Things We Use Every Day
Primary 1 · Science and Elementary Technology
Things We Use Every Day
Lesson 1 of 3
12 min
Let's begin
Ishimwe tips out his school bag on the desk. Out comes a pencil, a plastic ruler, a metal water bottle and a cloth bag.
His teacher smiles and asks him one question: "Ishimwe, what is each thing made of?"
Today you will learn to answer that question about anything you touch.
Pick up a wooden spoon. Now pick up a metal spoon.
Both are spoons. Both do the same job. But they are not the same. One is made of wood. One is made of metal.
The stuff a thing is made of is called its material.
Every single thing you touch is made of some material. Your chair. Your shoe. Your cup. Your window. Nothing is made of nothing!
Wood comes from trees. A man cuts a tree, and the hard part inside becomes wood.
Wood is hard. It is not heavy like metal. If you rub it, it feels a little rough, but a smooth desk has been rubbed flat.
Look for wood: your desk, your chair, the door, a pencil, the handle of a hoe, a cooking spoon (umwuko), a broom handle.
Metal comes out of the ground, from rocks. It is heated in a very hot fire until it is soft, and then it is made into things.
Metal is very hard. It is heavy. It is cold when you first touch it, and it shines.
Look for metal: a nail, a key, the blade of a hoe, a cooking pot, roofing sheets, a padlock, coins.
You cannot bend a nail with your fingers. Try. That is metal for you.
Plastic is made in a factory. People make it. It does not grow on a tree.
Plastic is light. It is smooth. Many plastic things bend a little before they break. Water cannot go through it.
Look for plastic: a jerrycan, a bucket, a basin, a water bottle, a ruler, a chair on the veranda, a comb.
Cloth comes from plants and from animals. Cotton grows on a cotton plant. Wool is cut from a sheep.
Cloth is soft. It is light. It bends any way you like. It soaks up water like a sponge.
Look for cloth: your school uniform, a bedsheet, a towel, a beautiful igitenge, a football shirt.
Clay is soft, sticky earth. People dig it near a river.
When clay is wet you can squeeze it and shape it with your hands. Then it is dried in the sun and baked in a hot fire. After the fire it is hard, like a stone.
Look for clay: a cooking pot (inkono), a water jar, bricks, a clay whistle, roof tiles.
Hold anything in your hand and ask: "What are you made of?"
Ishimwe's ruler is plastic. His bottle is metal. His pencil is wood. His bag is cloth. Four things, four materials, one desk.
Tip
Learn the five words with your hands. Touch something and say it out loud:
Wood from a tree. Metal from a rock. Plastic from a factory. Cloth from a plant or a sheep. Clay from the earth.
Say your answer first, then tap Show answer to check.
What material is a nail made of?
Answer: metal. It is hard, it shines, and you cannot bend it with your fingers.
Keza's grandmother digs soft wet earth by the river and shapes it into a pot. What material is that?
Answer: clay. After the fire bakes it, the clay pot is hard.
Where does wood come from?
Answer: from trees.
Name two things in your classroom that are made of wood.
Answer: many answers are right. The desk is wood. The chair is wood. The door and your pencil are wood too.
Mugisha holds a jerrycan, a bedsheet and a key. Name the material of each one.
Answer: the jerrycan is plastic, the bedsheet is cloth, and the key is metal.
Note
What you learned today:
Quick check
Match each material to where it comes from.
Tap one on the left, then its partner on the right.
