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Objects around us
Objects around us
We have seen that our food and clothes have so much variety in them. Not just food and clothes, there is such a vast variety of objects everywhere. We see around us, a chair, a bullock cart, a cycle, cooking utensils, books, clothes, toys, water, stones, and many other objects. All these objects have different shapes, colors, and uses (Fig. 4.1).
Fig. 4.1 Objects around us
Look around and identify objects that are round in shape. Our list may include a rubber ball, a football, and a glass marble. If we include objects that are nearly round, our list could also include objects like apples, oranges, and an earthen pitcher (gharha). Suppose we were looking for objects that are edible. We might include all the items that we have listed in Tables 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 in Chapter 1. We might also find that some of those round-shaped objects we just listed out are also in this group.
Let us say, we wish to make a group of objects that are made of plastics. Buckets, lunch boxes, toys, water containers, pipes, and many such objects, may find a place in this group. There are so many ways to group objects! In the above examples, we have grouped objects on the basis of their shape or the materials they are made from. All objects around us are made of one or more materials. These materials may be glass, metal, plastics, wood, cotton, paper, mud, or soil. Can you think of more examples of materials?
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Activities on sorting materials into groups
Activity 2 (Objects made of different material)
Let us collect as many objects as possible, from around us. Each of us could get some everyday objects from home and we could also collect some objects from the classroom or from outside the school. What will we have in our collection? Chalk, pencil, notebook, rubber, duster, a hammer, nail, soap, spoke of a wheel, bat, matchbox, salt, potato. We can also list objects that we can think of, but cannot bring to the classroom. For example, walls, trees, doors, tractors, roads.
Separate all objects from this collection that are made from paper or wood. This way we have divided all objects into two groups. One group has objects that are made from paper or wood while the other group has objects that are not made of these materials. Similarly, we could separate the things that are used for preparing food.
Let us be a little more systematic. List all objects collected, in Table 4.1. Try to identify the materials that each one is made of. It would be fun to make this a large table — collecting information about as many objects as possible. It may seem difficult to find the materials out of which some of these objects are made. In such cases, discuss with your friends, teacher, and parents to identify the materials.
Table 4.1 Objects and the materials they are made of
Objects
Materials they are made of
Plate (thrift)
Steel, glass, plastics
(Any other)
Pen
Plastics, metal
Activity 2 (Different types of objects)
Table 4.2 lists some common materials. You can also add more materials in Column 1 that are known to you. Now, try and think of everyday objects you know, that are made mainly of these materials, and list them in Column 2
Table 4.2 Different types of objects that are made from the same material
Materials
Objects made of these Materials
Wood
Chair, table, plough, bullock cart and its wheels,
Paper
Books, notebooks, newspaper, toys, calendars…
Leather
Plastics
Cotton
What do we find from these tables? First, we grouped objects in many different ways. We then found that objects around us are made of different materials. At times, an object is made of a single material. An object could also be made of many materials. And then again, one material could be used for making many different objects. What decides which material should be used for making any given object? It seems that we need to know more about different materials.