MATTER ACTIVITIES

THE PROPERTIES OF MATERIALS

All materials have special properties which make them useful for a specific purpose.

• Steel is strong and resistant.
• Leather is flexible.
• Rubber is elastic.
• Glass is transparent.
• Aluminium is light and resistant.
• Pottery is fragile.

Images from wikipedia.
Aluminium, Glass, Pottery, Rubber, Leather, Steel

MAN-MADE MATERIALS

Man-made materials are not found in nature.
They are manufactured from raw materials.

MAN MADE MATERIALS 
Photos from Flickr (Cement) and Wikipedia (Asphalt, Glass, Concrete, Plastic)

NATURAL MATERIALS

We find natural materials in nature.
Natural materials come from animals, plants or minerals.

• Leather, wool and silk come from animals.
• Wood and rubber come from plants.
• Granite and marble come from minerals.

NATURAL MATERIALS
Photos from Flickr (Hemp) and Wikipedia (Wood, Petroleum, Gold)

WHAT ARE MATERIALS?

Materials are the substances we use for building, making tools, making clothes...

Some materials to build something... Photot from Antidote to Burnout

OXIDATION AND COMBUSTION

Oxidation and combustion are chemical changes.
Oxidation is when a substance combines with oxygen.
Combustion is when something burns.

CHEMICAL CHANGES

A chemical change is when one or more substances change into one or more different substances.
This is also called a chemical reaction.

• When wood or fabric burn, they change into ashes and carbon dioxide.
• When milk changes into yoghurt or cheese, it is no longer milk.
• When fruit is overripe, the colour and flavour change.

Chemical reactions are frequently used in industry.

Overripe pear. Photo by Nancy Waldman

CHANGES OF STATE

Substances change state when they are heated or cooled.
We call these physical changes because the substances stay the same.

Photo by: By M.manary at en.wikibooks [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons

CHANGES IN MATTER: MIXTURES

Mixtures are two or more substances mixed together.
Alloys are mixtures of two metals.
Alloys have different properties from the metals they are made of.

MATTER CHANGES

Matter changes all the time.
Three types of changes in matter are: mixtures, changes of state and chemical changes.

THE STATES OF MATTER

All matter exists in three states:

• Solid: solids have a fixed volume and a shape which does not change.
• Liquid: liquids have a fixed volume, but their shape can change. They adopt the shape of the container they are in. Liquids can flow from one place to another.
• Gas: gases do not have a fixed shape or a fixed volume. They adopt the shape and the volume of the container they are in.

Images from Wikipedia

THE PROPERTIES OF MATTER

All objects have two properties in common:

• Mass: is the amount of matter in an object. Mass is measured in Kilograms or grams.
• Volume: is the amount of space an object occupies. The volume of liquids is measured in litres or mililitres. The volume of solids is measured in cubic metres or cubic centimetres.

Other properties: objects also have other properties: colour, hardness, lustre and transparency.

MATTER

Everything around us is made of matter.
Rocks, tables and windows are made of matter.
Water and air are matter.
We call all the different types of matter substances.
Water, air, iron and quartz are substances.

REMEMBER

THE CHANGES OF STATE OF WATER
Water can exist in three states; as a solid, a liquid and a gas.
Ice is solid, water in rivers and lakes is liquid, and water in the atmosphere is water vapour.


PRODUCTS FROM PLANTS
Plants give us wood, paper, cotton, linen and other products.


PRODUCTS FROM ANIMALS
Animals give us materials such as leather, wool and silk.

IMAGES FROM: SILK DEVIANTART; WOOL WIKIPEDIA; LEATHER WIKIPEDIA; PAPER DEVIANTART; WOOD WIKIPEDIA; LINEN WIKIPEDIA, COTTON WIKIPEDIA

ECOSYSTEMS ACTIVITIES AND TEST

PROTECTING ECOSYSTEMS

There are laws to protect ecosystems.
One way of protecting ecosystems is to make them nature reserves.
In this way the authorities look after them and prevent them from deteriorating.
There are many nature reserves throughout the world.

