8 Activities to help students understand materials and their properties

Why materials matter in the classroom

Every object your students touch, wear, or use throughout the school day is made from a material that was chosen for a reason. The chair they sit in, the pencil they write with, the jacket they grab at recess. Each one tells a story about properties, design choices, and trade-offs.

That’s what makes materials science such a rich topic to teach. It connects the abstract (molecular structure, physical properties) to the tangible (why is this bridge made of steel and not wood?). And it stretches across the curriculum, from elementary science standards on matter to high school chemistry and engineering design.

But how do you make material properties feel relevant and engaging for students at every grade level? The key is pairing hands-on exploration with high-quality video resources that bring real-world applications into the classroom. The activities below do exactly that, drawing on ClickView’s curated video collections to give your students a deeper understanding of the materials that shape their world.

Activities for elementary students

1) Sort and classify everyday materials

Young students are naturally curious about the world around them. Why is a window made of glass instead of fabric? What makes some things hard and others soft? Tapping into that curiosity is the first step toward building a solid understanding of material properties.

Start by watching Materials and Their Properties, a short Miniclips video that introduces students to basic material properties like hardness, flexibility, and transparency. Then follow up with Organizing Properties (Grouping Materials by Properties), which models how to group materials based on shared characteristics.

• Collect 15 to 20 everyday objects from around the classroom (a rubber band, a wooden block, a metal spoon, a plastic cup, a fabric scrap, a rock, and so on)
• Have students work in small groups to sort the objects by a property you assign: hard or soft, flexible or rigid, transparent or opaque, rough or smooth. For an extra layer of challenge, have students choose the criteria of their groups and justify their thinking
• After sorting, ask each group to present their categories and explain their reasoning
• Challenge students to re-sort using a different property. Did any objects change groups? Why?

This activity reinforces the idea that a single material has multiple properties, and that the property you focus on determines how you classify it. For a deeper dive into how scientists identify materials, pair it with the video How to Identify Materials.

2) Test materials in a mini lab

There’s nothing quite like a hands-on experiment to make scientific concepts stick. Setting up a materials test lab in your classroom lets students observe properties like absorbency, strength, and waterproofing firsthand.

Before the experiment, screen Materials Test Lab from the Experimentary series, which walks through how to set up fair tests on different materials. You could also use Materials Matter to build background knowledge on why certain materials behave the way they do.

• Set up testing stations around the room, each focused on one property: water resistance (drip water on different fabrics and papers), strength (stack weights on different materials), flexibility (bend and compare), and texture (blindfolded touch tests). Keep those property themes to yourself for now, we want the students to explore!
• Give each group a recording sheet to note their predictions, observations, and conclusions
• After rotating through stations, hold a class discussion: which material was the strongest? The most waterproof? Were any results surprising?

For older elementary students (grade 5), extend the activity by exploring how sound interacts with different materials. This adds a cross-curricular connection to physics and makes for an engaging add-on station.

3) Investigate what we wear and why

Clothing is something every student interacts with daily, making it a solid entry point for exploring how material properties influence design decisions. Why do we wear different clothes in summer versus winter? What makes a raincoat waterproof?

Kick off with What Do We Wear in Hot and Cold Weather?, a short video that connects weather and clothing choices. Then go deeper with The Importance of Clothes and Types of Clothes.

• Ask students to bring in (or draw) two clothing items: one for hot weather and one for cold weather
• In pairs, have them describe the material properties of each item. Is it thick or thin? Stretchy or stiff? Does it let air through?
• Create a class chart comparing “hot weather materials” with “cold weather materials” and the properties that make each suitable
• Extend the activity by watching Wonderful Wool and discussing how a natural material like wool goes from a sheep to a sweater

This connects science to everyday decision-making in a way that feels concrete and relatable for younger learners. There’s also potential to link this area to social studies by exploring how different peoples have used materials for clothing that adapted to different natural environments. There’s even a ClickView video about Viking Clothes and another about the relationship between clothing and place.

Activities for middle school students

4) Compare natural and synthetic materials

By middle school, students are ready to tackle a more nuanced question: how do synthetic materials differ from natural ones, and why does it matter? This is where the conversation moves from “what is this made of?” to “why was this material chosen, and what are the trade-offs?”

Begin with Properties of Materials in Design, which sets up the relationship between a material’s properties and its intended use. Then show How Plastic Is Made to introduce how synthetic materials are manufactured.

• Divide the class into research teams, each assigned either a natural material (wood, cotton, wool, rubber) or a synthetic one (plastic, nylon, polyester, acrylic)
• Each team researches their material’s key properties, common uses, advantages, and disadvantages, using ClickView videos as a starting point. Videos like Characteristics of Synthetic Fibers and Synthetic Fibers work well for the synthetic teams, while Where Do Materials Come From? supports the natural material teams
• Teams present their findings in a “material matchup” format, where a natural material is compared side by side with a synthetic alternative (cotton versus polyester, wood versus plastic)
• Close with a class discussion: when is a synthetic material the better choice? When is a natural one preferable? Are there situations where neither is ideal?

For a deeper look at how material properties influence real-world construction, add Construction of a House, which shows how builders select materials based on function and environment.

