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Science Quiz - Materials - Testing the Properties (Questions)

In this KS1 Science quiz, test different materials to discover which stay cool, bend, soak up water, or block heat in real-life situations.

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(quiz starts below)

Fascinating Fact:

Oven gloves and pan handles stay cool because they are made from materials that do not let heat travel quickly.

In KS1 Science, children investigate different materials to find out which are strong, soft, bendy, waterproof, or good at stopping heat. Simple tests help them choose safe, sensible materials for everyday objects.

Key Terms

Property: A special feature of a material, such as hard, soft, stretchy, or waterproof.
Insulator: A material that slows down heat travel, helping to keep things warm or cool.
Conductor: A material that lets heat travel through it quickly, like many metals.

Frequently Asked Questions (Click to see answers)

How do you test material properties in KS1 science?

In KS1 science, children gently bend, stretch, squash, soak, or warm materials and observe what happens. They record results to decide which materials are best for a particular job.

What materials are good heat insulators for children to learn about?

Good heat insulators include thick fabrics, wool, some plastics, and wood. These are used in oven gloves, pan handles, and lunchboxes to help protect hands and keep food safe.

Why is it important to test materials before using them?

Testing materials is important so we choose ones that are safe and useful, such as strong glass for windows, waterproof coats for rain, or cool handles for hot pans.

Try These Related Quizzes

1.

Ella's mum and dad have a plastic bag, a cardboard bag, a paper bag, and a leather bag. How can Ella test to see which is the strongest bag?

[ ]	Pour water into each bag
[ ]	Put weights into each bag
[ ]	Look at the bags with a magnifying glass
[ ]	Jump up and down on the bags

2.

Tom has some straws. One is made of plastic. One is made of paper. One is made of waxed card. One is made of rubber. Tom wants to know which material is the bendiest. How can Tom test to see which one is the bendiest?

[ ]	Drink through each straw in turn
[ ]	See how far each straw will twist round a beaker
[ ]	Pull hard on each straw
[ ]	Squash the straws with weights

3.

Toni has four blocks of wood. The four blocks of wood are all the same size and weight. Some are smooth and some are rough. How can Toni find out which block of wood is the smoothest?

[ ]	Pull them along the ground with a piece of string
[ ]	Drop them all from a table onto the floor
[ ]	Put them on a slide and see which one goes furthest
[ ]	Put them on a slide and see which one does not move

4.

Adam wants to find the stretchiest material.

Adam has a piece of string, a piece of wool, a piece of cotton, and a rubber band. They are all 10 cm long.

Adam ties a 50 gram weight to each one.

What must Adam measure to find out which one is stretchiest?

[ ]	Measure the length before and after adding the weight
[ ]	Only measure the length before adding the weight
[ ]	Measure how heavy the weight is
[ ]	Measure the temperature

5.

Anna has a bag of flour and a bag of feathers. She wants to check which is the softest. What should she do?

[ ]	Put her hand into the bags and say which one is softest.
[ ]	Ask two people to put their hands into the bags and say which is softest.
[ ]	Ask ten people to put their hands into the bags and say which is softest.
[ ]	Ask ten people to look into the bags and say which is softest.

6.

Anna has a bag of flour and a bag of feathers. She does a test to decide which is the softest. She asks ten people to put their hands into the bags and say which is softest. Here are her results:

7 people say the feathers are softest. 2 people say the flour is softest. 1 person says they are both as soft as each other.

What has Anna found out?

[ ]	Flour is softer than feathers
[ ]	Feathers are probably softer than flour
[ ]	Flour and feathers are both as soft as each other
[ ]	Feathers are soft

7.

Ali has a piece of paper and a piece of card. She wants to know which is the shiniest. How can she test to see which is the shiniest?

[ ]	Look at them in the dark
[ ]	Shine a torch on them and see which one reflects the most light
[ ]	Try cutting them with scissors
[ ]	Try stretching them

8.

Freddie has two bottles of tomato sauce. He wants to know which one is the runniest. How can he test them to find out?

[ ]	Shake both the bottles
[ ]	Squeeze both the bottles
[ ]	Turn both the bottles upside down at the same time and see which one comes out quickest
[ ]	Turn both bottles upside down and shake them

9.

Sarah has six glass bottles. They are all different colours. Sarah wants to know which glass bottle is most transparent. What can she do?

[ ]	Shine a torch through each one and see which is brightest
[ ]	Shine a torch through each one and see which is dullest
[ ]	Tip the bottles upside down
[ ]	Roll the bottles along the floor

10.