Lagoon in Peñalara, photo by Miguel303 in wikipedia

PROTECTING ECOSYSTEMS: OVEREXPLOITATION

Sometimes people take more animals or plants than the ecosystem can produce.
This is called overexploitation.
If we continue doing this, the animals or plants could become extinct.
One example is overfishing.
Sometimes people catch too many of one type of fish.
These fish are in danger of extinction.
This is happening to tuna fish and anchovies.

Overfishing

PROTECTING ECOSYSTEMS: DEFORESTATION

Deforestation is the disappearance of forests.
This happens when trees are cut down for wood or to make space for fields to grow crops.
Forests animals also disappear.
Erosion is another problem which destroys ecosystems.
This is when wind and rain sweep away the soil.
Plants and trees disappear.

 

PROTECTING ECOSYSTEMS: POLLUTION

Pollution can affect air, water and soil.

It can harm many living things in ecosystems.

Air pollution. Photo from wikipedia

Water pollution. Photo from wikipedia

Water pollution. Photo from ecofaxina

Soil pollution. Photo from wikipedia

PROTECTING ECOSYSTEMS: ECOSYSTEMS DETERIORATE

Living things in an ecosystem interact with each other.
An ecosystem deteriorates.
This can have serious effects on other living things.
Ecosystems deteriorate because of pollution, deforestation and overexploitation.

RELATIONSHIPS IN ECOSYSTEMS: COOPERATION

Living things also help each other.
We call this cooperation.
Some plants make nectar in their flowers.
Nectar is a sweet liquid which insects like very much.
As insects move from flower to flower to obtain nectar, they pollinate plants.
In this way, these plants and insects help each other.

RELATIONSHIPS IN ECOSYSTEMS: COMPETITION

Sometimes living things compete with each other to get what they need because they need the same things.
We call this competition.

• Plants compete for sunlight. Some plants grow very tall, very rapidly. Plants in the shade of other plants do not grow very much.
• Some birds compete for places to build their nests. Crows and falcons like the same rocky áreas to nest. Usually the falcons drive away the crows.

RELATIONSHIPS IN ECOSYSTEMS: FOOD CHAINS

To show how living things feed off other living things in an ecosystem, we can draw them in a row and link them with arrows.
This is called a food chain.
The rabbit eats the grass.
The rabbit is a primary consumer.
The genet eats the rabbit.
The genet is a secondary consumer.

GRASS. PRODUCER. From wikipedia.

RABBIT. PRIMARY CONSUMER. From wikipedia

GENET. SECONDARY CONSUMER. From wikipedia

 

RELATIONSHIPS IN ECOSYSTEMS: FOOD

In an ecosystem, each type of living thing needs different food.

• Plants produce their own food.
• Herbivores eat plants.
• Carnivores eat other animals.

Plants are called producers because they produce their own food.

Animals are called consumers because they eat, or consume, other living things.

Plants are essential, they produce the food which all living things need.

MAIN TYPES OF ECOSYSTEMS

There are many different types of ecosystems on Earth.
We can classify them into:
A.- Terrestrial ecosystems:

• Forests: forests have lots of trees. These provide food and shelter for animals.
• Grasslands: grasslands have lots of grass. Large herbivores eat the grass.
• Deserts: there are not many plants and animals in deserts because it does not rain very much.

B.- Aquatic ecosystems:

• Freshwater ecosystems: These are found in rivers, streams and lakes. Rivers and streams have moving water. Lakes have still water.
• Saltwater ecosystems: These ecosystems are in the sea. They are found on the coasts, in coral reefs and in the open sea.

