Class 3 - EVS - Materials Around Us

Learning Objectives

Students will be able to identify common materials (wood, metal, plastic, glass, rubber, cloth, paper).
Students will be able to describe properties of materials (hard/soft, rough/smooth, heavy/light).
Students will be able to tell the difference between transparent and opaque materials.
Students will be able to sort objects by the material they are made of.

Let Us Begin!

Look around your classroom. Your desk is made of wood. Your water bottle may be made of plastic. The window has glass. Your uniform is made of cloth.

Everything around us is made of some material. Different materials have different properties, and that is why we use them for different things.

Common Materials

Material	Examples of Things Made From It
Wood	Table, chair, door, cricket bat, temple carvings
Metal	Spoon, cooking pot, keys, bicycle, railway tracks
Plastic	Water bottle, comb, bucket, toys, lunch box
Glass	Window pane, mirror, drinking glass, spectacles
Rubber	Eraser, tyre, rubber band, chappal sole
Cloth	Shirt, saree, curtain, school bag, handkerchief
Paper	Notebook, newspaper, kite, greeting card

Properties of Materials

Properties We Can Feel

Property	Meaning	Examples
Hard	Difficult to press or bend	Metal spoon, stone, glass
Soft	Easy to press or squeeze	Cotton, sponge, rubber ball
Rough	Not smooth; feels bumpy	Brick, sandpaper, jute bag
Smooth	Even surface; feels nice to touch	Glass, silk cloth, plastic bottle
Heavy	Weighs a lot	Iron rod, stone mortar
Light	Weighs very little	Feather, paper, plastic bag

Think about it: A steel thali is hard and smooth. A jute bag is rough and light. Every material has more than one property!

Transparent vs Opaque

Transparent materials let light pass through them -- you can see through them. Example: glass, clear plastic, clean water.

Opaque materials do not let light pass through -- you cannot see through them. Example: wood, metal, cardboard, stone.

Key Words and Meanings

Word	Meaning
Material	What a thing is made of
Property	A quality of a material (how it looks, feels, or behaves)
Transparent	Can see through it (like glass)
Opaque	Cannot see through it (like wood)
Natural	Found in nature (wood, cotton, rubber)
Man-made	Made by people in factories (plastic, nylon)

Examples

Example 1: Identifying Material

What material is a cooking vessel (patila) made of?

A cooking vessel is made of metal (steel or aluminium). Metal is hard, smooth, and can take heat.

Example 2: Transparent or Opaque?

Can you see through a wooden door? No. Wood is opaque.

Can you see through a glass window? Yes. Glass is transparent.

Key Points to Remember

Common materials are wood, metal, plastic, glass, rubber, cloth, and paper.
Materials have properties: hard/soft, rough/smooth, heavy/light.
Transparent materials let light through (glass). Opaque materials do not (wood).
We choose materials based on their properties (glass for windows, metal for cooking).
Some materials are natural (wood, cotton) and some are man-made (plastic, nylon).

Practice Questions

A. Fill in the Blanks

A window is made of because it is transparent.
An eraser is made of .
Materials that we cannot see through are called .
A cricket bat is made of .
Cotton cloth feels (rough / smooth).

B. Write the Material

School bag:
Cooking pot:
Notebook:
Tyre:
Spectacles (lenses):

C. Write Transparent or Opaque

Glass bottle:
Wooden plank:
Clear plastic sheet:
Metal plate:

D. Multiple Choice Questions

Which material is transparent?
(a) Wood(b) Metal(c) Glass(d) Rubber
A saree is made of:
(a) Metal(b) Cloth(c) Plastic(d) Paper

Fun Activity -- Material Hunt

Walk around your home and find one object made of each material. Write the object name and one property you notice.

Material	Object Found	Property (hard/soft/rough/smooth)
Wood	____________________	____________________
Metal	____________________	____________________
Plastic	____________________	____________________
Glass	____________________	____________________
Rubber	____________________	____________________
Cloth	____________________	____________________
Paper	____________________	____________________

Science / EVS -- Class 3

Science / EVS -- Class 3 (continued)