Q1.
Hold the objects given in Table 6.3 with your hands. Feel whether the objects are hard or soft. Find out the materials they are made up of. Enter your observations in Table 6.3. Compare your observations with the observations of your friends and discuss.
Table 6.3, page 108 — Hard or soft objects and the materials they are made up of. Only the first row (Brick) is filled in as an example in the book.
| Object | Hard/Soft | Material(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Brick | Hard | Baked clay |
| Water bottle | ||
| Pillow | ||
| Tumbler | ||
| Table | ||
| Sweater | ||
| Any other |
Answer
Press each object between your fingers. If it dents or squeezes, it is soft; if it does not give at all, it is hard. The first row is filled in your book — here is the whole table.
| Table 6.3: Hard or soft objects and the materials they are made up of | ||
|---|---|---|
| Object | Hard/Soft | Material(s) |
| Brick | Hard | Baked clay |
| Water bottle | Hard | Plastic (or steel, or glass) — the cap is plastic too |
| Pillow | Soft | Cotton or foam inside, cloth cover |
| Tumbler | Hard | Steel — or glass, plastic, baked clay |
| Table | Hard | Wood, with iron nails and legs |
| Sweater | Soft | Wool (or acrylic) |
| Any other — eraser | Soft | Rubber |
| Any other — bangle | Hard | Glass |
| Any other — sponge | Soft | Foam / sponge |
| Any other — tawa | Hard | Iron |
What the class discussion shows: most children agree on brick, pillow and sweater. Disagreements appear where the object can be made of different materials — one child’s water bottle is thin, squeezy plastic (soft) while another’s is steel (hard). Both are right, because they were holding different materials.
Why the disagreement is useful: it proves that hardness belongs to the material, not to the name of the object. “Bottle” tells you nothing about hardness until you know what the bottle is made of.