What’s It Made Of? METAL Created by Ellen Weber, Ed.S., CCC-SLP, 2008

There are 72 different metals that are known today. Most metals come from the ground. goldsilvercopper Sometimes you can find them in nuggets. A nugget is a small chunk of the metal all by itself.

Sometimes nuggets wash down from the mountains. You might find nuggets in rivers and streams.

This girl is panning. You swish some ground around in a pan with water, and the gold will separate from the dirt. This is how they get the nuggets out of the rivers and streams.

Gold mining companies use big dredges on a river. Dredges do the same thing as panning – they separate the gold from the dirt.

Lots of other kinds of metal are mixed in with other things inside rocks. It’s a little harder to get the ore out of the rock. This is called ore.

Mining companies dig the ore out of the ground. This place is called a mine. Sometimes they dig long tunnels deep into the earth. It’s very dangerous to work in these tunnels.

Sometimes they dig a strip mine. This is where they cut away the ground in layers that look like steps.

They haul away the rocks in huge trucks called rock haulers. See how big it is compared to a regular SUV? Just the tires are as tall as a house!

Then they heat the rocks until they melt. When it melts, the metal can be separated from the other minerals in the rock. This is called smelting.

A person who digs for metals is called a miner. A miner uses special tools and wears special clothing for his job.

hardhat headlight pick coveralls gloves lantern boots Guess which ones are tools, and which are clothing. Play the Categories game at the end of this lesson.

What makes metal special? Metal conducts electricity and heat. That means that it carries the heat or electricity from one place to another. The wires that bring electricity to your house have metal inside.

Sometimes when you run electricity through certain metals, it makes a magnet. A magnet sticks to other metals. They can be any size or shape.

What things are made of metal? One of the first things we used metal for was money. Can you find the gold one? Where is the copper one? How many silver coins do you see? Play our game at the end to guess the metal objects.

How do we know it’s metal? We can touch it with our When we touch it, metal feels hard and a little bit

We can see metal with our Metal is very strong, so we can see them using it in buildings.

We can also see it can be shiny. That is why we use it for jewelry.

We can hear metal with our If we tap it, it almost rings or clangs. That is why they use it to make bells and wind chimes.

We can smell metal with our especially when it is hot. Did you ever smell Mom ironing your clothes? PU!

We can taste metal with our We already know what it tastes like. You taste it every time you eat with a spoon or fork!

Test your memory! WH- ? questions Vocabulary Match Activities Guess The Metal Objects Categories Start Over Exit

Categories Look at the following picture of a miner. Guess which ones are tools, and which are clothing. Click on the picture that shows your answer.

headlight pick coveralls gloves lantern boots

headlight pick coveralls gloves lantern boots

Lots of things can be made from metal. Can you guess them? Something you can ride. It has two wheels.

Something you can sit on. We use the metal ones outdoors.

Something that holds your jacket shut when it’s cold outside. Most blue jeans have them.

Something that holds things onto your clothing, like a note. They used to use it for diapers.

Something you can wear. It decorates your body.

Something that holds some drinks. Soda usually comes in one.

Something that can fly. It carries people.

Something that keeps your food cold. It’s in your kitchen.

Something that helps you eat. You’ll see it on your dinner table, beside your plate.

Something that holds papers together. It has a lot of bends in it.

1. Who digs out the metal from the ground? Click on each picture that answers the question. There might be more than one answer to a question.

The miner digs metal ores from the ground.

2. What are 5 things that can be made from metal?

3. When does the metal ore melt?

4. Where does most metal come from?

5. Why would they choose metal to make something? Because it’s…

6. Which metal looks yellow-ish and shiny, and makes pretty jewelry?

Vocabulary Match Click on the one picture that shows the word below. smelting

nugget

mine

miner

rock hauler

The End Start Over Game Menu Exit