Waves & Different Materials
Your child can explain why a black shirt gets hotter than a white one in the sun. Black soaks up more light, while white reflects it away. Surfaces absorb or reflect differently.
In curriculum terms
Explain how waves can be absorbed, transmitted, or reflected by different materials, and apply these interactions to explain colour perception, sight, communication technologies, and the effects of different surfaces on wave behaviour
Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →
How to tell they’ve got it
Tick these off as you see them — no test required.
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Try this together
If your child was wearing a black t-shirt on a sunny day and a friend was wearing white, could they explain using wave interactions why the black shirt gets hotter — and which properties of materials determine how they absorb or reflect radiation?
Where this sits on the map
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Curriculum alignment
Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.
This skill sits beyond Year 6 in the Australian Curriculum, so no F–6 code is matched. It also sits beyond the NSW K–6 syllabuses. It also sits beyond Level 6 in the Victorian Curriculum.