientists might do to ensure this doesn’t happen.
- consider how this investigation will be helpful in designing their food packaging solution.