5) Design a recycled materials challenge

This activity blends science, design thinking, and environmental awareness. Students apply what they’ve learned about material properties to solve a design problem using only recycled or repurposed materials.

Screen Designing with Recycled Materials to inspire students and model the design process. You could also use A Brief History of Plastic to provide context on how plastics became so widespread and why rethinking their use matters.

• Present a design brief: build a structure (a bridge, a shelter, a container) that meets specific criteria (holds a certain weight, keeps something dry, stands at least 30 cm tall)
• Provide a collection of clean recycled materials: cardboard, plastic bottles, newspaper, fabric scraps, aluminum cans, rubber bands
• Before building, each team writes a materials plan explaining why they chose specific materials based on their properties
• After building and testing, teams present their designs and reflect: did the materials perform as expected? What would they change?

This is a great opportunity to connect to sustainability themes. Pair with Plastics and the Environment or Turning the Tide on Plastic for a discussion on the environmental cost of material choices.

Activities for high school students

6) Explore metals, non-metals, and their chemical properties

At the high school level, the study of materials becomes more precise. Students move beyond observable properties and into molecular composition, chemical reactivity, and the classification of elements. How does molecular structure determine whether a material conducts electricity, resists corrosion, or bends without breaking?

Start with Characteristics of Materials for a review of material characteristics, then move to Physical Properties of Metals to ground students in the observable traits of metals.

• Set up a comparison lab where students test samples of metals and non-metals for conductivity (using a simple circuit), magnetism, malleability (try bending with pliers), and luster
• Have students record their results in a table and identify patterns: what properties do metals tend to share? What about non-metals?
• Extend by watching Chemical Properties of Metals: Reaction of Metals with Acids and Chemical Properties of Metals: Reaction with Bases. Students compare how different metals react and rank them by reactivity
• Connect to career pathways with the video Materials Engineer, which profiles a structural engineer and shows how material science plays out in professional practice

7) Investigate materials in engineering design

Engineering design challenges push students to think critically about why specific materials are chosen for specific purposes. This activity asks students to evaluate materials not just for their properties, but for how those properties perform under real-world conditions.

Show Impactful Materials from the Engineering Solutions series, which examines how material innovation drives engineering breakthroughs. Follow up with Future-Focused Structures to spark thinking about what the buildings and bridges of the future might look like.

• Present students with a scenario: you’re designing a new pedestrian bridge for your school campus. What materials do you choose, and why?
• Students research at least three candidate materials (steel, concrete, engineered wood, composite materials) and evaluate them on strength, cost, weight, environmental impact, and durability
• Each team creates a proposal that includes a materials rationale, a simple sketch, and a list of trade-offs
• Teams present to the class, and the class votes on the most compelling proposal based on evidence, not preference

This activity builds skills in evidence-based reasoning and technical communication, both of which are central to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) engineering practices.

8) Debate the environmental impact of synthetic materials

Synthetic materials have transformed modern life, but at what cost? This discussion-based activity encourages students to weigh the benefits and drawbacks of synthetic materials and form evidence-based arguments about sustainability.

Open with Ethical Textiles, a longer-form video that examines the social and environmental implications of textile production. Supplement with Synthetic Fibers for background on how synthetic materials are made and Plastics and the Environment for a focused look at plastic pollution.

• Assign students to one of two positions: “Synthetic materials do more good than harm” or “Synthetic materials do more harm than good”
• Each team researches evidence using ClickView videos and external sources. Videos like The Life Cycle of a Plastic Bottle, Plastic from the Inventions that Made History series, and Making Diesel out of Plastic offer multiple perspectives
• Hold a structured debate with opening statements, rebuttals, and closing arguments
• After the debate, ask students to write a personal reflection: did the debate change their thinking? What evidence was most persuasive?

This works well as a cross-curricular activity, connecting science with English language arts (argumentation, oracy, and rhetoric) and social studies (environmental policy and ethics).

Tips for ongoing integration

Teaching materials and their properties doesn’t have to live in a single unit. Here are a few ways to weave the topic into your teaching throughout the year:

• Connect to current events. When a news story involves a building collapse, a new sustainable product, or a breakthrough in material science, use it as a quick discussion starter. What material was involved? What properties mattered?
• Build a classroom materials library. Keep a collection of material samples (fabric swatches, metal pieces, different plastics, wood types) that students can reference during science, design, or even art lessons
• Use video as a warm-up. Short ClickView videos like the Miniclips series on Properties of Materials in Design or Materials and Their Physical Changes work well as bell ringers or lesson starters
• Encourage students to question material choices. Make “why is this made from that material?” a habit. It’s a simple question that builds scientific thinking over time

Materials are everywhere, which means opportunities to teach about them are too. Whether you’re working with 1st graders sorting objects by texture or high school students debating the ethics of fast fashion, the key is helping students see the science behind the everyday.

Sources

1. National Research Council. (2012). A framework for K-12 science education: Practices, crosscutting concepts, and core ideas. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Available at: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/13165/a-framework-for-k-12-science-education-practices-crosscutting-concepts
2. NGSS Lead States. (2013). Next Generation Science Standards: For states, by states. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. Available at: https://www.nextgenscience.org/
3. Ashby, M. F. and Johnson, K. (2013). Materials and design: The art and science of material selection in product design. 3rd edition. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.