TOPIC 22 OF 46

Materials Around Us

🎓 Class 6 Science CBSE Theory Ch 6 — Materials Around Us ⏱ ~8 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]

This MCQ module is based on: Materials Around Us

[myaischool_lt_science_assessment grade_level="class_6" science_domain="chemistry" difficulty="basic"]

Chapter Summary — What We Learned

The big idea: Every object is made of some material. Every material has its own bundle of properties — hardness, lustre, transparency, solubility and density. When we understand these properties, we can choose the best material for any job and even save lives with simple solutions like ORS.

🔍 Observing & Grouping

Every object has unique features (shape, colour, size, feel). We group objects by material to understand shared properties.

🪨 Hardness

Hard materials (iron, stone, glass) resist scratches; soft materials (cotton, sponge) are easily pressed.

✨ Lustre

Shiny materials reflect light (metals, glass, diamonds); dull materials don't (wood, paper, stone).

🪟 Transparency

Transparent = see clearly; Translucent = blurry light; Opaque = no light passes.

🧂 Solubility

Sugar, salt dissolve in water; sand, oil don't. Gases also dissolve — oxygen in water feeds fish.

⚖️ Density

Density = Mass ÷ Volume. Decides whether an object floats or sinks in water.

⛵ Floating & Sinking

Less dense than water → floats. More dense → sinks. Shape matters — clay boats float!

⚕️ ORS

1 L boiled water + 6 tsp sugar + ½ tsp salt. Life-saving treatment for dehydration from diarrhoea.

Keywords

Object
Any thing we can see and touch.
Material
The substance an object is made of.
Property
A special feature of a material.
Hardness
Resistance to scratching / pressing.
Lustre
Natural shine of a material.
Transparent
Lets all light through — clear view.
Translucent
Lets some light through — blurry.
Opaque
No light passes through.
Soluble
Dissolves in water (sugar, salt).
Insoluble
Does not dissolve (sand, chalk).
Miscible
Two liquids that mix fully.
Immiscible
Liquids that stay in layers (oil+water).
Density
Mass per unit volume.
Floating
Object rests on water's surface.
Sinking
Object goes to the bottom.
ORS
Oral Rehydration Solution (water + salt + sugar).

NCERT Exercises — With Solutions

Click Show Solution after you try the question. Don't peek first!

Q1 L2

State whether True (T) or False (F):
(a) Wood is transparent.
(b) Aluminium foil has lustre.
(c) Sugar does not dissolve in water.
(d) Water occupies space, so it is matter.

(a) False — wood is opaque. (b) True — fresh aluminium foil has a clear metallic shine. (c) False — sugar is highly soluble in water. (d) True — anything that has mass and occupies space is matter; water fits both conditions.
Q2 L3

Chairs are made of various materials — wood, iron, plastic, bamboo, cement and stone. Some desirable properties for a chair are: hardness, being lightweight, easy to lift, easy to clean. Which materials fulfill most of these properties?

Plastic chairs are the best all-rounder — hard enough to sit on, lightweight, easy to lift and very easy to wipe clean. Bamboo is also light and hard. Wood is hard and cleanable but heavier. Iron, cement and stone are extremely hard but very heavy and difficult to move around — not ideal for everyday chairs. Verdict: plastic wins for most use cases, bamboo comes second.
Q3 L3

After sitting for a while, which of these objects bend or shake: a wooden stool, a plastic stool, a stone slab, a cloth cushion, an iron bench?

The cloth cushion squashes easily (softest). A plastic stool may bend or wobble a little (especially cheap ones). A wooden stool may shake if joints are loose. A stone slab and an iron bench do not bend at all — they are very hard. This shows that materials respond differently to pressure based on their hardness.
Q4 L3

Arrange the following water-filter materials in order of transparency (most to least): clean glass, butter paper, cotton cloth, oiled paper, cardboard, thin polythene.

Most transparent → Least transparent:
Clean glass → Thin polythene → Oiled paper → Butter paper → Cotton cloth → Cardboard.
Clean glass and thin polythene are transparent. Oiled and butter paper are translucent (oiled is slightly clearer). Cotton cloth lets a faint glow through. Cardboard is fully opaque.
Q5 L4

We want to build a drawing room wall that is strong, blocks outside noise and lasts many years. From (stone, wood, cloth, glass, thermocol) — which should we NOT use, and why?

Stone and partly wood are best — hard, durable, block sound. We should NOT use: Cloth (too soft, tears, doesn't block sound), Thermocol (brittle, catches fire), and Glass would let sound and sight through (though glass walls are used sometimes for style). Cloth and thermocol are definitely unsuitable.
Q6 L4

Why can't we use a jute bag to collect: (a) food waste, (b) broken glass, (c) cardboard, (d) old waste paper?

(a) Food waste is wet and has liquids — jute will become soggy, smelly and may leak.
(b) Broken glass has sharp edges — it will easily cut through jute and may injure the person carrying it.
(c) Cardboard is usually okay in jute, but if the cardboard pieces are too large or heavy, the bag may tear.
(d) Old waste paper — jute works fine for dry paper.
So jute is unsuitable mainly for wet waste (a) and sharp waste (b).
Q7 L2

Air is all around us, but we can still see each other clearly through it. Which property describes air? Choose: opaque, transparent, translucent, invisible.

Transparent. Clean air lets all light pass through, so we can see things across the room clearly. ("Invisible" just means we can't see the air itself — but the correct property word is transparent.)
Q8 L4

Imagine you have two mysterious materials X and Y. When you press X, it feels rigid and does not bend. When you put Y in water, it dissolves completely. Name the property each material shows.