Grace has two boxes of tissues. Grace wants to know which tissue is best.

She takes one tissue from each box. She puts them in saucers. Then she pours a teaspoon of water on each tissue.

How does Grace know which tissue is best?

[ ]	The best tissue soaks up only a little bit of water
[ ]	The best tissue soaks up no water
[ ]	The best tissue soaks up the most water
[ ]	The best tissue soaks up hardly any water

You can find more about this topic by visiting BBC Bitesize - Describing materials

Science Quiz - Materials - Testing the Properties (Answers)

1.

Ella's mum and dad have a plastic bag, a cardboard bag, a paper bag, and a leather bag. How can Ella test to see which is the strongest bag?

[ ]	Pour water into each bag
[x]	Put weights into each bag
[ ]	Look at the bags with a magnifying glass
[ ]	Jump up and down on the bags

Which one of the four bags do you think will be the strongest? Which do you think will be the weakest?

2.

Tom has some straws. One is made of plastic. One is made of paper. One is made of waxed card. One is made of rubber. Tom wants to know which material is the bendiest. How can Tom test to see which one is the bendiest?

[ ]	Drink through each straw in turn
[x]	See how far each straw will twist round a beaker
[ ]	Pull hard on each straw
[ ]	Squash the straws with weights

The bendiest straw is the most flexible straw

3.

Toni has four blocks of wood. The four blocks of wood are all the same size and weight. Some are smooth and some are rough. How can Toni find out which block of wood is the smoothest?

[ ]	Pull them along the ground with a piece of string
[ ]	Drop them all from a table onto the floor
[x]	Put them on a slide and see which one goes furthest
[ ]	Put them on a slide and see which one does not move

How can you make a piece of wood smoother?

4.

Adam wants to find the stretchiest material.

Adam has a piece of string, a piece of wool, a piece of cotton, and a rubber band. They are all 10 cm long.

Adam ties a 50 gram weight to each one.

What must Adam measure to find out which one is stretchiest?

[x]	Measure the length before and after adding the weight
[ ]	Only measure the length before adding the weight
[ ]	Measure how heavy the weight is
[ ]	Measure the temperature

Which one of the four materials do you think will be the stretchiest?

5.

Anna has a bag of flour and a bag of feathers. She wants to check which is the softest. What should she do?

[ ]	Put her hand into the bags and say which one is softest.
[ ]	Ask two people to put their hands into the bags and say which is softest.
[x]	Ask ten people to put their hands into the bags and say which is softest.
[ ]	Ask ten people to look into the bags and say which is softest.

In this test, ask as many people as possible

6.

Anna has a bag of flour and a bag of feathers. She does a test to decide which is the softest. She asks ten people to put their hands into the bags and say which is softest. Here are her results:

7 people say the feathers are softest. 2 people say the flour is softest. 1 person says they are both as soft as each other.

What has Anna found out?

[ ]	Flour is softer than feathers
[x]	Feathers are probably softer than flour
[ ]	Flour and feathers are both as soft as each other
[ ]	Feathers are soft

That was a hard question!

7.

Ali has a piece of paper and a piece of card. She wants to know which is the shiniest. How can she test to see which is the shiniest?

[ ]	Look at them in the dark
[x]	Shine a torch on them and see which one reflects the most light
[ ]	Try cutting them with scissors
[ ]	Try stretching them

Mirrors are very shiny

8.

Freddie has two bottles of tomato sauce. He wants to know which one is the runniest. How can he test them to find out?

[ ]	Shake both the bottles
[ ]	Squeeze both the bottles
[x]	Turn both the bottles upside down at the same time and see which one comes out quickest
[ ]	Turn both bottles upside down and shake them

This could be a messy experiment!

9.

Sarah has six glass bottles. They are all different colours. Sarah wants to know which glass bottle is most transparent. What can she do?

[x]	Shine a torch through each one and see which is brightest
[ ]	Shine a torch through each one and see which is dullest
[ ]	Tip the bottles upside down
[ ]	Roll the bottles along the floor

Don’t forget, you can see through a transparent material

10.

Grace has two boxes of tissues. Grace wants to know which tissue is best.

She takes one tissue from each box. She puts them in saucers. Then she pours a teaspoon of water on each tissue.

How does Grace know which tissue is best?

[ ]	The best tissue soaks up only a little bit of water
[ ]	The best tissue soaks up no water
[x]	The best tissue soaks up the most water
[ ]	The best tissue soaks up hardly any water

The best tissue is the most absorbent