Chemistry, 4–6 years — 21 topics · MyLeoNes™ Kuks
21 chemistry topics written for 4–6 years — not a older text simplified. In teaching order, each a deck of five cards: the idea, why it exists, a worked example, the common trap and where you meet it.
Chemistry · 4–6 years
Materials have properties
Things are made of materials, and each material can be noticed by what it is like: hard or soft, bendy or stiff, smooth or rough.
Solids and liquids
Some materials keep their own shape, while others flow and take the shape of their container. This helps us understand and handle familiar things such as stones, water and juice.
Dissolving and mixing
Sometimes one material spreads through a liquid so well that it seems to disappear. The liquid and the material are still there, even though the mixture looks different.
Changes with heat and cold
Heat and cold can change how a material looks or moves. Ice can melt into water, and water can freeze into ice; the material changes form but does not simply disappear.
Air takes up space
Air is easy to miss because we cannot usually see it. We can still find it by watching what it pushes, fills or moves.
Some reactions make new substances
Sometimes substances do more than mix: they react and form something with new properties. Bubbles, a new smell or a lasting colour change can give us clues.
Some liquids are acidic or soapy
Liquids can have different chemical behaviours, even when they look alike. A safe colour test can show a difference without tasting or touching unknown substances.
Mixtures can be separated
When different materials are together, they may still keep their own size or shape. We can use those differences to separate a mixture without making a new material.
Rusting: when iron changes
Iron can slowly change when it meets water and air. Rust is not dirt that can simply be wiped away; it is a new, flaky material.
Fire needs air
A flame is a fast chemical change that gives off heat and light. It needs something to burn and air around it, so a flame goes out when either is taken away.
Yeast makes dough rise
Tiny living yeast can change sugars in dough and make a gas. Trapped bubbles push the dough up, so bread becomes light and full of little holes.
Plants make food with sunlight
Green leaves use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide from the air to make sugar for the plant. Oxygen is released as part of this process, which helps animals and people breathe.
Materials are made of tiny particles
Things can look whole and still be made from pieces far too small for our eyes to see.
Bubbles are pockets of gas
A bubble is not empty: it is a little space of gas held inside a liquid or surrounded by a thin film.
Soap helps water carry grease away
Soap is useful because water alone does not easily take oily dirt with it.
Crystals can grow from a solution
When a dissolved substance gathers again, its particles can make a neat, repeating shape.
Why cut fruit turns brown
A cut apple does not become dirty at once. The air starts a slow chemical change on its fresh surface.
Why milk turns sour
Tiny living things can change food as they use it. Milk becoming sour is a familiar chemical change that happens faster when it is warm.
Chemical safety labels
Chemistry is also about using substances safely. A symbol or warning on a bottle gives information before we touch, smell or use what is inside.
The right amount of a medicine
A medicine works because its substances change something in the body. The amount matters: the same substance can help in one dose and be harmful in too much.
Colours from plants can stain
Some plant substances have strong colours that move into water or onto cloth. People have used this chemistry to make dyes, while everyday spills show the same idea on a small scale.
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