Science Matter & Materialsusually ages 5–6

Objects vs Materials

Distinguish between an object and the material from which it is made, understanding that objects can be made from different materials

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Explain the difference between an object (e.g. a chair) and the material it is made from (e.g. wood)
Give examples of the same object made from different materials (e.g. plastic cup, glass cup)
Identify what material a given object is made from by looking at and touching it

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Try this together

If you hold up a wooden spoon and a metal spoon, can your child explain that both are spoons (the object) but made from different materials?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Nothing on the map comes before this — it’s a starting point.

Objects vs Materialsthis skill · ages 5–6

Unlocks

Naming Everyday Materialsages 5–6Must distinguish objects from materials before naming specific materials

Taking Apart & Rebuildingages 7–8Must understand objects vs materials before reasoning about reassembling pieces

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Candidate matches to official curriculum codes — machine-suggested, unreviewed (v0.1).

Show candidate curriculum codes · 3 ACARA · 2 NSW · 3 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

AC9S2U03medium confidenceYear 2 · Science understanding

recognise that materials can be changed physically without changing their material composition and explore the effect of different actions on materials including bending, twisting, stretching and breaking into smaller pieces

AC9SFU02medium confidenceFoundation · Science understanding

describe how objects move and how factors including their size, shape or material influence their movement

AC9TDE2K02low confidenceYear 1–2 · Knowledge and understanding

explore how technologies including materials affect movement in products

NSW syllabus codes & stages only

STE-SCI-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Early Stage 1

ST1-DDT-01low confidenceScience and Technology K-6 · Stage 1

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S2U04high confidenceScience · Foundation to Level 2 · Science Understanding strand

VC2S2U05medium confidenceScience · Foundation to Level 2 · Science Understanding strand

VC2S2U06low confidenceScience · Foundation to Level 2 · Science Understanding strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Describing Material Propertiesages 5–6 Grouping Materialsages 5–6 Naming Everyday Materialsages 5–6 States of Matter Vocabularyages 5–7

All Matter & Materials skills →