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7th grade · Science · Unit 13 of 14

Synthetic Materials

Plastics, fibers, medicines and fuels made from natural resources.

What your child practices

Practices how synthetic materials such as plastics, nylon, glass and medicines are made from natural resources through chemical processes, and how they help and harm society, from safety vests and insulin to plastic waste and fertilizer runoff.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: MS-PS1-3 · synthetic materials come from natural resources through chemical processes, and they affect society

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A synthetic material is made by people through chemical processes, such as plastic, nylon and synthetic rubber.
  2. Many are made from oil and natural gas.
  3. They are useful, but plastic waste can harm land and oceans.

Example: Synthetic rubber, made from oil, is often used to make what? It must grip the road and bend. Cars roll on it. Answer: tires

Synthetic Materials in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 13 of 14 in 7th grade Science, after Protecting Biodiversity and before People & Earth's Resources.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Plastic is so widely used because it is…

    • always heavy
    • light, strong and easy to shape
    • a great conductor of electricity
    • dissolved by rain

  2. Question 2

    Which resource is a raw material for making steel?

    • Iron ore
    • Cotton
    • Crude oil
    • Sand dunes

  3. Question 3

    Synthetic dyes replaced many dyes that people once made from…

    • plants and insects
    • plastic
    • steel
    • glass

  4. Question 4

    Nylon was invented as a synthetic replacement for…

    • glass
    • clay
    • silk
    • iron

  5. Question 5

    Which is a natural material?

    • Cotton
    • Polyester
    • Plastic wrap
    • Nylon

  6. Question 6

    Making cement for concrete from limestone releases a lot of…

    • pure oxygen
    • fresh water
    • helium
    • carbon dioxide

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