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Wool, Glass, Paper

Episode 1 of 3

Three short films about materials science. Curious Cat inspires children to discover how an everyday material is made. They investigate wool, glass and paper.

Key Stage 1 series that introduces five- to seven-year-olds into the world of science and discovery. Curious Cat sends two young scientists to explore where things come from and how they are made.
The materials to be investigated are:

1. Wool
Two seven-year-olds go on a journey of discovery to find out how a sheep's fleece is turned into woolly scarves. The children come into the classroom from the playground wearing their coats and scarves when Curious Cat, an animated cat on the whiteboard, appears and asks the children if they would like to find out how woolly scarves are made. The children go on a journey to find out. They meet an expert who guides them through the different stages a sheep's fleece has to go through to end up as a woolly scarf. They see the fleeces from the farms being sorted, washed, dried, combed and spun into yarn. In the end they finger knit their own scarves and return back into the classroom to tell Curious Cat what they have learnt.

2. Glass
Two seven-year-olds take a trip to a glass-making factory to discovery how large panes of glass are made. They start by learning that glass is made from raw materials such as sand, soda ash and limestone. The different stages and processes involved in making a flat pane of glass are seen, including the float glass process, which makes the molten glass flat and smooth. This is demonstrated in a lab using oil and water. The children watch the raw material go in one end of the process and finish by watching the glass being cut into different sizes.

3. Paper
Curious Cat sets two seven-year-olds off thinking about where paper comes from. They visit a paper mill where they meet an expert who shows them around and tells them how paper is made from trees. The children see logs coming in from the forest, being loaded on to the debarking drum and having their bark removed. The different stages of the process are seen. In the lab the expert shows them how pulp, made from crushed logs and water, is turned into paper. Back in the factory, the children finish by seeing the large rolls of paper at the end of the paper-making process. They return to the classroom to tell Curious Cat all they have learnt.

30 minutes

Last on

Wed 25 Feb 2015 05:30

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