CBSE Class 4 · Science
How Things are Made
Official NCERT chapter from Our Wondrous World (book code deev1). ExamMaster notes are original teaching at CBSE Class 4 depth.
This lesson follows the official chapter “How Things are Made” in Our Wondrous World. The words below are ExamMaster’s teaching, not a paste from the book. Use the NCERT chapter for the classroom sequence; use these notes to hold the idea without copying exercises or figures.
- CBSE Class 4
- Easy level
- 8 concepts
1Grade 3 named materials; this chapter names the making steps
Last year: object versus material. This year: the order of steps that turn material into object.
Repeating “clay is clay” without steps misses this chapter.
Figure. Grade 3 named the material. This chapter names the ordered steps that turn that material into an object. Clay is not yet a pot; the middle box is the science.
How it works
- Name the materialClay, paper, dough.
- Name the object you wantPot, boat, roti.
- Ask for the steps betweenThis chapter.
2A material is shaped, joined, or cooked into an object
Three kinds of making-change: shape (pot), join (stick + paper), cook or heat (roti). Name which kind you are looking at.
“It became” without which kind is a blur.
Figure. Making-change has three kinds you can point at: shape a lump, join two pieces, or cook with heat. “It became” without naming the kind is a blur.
How it works
- See the beforeLump, sheets, dough.
- See the afterObject.
- Name shape, join, or heatThe kind of change.
3Steps have an order: the pot is not born finished
Shape before dry, dry before fire if that maker fires. Skipping “shape” and saying “the pot existed” hides the making.
Order is part of the science.
Figure. Shape, then dry, then fire if that maker fires. A finished-only story hides the making. The lower dashed span is the miss: jumping to fire as if the pot had no before.
How it works
- List steps in timeShape, then dry, then fire…
- Refuse a finished-only storyThere was a before.
- If someone skips a needed step, name the skipA miss.
4A change may be reversible until a firing or a glue
Soft clay can be a pot then a ball again. After firing, or after glue sets, undo is not honest.
Reversible means you can undo while it is still soft or unstuck.
Figure. Soft clay can be a pot and a ball again. After firing — or after glue sets — undo is not honest. Reversible names the window before that lock.
How it works
- Ask if you can undo nowSquash, or peel.
- If yes, not set yetReversible still.
- If fire or glue has set, say not reversibleA later step locked it.
5The material is not the object
Clay in a bag is material. The pot is the object after making. Buying clay is not buying a pot.
Same split, now inside the step-list.
Figure. Clay in a bag is material. The pot is the object after making. The words are not interchangeable; making is the turn from one into the other.
How it works
- Point to the bagMaterial.
- Point to the finished potObject.
- Do not swap the wordsMaking turns material into object.
6A property you can test after making
Pour: does it hold water? Tear: does the join hold? The test is after the steps.
A sales story is not the test.
Figure. After making, run one test: pour to see if the pot holds water, or pull to see if the join holds. A sales story is not the test. Pass and fail are both evidence.
How it works
- Pick one after-testHolds water, or join holds.
- Run itPour or pull.
- Name pass or failEvidence.
7One craft or kitchen case
One roti (shape then heat) or one paper boat (fold) is enough. You do not need every craft of the country.
Before and after plus one step beats a catalogue.
Figure. One roti — dough, then heat — carries the chapter. You do not need every craft of the country. Before and after plus one named step beats a catalogue.
How it works
- Pick one makingRoti, or boat.
- List before and afterDough → roti.
- Name one stepHeat, or fold.
8A miss: thinking the object always existed
If the pot always existed, there was no making. Ask “what was it before?”
Soft clay or dough is an honest before.
Figure. If the pot always existed, there was no making. Soft clay or dough is an honest before. Call the miss when someone starts at the finished object.
How it works
- Ask for a beforeLump, clay, dough, sheet.
- Ask for an afterPot, roti, boat.
- If someone says “always a pot”, call the missMaking needs a before.
Soft clay shaped into a pot, not fired, can often
- Be squashed back
- Never change again
- Be a steel spoon
Until firing or glue, many shape-changes can still reverse.
Notes
- Mapped to the official NCERT chapter “How Things are Made”. Original teaching only — no textbook sentences.
- Science here is Physics, Chemistry and Biology ideas at this class, never a language or social-science chapter.
Recap
Hold these pegs from the official chapter “How Things are Made”. The wording is ExamMaster’s teaching, not a textbook recap.
- Grade 3 named materials; this chapter names the making steps
- Last year: object versus material. This year: the order of steps that turn material into object.
- A material is shaped, joined, or cooked into an object
- Three kinds of making-change: shape (pot), join (stick + paper), cook or heat (roti).
- Steps have an order: the pot is not born finished
- Shape before dry, dry before fire if that maker fires.
- A change may be reversible until a firing or a glue
- Soft clay can be a pot then a ball again. After firing, or after glue sets, undo is not honest.
- The material is not the object
- Clay in a bag is material. The pot is the object after making. Buying clay is not buying a pot.
- A property you can test after making
- Pour: does it hold water? Tear: does the join hold? The test is after the steps.
Practise How Things are Made
Reading is free and needs no account. Practice, mocks and progress live in the app.
- A 4-question practice set that ends the chapter
- 1 quick check with worked explanations
- Timed mocks scored with the real marking scheme
- Readiness tracked per topic, kept on your device