Science

YEAR FOUR SCIENCE

The year 4s have been investigating the properties of plastic and wood.

We tested the differences between the two materials by inviting baby Ethan in to play with a wooden stacking toy and a plastic stacking toy.

 It was interesting to note that he really enjoyed the plastic toy as it made more sound.  Both the plastic and wooden toys were colourful, but the strength of the wood meant that Ethan wasn’t so keen on chewing on it. Ethan was able to control the movements of the plastic rings better as they were lighter than the wooden ones, and a lot safer, too.

We all gasped as he swung the wooden based around, worried that it was going to hit him on the head! Luckily, although he did hit himself with the toy, it was the plastic one, so the impact was less.

Overall our data showed that plastic toys were better for babies to play with than wooden ones as they are softer, colourful, easily moulded into different shapes and were able to be formed to make sound and texture more interesting for babies. The wooden toys came out a winner when we considered the environmental impacts, as wood will break down quicker than plastic.

Thank you to Miss Clark for bringing baby Ethan in to play!