Grade 6 · Science · Unit 6 of 8
Changing Shape
Elastic and plastic materials
What your child practises
Elasticity (a shape returns) and plasticity (a shape stays changed), temporary versus permanent changes, and how the properties of a material suit it to a job.
Alberta Curriculum learning outcome: 6E 1.2 · plasticity, elasticity, and temporary and permanent changes in an object's shape
Sample questions
A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.
Question 1
Which material is most plastic (it keeps a new shape)?
- A rubber ball
- Modelling clay
- A spring
Show answer
Modelling clay
Hint: Clay holds a new shape.
Question 2
A hockey stick bends when a player shoots, then straightens. Why does this help?
- It melts a little
- Plasticity keeps it bent
- Its elasticity stores and releases energy
Show answer
Its elasticity stores and releases energy
Hint: The stick returns to its shape and passes energy to the puck.
Question 3
Modelling clay is squished. The clay stays squished. What property is this?
- Elasticity
- Buoyancy
- Plasticity
Show answer
Plasticity
Hint: It does not spring back.
Question 4
Which object is best made from an elastic material?
- A brick
- A window
- A hair tie
Show answer
A hair tie
Hint: A hair tie must stretch and return.
Question 5
A thumb is pressed into soft clay and taken away. The dent stays. This is…
- an elastic change
- a permanent change
- a temporary change
Show answer
a permanent change
Hint: The clay keeps its new shape.
Question 6
If you stretch a rubber band too far, what might happen?
- It disappears
- It becomes stronger
- It may break or stay stretched
Show answer
It may break or stay stretched
Hint: Every elastic material has a limit.