Objects and the Materials They Are Made From

An object is a thing, like a spoon, a chair or a bottle. A material is what an object is made from, like metal, wood or plastic.

One object can be made from several materials. A school shoe, for example, has a rubber sole, a leather top and cloth laces — one object, three materials.

Here are some everyday objects and the materials they are made from:

Worked example. A wooden spoon and a metal spoon are the same object (a spoon) made from different materials (wood and metal). The material changes how the object behaves: the metal spoon gets hot when it stirs a pot on the stove, but the wooden spoon stays cool enough to hold.