Material X shows the property of hardness — it resists pressing, so it is a hard material (possible examples: stone, metal, glass).
Material Y shows the property of solubility (specifically, it is soluble in water) — possible examples: sugar, salt, glucose.
Q9 L1

Give 3 examples each of transparent, translucent and opaque materials.

Transparent: clean glass, clear water, clear plastic sheet.
Translucent: butter paper, oiled paper, frosted glass.
Opaque: wood, metal sheet, cardboard.
Q10 L4

Why does shaping a lump of clay into a boat make it float on water?

A solid clay lump is denser than water, so it sinks. When we shape the same clay into a boat with a hollow inside, the boat traps a large amount of air. The total volume (clay + air) becomes much bigger, but the mass is almost the same. So the overall average density of the boat becomes less than water, and it floats. This is the same principle that allows huge iron ships to float on the sea.
Q11 L4

How does ORS help a sick person? When should it be given?

ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) helps in three ways:
  1. The water in it replaces the body water lost through diarrhoea or vomiting.
  2. The salt replaces essential salts (sodium) lost from the body.
  3. The sugar provides quick energy (glucose) and also helps the body absorb water more quickly through the gut.
When to give: whenever a person (especially a child) has diarrhoea, loose motions, repeated vomiting or any sign of dehydration (dry mouth, tiredness, sunken eyes, less urine). Give small sips often, and visit a doctor if the condition does not improve within a day.
Q12 L3

List any 4 properties of materials you learned in this chapter, and for each, give one everyday example where that property is useful.

  • Hardness — iron is used in gates and tools because it is hard.
  • Lustre — gold is used in jewellery because of its beautiful shine.
  • Transparency — glass is used in windows because we can see through it.
  • Solubility — sugar and salt dissolve in tea / ORS, making them tasty and useful.
  • (Bonus) Low density — wood is used to make boats because it floats on water.
Congratulations! You have finished Chapter 6 — Materials Around Us. You now know how to observe, group and test materials, understand their properties and even prepare a life-saving ORS at home. Look around — every object tells a story about the material it's made of!

← Back to Part 1

Frequently Asked Questions — Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises

What does the topic 'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' cover in Class 6 Science?

The topic 'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' is part of NCERT Class 6 Science Chapter 6 — Materials Around Us. It covers the key ideas of materials, properties, solubility, floating, NCERT exercises, explained through everyday examples, labelled diagrams and hands-on activities from the NCERT Curiosity textbook. Class 6 students learn simple definitions, see why each idea matters in daily life, and try short experiments and observations. The lesson uses easy language, colourful pictures and small questions so that young learners build a strong base for higher classes and for competency-based questions in CBSE school tests.

Why is 'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' important for Class 6 NCERT Science?

'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' is important because it builds the first ideas of science that Class 6 students will use again in Class 7, 8 and beyond. NCERT Chapter 6 — Materials Around Us — introduces materials and connects it to things children already see at home, at school and in nature. Learning this topic helps students ask better questions, understand simple news about science, and score well in CBSE tests that use competency-based questions. The chapter also supports NEP 2020 by encouraging curiosity, observation and learning by doing rather than only reading and memorising.

What are the key ideas students should remember from Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises?

The key ideas in 'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' for Class 6 Science are: materials, properties, solubility, floating, NCERT exercises. Students should be able to say each term in their own words, give one or two easy examples from daily life, and draw a small labelled diagram where needed. A good way to revise is to make flashcards, write a short note in the science notebook, and solve the NCERT in-text and exercise questions of Chapter 6. Linking every idea to something seen at home or school — in the kitchen, garden, playground or sky — makes these ideas easy to remember for unit tests and the annual CBSE examination.

How is Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises taught using activities in NCERT Curiosity Class 6?

NCERT Curiosity Class 6 Science teaches 'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' through an inquiry-based approach using Predict–Observe–Explain activities. Students first make a guess, then try a small experiment with safe, easily available materials, and finally explain what happened and why. This matches the NEP 2020 focus on learning by doing. For Chapter 6 — Materials Around Us — the textbook has hands-on tasks, labelled pictures and thinking questions built for Bloom's Taxonomy Levels 1 to 6. Teachers use these activities, along with competency-based questions (CBQs) and assertion–reason items, to check real understanding instead of only rote learning.

How should Class 6 students prepare for the Chapter 6 exercises?

To prepare for the Chapter 6 — Materials Around Us — exercises in NCERT Class 6 Science, students should first revise the theory in Parts 1–3 and make a short note of definitions and diagrams for materials, properties, solubility, floating, NCERT exercises. Next, try each exercise question on their own before looking at the solution. Pay special attention to MCQs, match-the-following, fill-in-the-blanks, assertion–reason and short-answer items, as these often appear in CBSE competency-based tests. Practising with the NCERT Curiosity textbook, the exemplar questions, and the MyAiSchool practice bank helps Class 6 students score better in unit tests and the annual examination.

How does 'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' connect to other chapters of Class 6 Science?

'Materials Around Us — Chapter 6 Exercises' connects to many other chapters in NCERT Class 6 Science Curiosity. The ideas of materials come back when students study related topics like diversity in the living world, food, magnets, measurement, materials, temperature, water, separation, habitats, natural resources and the solar system. For example, what students learn here helps them build mental pictures for later chapters and for Class 7 and Class 8 Science. Teachers often ask cross-chapter questions in CBSE exams to check if students can use what they learned in Chapter 6 — Materials Around Us — in new situations. This linked approach matches the NEP 2020 and NCF 2023 focus on holistic, competency-based learning.

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