Properties of metals

Properties of metals

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Further Resources
This task assesses the use of a key to identify 6 given metals.
Pere found some metal objects when he was cleaning out the garage. He wanted to know what metals they were made of. He used an identification key to work this out.
 
For the next 6 questions read the description of each metal.  Use the key to decide its name. 
completed metal key chart

Question

a)  Pere found a metal that was a light but hard, silvery, non magnetic solid.
     Which metal was it?

    • Mercury

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Aluminium

    • Iron

    • Zinc

Question

b)  Pere found a metal that was a heavy, reddish coloured, hard, non-magnetic solid.
     Which metal was it?  

    • Mercury

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Aluminium

    • Iron

    • Zinc

Question

c)  Pere found a metal that was a heavy, silvery, hard, magnetic solid.
     Which metal was it?

    • Mercury

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Aluminium

    • Iron

    • Zinc

Question

d)  Pere found a metal that was a soft, heavy, silvery, non-magnetic solid.
     Which metal was it?

    • Mercury

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Aluminium

    • Iron

    • Zinc

Question

e)  Pere found a metal that was a silvery metal that is liquid at room temperature.
     Which metal was it?
 

    • Mercury

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Aluminium

    • Iron

    • Zinc

Question

f)  Pere found a metal that was a heavy, silvery, hard, non-magnetic solid.
     Which metal was it?

    • Mercury

    • Copper

    • Lead

    • Aluminium

    • Iron

    • Zinc

Task administration: 

This resource is about using a key to identify metals. A resource that contains the same key is Using a metals key, but it has a different assessment focus. If you are using both resources use this resource before Using a metals key.

 

Level:
4
Curriculum info: 
Science, Communicating in science, Material World
Keywords: 
properties, metals, keys, classification keys
Description of task: 
Task: Use a key to identify six different metals from the descriptions provided. Assessment focus: using a key to identify metals.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Interpret representations
This resource provides opportunities to discuss the purposes of identification keys and how to read them.
 

 
Science capabilities: 
Interpret representations
Answers/responses: 

 

  

 Y7 (08/2002) Y8 (08/2002) Y8 (11/2013) - online version
1
2
3
4
5
6
aluminium
copper
iron
lead
mercury
zinc
very easy
difficult
moderate
moderate
moderate
not trialled
moderate
moderate
moderate
very easy
moderate
not trialled
easy
easy
easy
easy
easy
moderate

This task was updated to take advantage of technology. Note that the on-line version is formatted differently from the original paper version, so, while the data for the original task is provided alongside for the new one, keep in mind that the tasks the students were asked to do are different. 

Diagnostic and formative information: 
  • ​Some students focused on one particular property to identify the metal. While this strategy works for some of the metals, it doesn't work for all.
  • Students found this task easier on-line than the pencil and paper task, although we have a much smaller sample of students completing the on-line task. When the task was piloted in a classroom, working on-line promoted a lot of discussion between the students. While they were not sure how to use the key, taking a collaborative problem-solving approach enabled them to complete the task together. Students may also have found it easier because they could physically move the metal names.

 

Next steps: 
  • Encourage students to be systematic about identifying the metals. For each metal, use the key like a flow chart and start at the beginning (left hand), answering yes or no for each question.
  • If available, you could give students samples of the real metals and get them to identify using the key, rather than using the descriptions. This is likely to be a more difficult task because they will first have to identify the properties of each metal.
The following resources are about classification keys.