What students learn in AC9S2U03
This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of That materials can be changed physically without changing their material.... The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.
- Start with the main idea: 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.
- Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
- exploring how materials can be physically changed to suit a particular purpose, such as twisting strands of cotton or wool together to make the thread stronger, or folding paper to make it fly manipulating materials such as paper or fabric, and determining ways they can be physically changed by scrunching, twisting or bending, or broken into smaller pieces by cutting, tearing or crushing
- Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.
Curriculum coverage and elaborations
The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.
- Content description: 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
- E1: exploring how materials can be physically changed to suit a particular purpose, such as twisting strands of cotton or wool together to make the thread stronger, or folding paper to make it fly
- E2: manipulating materials such as paper or fabric, and determining ways they can be physically changed by scrunching, twisting or bending, or broken into smaller pieces by cutting, tearing or crushing
- E3: crushing a stick of chalk into a powder, comparing the properties of the stick and the powder, and discussing whether it is still the same material
- E4: exploring how First Nations Australians make physical changes to natural materials to produce objects such as bowls, baskets and various fibre crafts (teaching context)
- E5: creating an ‘odd one out’ game by providing samples of the same material that has been physically changed in different ways, and one sample of a different material, and challenging other students to identify the odd one out
How to use this unit
Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.
Teacher resource
AC9S2U03 teacher slide
Use this one-page PDF to introduce the key idea, vocabulary and teaching sequence before students begin the activities.
Open teacher slide (PDF)Common mistakes to watch for
- Describing what is seen without connecting it to a question, pattern or prediction.
- Using everyday words only and missing simple scientific vocabulary.
- Changing more than one thing in an investigation, which makes the comparison unfair.
International curriculum mapping
This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.
| Region | Curriculum | Closest mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Curriculum v9.0 | AC9S2U03 — 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 |
| Victoria | Victorian Curriculum F-10 | Year 2 Science: closest match in Chemical sciences. Use this page as a VIC-aligned practice and worksheet reference. |
| NSW | NSW Curriculum | Stage 1 Science: closest content focus for That materials can be changed physically without changing their material... and related outcomes. |
| United States | Common Core / NGSS | Grade 2 NGSS science closest topic match for That materials can be changed physically without changing their material.... |
| England / UK | National Curriculum | Key Stage 1 / Year 2: closest programme-of-study match for That materials can be changed physically without changing their material.... |
| Canada | Provincial and territory curricula | Grade 2 closest topic match. Canada varies by province, so use this as a broad Ontario/BC-style learning outcome reference. |
| New Zealand | New Zealand Curriculum | Level 1 Science: closest achievement-objective topic for That materials can be changed physically without changing their material.... |
| India | NCERT / CBSE | Class 2 closest NCERT/CBSE topic match for That materials can be changed physically without changing their material.... |