tlh teacher’s little helper
Worksheet

From Raw to Useful

Linked materials

Raw materials become processed materials

A raw material comes straight from nature. People change raw materials — by cleaning, heating, spinning, melting or mixing — into processed materials that are more useful.

RAW → processing → PROCESSED Wool (sheep) Yarn / fabric Sand Glass Oil Plastic Ore (rock) Metal
Raw materials from nature (left) are processed by people into useful materials (right). The moving dashes show the processing step.

From nature to the classroom

Q1. Complete the table by matching each raw material to what it is processed into.

Raw materialProcessed material
Wool
Sand
Oil
Ore (rock)
Tree

Q2. Is each one a raw material or a processed material? Write R or P.

MaterialR or P
Cotton wool ball
A glass window
Sheep’s wool
A plastic ruler
Sand at the beach
A metal spoon

Q3. Draw a flowchart showing how wool from a sheep becomes a woolly jumper. Use at least three steps with arrows between them.

Q4. Recycling turns used materials into new ones instead of throwing them away. Explain why recycling glass or metal is good for the environment. Use the words raw material.