(gentle music) <v ->In this Year 2 lesson</v> from the unit "Uses of Everyday Materials", pupils build on their substantive knowledge of materials by learning about the property of absorbency. Prior to this, pupils learned that the words we use to describe a material are called its properties, and that the properties of materials make them suitable or unsuitable for particular uses. Guided by the teacher, pupils learn that some materials soak up liquids, such as water, and this can be a useful property when we want to absorb or soak up liquids. For example, after a bath or shower or when cleaning up spills. We can use absorbent materials to make objects such as flannels and towels. <v ->So we have been talking about different materials. </v> I wonder if anybody can remember what we said a material was. Hmm, do you remember, Will? <v Will>It's something that makes an object,</v> like a bag is made out of plastic. <v ->Right, so materials are what objects are?</v> <v Pupils>Made from. </v> <v ->Made from, yeah, made from. </v> And we also started looking at which materials were suitable for different jobs. We also talked about things that were unsuitable, didn't we? Can anybody tell me something that would be an unsuitable material, Lucy? <v Lucy>Chocolate for a teapot. </v> <v ->Chocolate for a teapot. That would be really unsuitable. </v> So today we're gonna be focusing on materials that are or are not absorbent. And we've got Lucas and Sofia here who are planning on doing an investigation to find out which materials are absorbent. I'd like you to talk about the properties of that material. So what does it look like, how does it feel, and what can you do with it? And then you are going to be thinking about, "What might happen if I test this material to see how absorbent it is?" Foil, where have you seen foil before? <v ->Yeah, this one feels like it will drip off. </v> <v ->This is really bumpy. </v> (pupils chattering) <v ->So now we are going to think about</v> what we could do to test out our ideas. Remember, we want to find out which of these materials are absorbent. So before I show you a few ideas, I'd like you to have a talk in your group and see if you can come up with some ways that you could find out which of your materials are absorbent and which of them are not. Put some water on the top, and we could watch to see what happened. <v ->We scrub it. We could do that and see what mops it up. </v> <v ->Right. </v> Lucas says, "Materials that are absorbent soak up water. If we drip water over each material, we can observe if they soak up the water." "We could pour a cup of water into a small tray and put a material into the tray. Then we can take it out and squeeze it to see how much water has been absorbed." So two different ideas to find out which of our materials are absorbent or not absorbent. <v ->This video shows pupils as active participants,</v> working purposefully as they think and talk about different ways to investigate whether materials are absorbent. In doing so, pupils develop their disciplinary knowledge by recognising that a scientific question, such as which materials are absorbent, can be answered in different ways. <v ->This time, I'd like you to talk about</v> the ideas that you had. Were they similar to Lucas's and Sofia, or did you have a different idea altogether? Have a little chat. <v ->Put them down in the water, and take it out, then. </v> <v ->Squeezed it on the tray,</v> we would see how much water the material absorbed, and how much of that water that was absorbed got out into the tray. (pupils chatting) <v ->Our idea is different to Sofia and Lucas's</v> because we are going to put drips of water onto the table and then put our material onto the water to see if it soaks it up. <v ->Now that pupils have shared their ideas</v> about how to investigate the property of absorbency, they should carry out their investigations and record and compare their results. This will provide an excellent opportunity for them to evaluate the different methods chosen and suggest improvements to their inquiries. (bright music).