Metals in the home.

A worksheet based on the CD Down to Earth

(Minerals Council of Australia)

Lesson Overview Theresources containedin theCD (or accessedviathelink above) are

easytouseandstudentswillenjoyexploringthedifferentroomsinthehousetofindobjects
that contain different metals particularly metals with which they may not be familiar e.g.
Technetium.

Aimsoftheworksheet:
Toincreasethefamiliarityofmetalfoundineverydaycommonhouseholditems.
identifyinternationallyrecognisedsymbolsforcommonelements
appreciatethepositiveimpactofscienceineverydaylife

TaskOutline
Take a virtual tour of the house and find the metals contained in different objects
aroundthehome.
When you capture the metal, click on the periodic table to find another use of this
metal.
Draw up a table in your workbook similar to the one below. Rule off after you have
completedanobject.
Youshouldcomplete10objectscontainingmetalsfromthedifferentrooms.
Twoobjectsfromthekitchenhavebeencompletedforyou.
Object

Metalsitcontains

Dishwasher

Window

Chromium

Symbolof
themetal
Cr

Anotherobject from the house

thatcontainsthismetal
Taps

Copper

Cu

Fertilizer

Iron

Fe

Television

Nickel

Ni

Taps

lead

Pb

Toaster

Aluminium

Al

Mirror

StateofNewSouthWalesthroughthe
NSWDepartmentofEducationandTraining,2007.
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm

page1of5

Questions
1. Whatwasthemostcommonmetalyoufoundintheobjectsinyourchosenroominthe
home?

Namethreeobjectsinwhichthismetalwasfound.
.
2. Therearesomemetalsthatareuncommonandyoumaynothaveheardofthem.
You can find out what they are used for by clicking on this element on the periodic
table.
ProvidetheSymbolforeachofthefollowingmetalsaswellasanobjectthatcontains
thefollowinguncommonmetals.
a. Technetium

..

b. Tantalum

..

c. Germanium

..

d. Antimony

..

e. Indium

..

f. Zirconium

..

g. Vanadium

..

h. Bismuth

..

i. Osmium

..

3. Whatobjectsaroundthehome,besidejewellery,containgold?

4. SiliconisthemostabundantelementintheEarthscrust.Itisknownasasemimetal.
Whatare5differentobjectsthatcontainsilicon?

5. Whatisspecialaboutthemetalsnumbered103117inthePeriodictable?
..

StateofNewSouthWalesthroughthe
NSWDepartmentofEducationandTraining,2007.
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm

page2of5

Extensionactivity:
Studentsenterdetailsofthemetalsfound,indifferentobjectsfromtheirchosenrooms,into
aspreadsheet.Studentshoulddesigntheformatofthespreadsheettocapturethe
informationthathasbeenaskedforinthequestions.

StateofNewSouthWalesthroughthe
NSWDepartmentofEducationandTraining,2007.
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm

page3of5

UsingtheCD
1.
2.
3.
4.

LoadtheprogramDownToEarth,availablefromtheNSWMineralsCouncil
Undercontents,clickonMetalsMatter.
ClickonthehouseVirtualTour
A house plan appears on screen. Select a room in the house to analyse the metals
containedinit.Thereare3roomsandoneoutsidearea.
5. Selectthemetalanalysertomoveontodifferentobjectsinthatroom.Iftheobject
containsmetals,theobjectwillhaveacolouredlinearoundit.
6. Ifyoucapturethemetal,thenthenexttimethemetalappearsinanobject,thetext
willbered.Whenyoucapturethemetal,theperiodictableappearswiththemetalsin
theobjectsurroundedbydottedlines.Ifyouclickonthemetal,itshowsatableofall
theroomsandwhichobjectsintheroomsalsocontainthismetal.
DownloadingtheCD
1. DoubleclickontheDowntoEarthiconontheMineralCouncilsite

2. SelectMetalsMatterfromthecontentslistthatappears.

Click on the house Virtual Tour and follow the same instructions as for the CD,
above.

StateofNewSouthWalesthroughthe
NSWDepartmentofEducationandTraining,2007.
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm

page4of5

SyllabusLinks
SCIENCEYears710syllabus
Outcome4.3: Astudentidentifiesareasofeverydaylifethathavebeenaffectedby
scientificdevelopments.
Outcome5.3: Astudentevaluatestheimpactofapplicationsofscienceon
societyandtheenvironment.
EssentialContent
Studentslearn
about:

Studentslearnto:

4/5.3
a) identifyanddescribeexamplesofscientificconceptsandprinciples
theapplicationsand
thathavebeenusedintechnologicaldevelopments(including
usesofscience
Australianexamples)
b) discuss,usingexamples,thepositiveandnegativeimpactsof
applicationsofrecentdevelopmentsinscience
c) identifyanddescribeexampleswheretechnologicaladvanceshave
impactedonscience
d) givereasonswhysocietyshouldsupportscientificresearch.
Outcome4.7: Astudentdescribesobservedpropertiesofsubstancesusingscientific
models andtheories.
4.7.4 elements

a) classifyelementsasmetalsornonmetalsaccordingtotheir
commoncharacteristics
b) identifyinternationallyrecognisedsymbolsforcommonelements.

Outcome4.16:Astudentaccessesinformationfromidentifiedsecondarysources.
Outcome5.16:Astudentaccessesinformationfromawidevarietyofsecondary
sources.
4/5.16 gathering
informationfrom
secondarysources

a) usearangeofsources,includingdatabases,CDROMsandthe
internet,toaccessinformation

StateofNewSouthWalesthroughthe
NSWDepartmentofEducationandTraining,2007.
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/index.htm

page5of5