Forest. Wikipedia

Grassland. Wikipedia

Desert. Wikipedia

Freshwater ecosystem. Wikipedia

Coral Reef. Saltwater ecosyste. Wikipedia

ECOSYSTEMS

An ecosystem is made up of all the living things and all the non-living components that function together in one place:

• Living things: these are the plants and animals living in the ecosystem.
• The environment: this is everything which affects these living things, such as temperature, water, the type of soil, types of rock...

LIVING THINGS HAVE DIFFERENT NEEDS

All plants need water and sunlight.
Some plants need a lot of water and usually grow near rivers.
Other plants do not need much water so they grow in deserts.
Animals need different things, too.
Fish need to live in water to breathe.
Most birds need to live in a place with trees so they can build their nests.
Living things live in places where they can satisfy their needs.
This is why you find different living things in different places.

Weeping willow, from Wikipedia

Cacti, from Wikipedia

Fish, picture by Peter Symonds on Wikipedia

Black Woodpecker nest in a tree, by Alastair Rae on Wikipedia

REMEMBER

LIVING THINGS AND NUTRITION
Plants make their own food.
To do this, they need water, mineral salts, carbon dioxide and sunlight.


POLLUTION
People, animals and plants need clean water and fresh air.
Sometimes water and air are polluted

PLANTS ACTIVITIES

PLANT REPRODUCTION: FRUITS AND SEEDS

After the pollen grains reach the stigma, a fruit forms.
Inside the fruit are the seeds.
Fruits can be fleshy or dry.

• Fleshy fruits contain a lot of water. They are juicy.
• Dry fruits contain little water.

Inside each seed there is a tiny plant.
The seed falls to the ground, absorbs water, then germinates.
The little plant starts to grow and becomes a new plant.

Fleshy fruits, from ndhealthfacts

Dry fruits, from americandryfruit

PLANT REPRODUCTION: POLLINATION

Pollination is the transfer of pollen from the stamens of one flower to the stigma of the same or of another flower.
Some plants have very beautiful flowers.
They attract insects which land on the flowers.
Pollen sticks to the insects.
The insects carry the pollen to other flowers.
Other plants are not so attractive to insects.
They produce a lot of pollen grains, which the wind carries to the stigmas of other flowers.

Bee collecting pollen. Photo by Jon Sullivan, in PDPhoto.org

PLANT REPRODUCTION: FLOWERS

The plant's reproductive organs are in the flowers.
Flowers have four main parts:

• Tha calyx. This is made up of small green leaves called sepals. Sepals protect the flower.
• The corolla. This is made up of coloured leaves called petals.
• The stamens. These are the male parts of the flower. They produce pollen.
• The pistil. This is the female part of the flower. It is shaped like a bottle. It consists of the stigma, the style and the ovary.

PLANT NUTRITION: PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Plant make their own food in their leaves.
This process is called photosynthesis.
Water and mineral salts travel from the roots through the stem to the leaves.
In the leaves, the water and mineral salts mix with carbon dioxide and become food for the plant.
To carry out photosynthesis, plants need to use a lot of energy from sunlight.
During photosynthesis, plants release oxygen.
All the oxygen in the air comes from photosynthesis.

Photo from mdkshareef111

PLANT NUTRITION: CARBON DIOXIDE

Carbon dioxide is one of the gases found in air.
Living things release carbon dioxide when they breathe.
Carbon dioxide is always released when something burns.
It is also released by car engines.
Plants take in carbon dioxide through their leaves.

Photo from blogspan.

Photo from Ecofriend.

Photo from Gizmag (Shutterstock)

Photo from Real Trees 4 Kids

OUR PLANTS

Here you have some photos of the plants we have at home:

To start here you have the plant that Alex shared with us:

And here there are the plants that Claudia wants to show you:

Lydia wants us to see this plant:

Susana has to show you a video of her plant, it is a very special one:

This is the plant that Juan brought to our class this morning:

And this is the plant that Andrea shared with us:

Here you have Paula's cactus:

All of them are wonderful, please, show us your plants!