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Products and Processes: From Raw Materials to Useful Products - Coggle…
Products and Processes:
From Raw Materials to Useful Products
TECHNOLOGY
Subtopic 2:
"Designing with Clay"
Key Concept:
The properties of materials influence how products are designed and made.
(DBE, 2011, p. 8; Naudé and Meier, 2025; Kok and Van Schoor, 2014)
Inquiry Activity:
Explore different clay shapes and investigate which shapes are suitable for building. Sketch and label a design for a small model brick.
Subtopic 1:
"Making Stronger Bricks"
Strong bricks help communities construct safe buildings.
Key Concept:
Technological products can be tested, evaluated and improved to meet a specific needs.
(DBE, 2011, p. 8; Naudé and Meier, 2025; Kok and Van Schoor, 2014)
Inquiry Activity:
Make two model bricks with different designs. Compare their strength using a safe, fair test and suggest improvements based on the results.
NATURAL SCIENCE
Subtopic 2:
"Plants: From Sugarcane to Sugar"
Processing sugarcane involves farmers, factory workers and transport workers.
Key Concept:
Plants provide raw materials that can be processed into useful products. Sugarcane is a plant from which sugar is produced.
(DBE, 2011, p. 57; Naudé and Meier, 2025; James et al., 2019)
Inquiry activity:
Observe and compare sugarcane and sugar using the senses. Predict how sugarcane is processed into sugar and arrange pictures of the production stages in sequence.
Subtopic 1:
"The Earth: From Clay to Bricks"
Natural materials are investigated before designing useful products.
Key Concept:
The Earth provides natural materials such as clay, which people can shape and process into useful products such as bricks.
(DBE, 2011, p. 57; Naudé and Meier, 2025; James et al., 2019)
Inquiry Activity:
Investigate wet and dry clay by observing and comparing their properties. Predict and test how adding water and allowing clay to dry changes its shape and hardness.
SOCIAL SCIENCE
Subtopic 2:
"People and Occupations"
Key Concept:
Different workers contribute specialised skills to the production of useful goods.
(DBE, 2011, p. 8; Naudé and Meier, 2025; Dixon et al., 2018)
Inquiry Activity:
Investigate photographs of sugarcane farmers, factory workers and brickmakers. Identify their tools and explain how each worker contributes to producing useful goods.
Subtopic 1:
"Products in Communities"
Key Concept:
Communities use natural resources and manufactured products to meet everyday needs.
(DBE, 2011, p. 8; Naudé and Meier, 2025; Dixon et al., 2018)
Inquiry Activity:
Explore pictures of homes, farms, shops and factories. Investigate where sugar and bricks come from, how they reach communities and how people use them.
REFERENCES:
Department of Basic Education (2011) Curriculum and assessment policy statement (CAPS): Life Skills Grades R–3. Department of Basic Education.
Dixon, K., Janks, H., Botha, D., Earle, K., Poo, M., Oldacre, F., Pather, K. and Schneider, K.-L. (2018) 'A critical analysis of CAPS for Life Skills in the Foundation Phase (Grades R–3)', Journal of Education, 71. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i71a01
(Accessed: 27 October 2026).
James, A.A., Beni, S. and Stears, M. (2019) 'Teaching science in the foundation phase: Where are the gaps and how are they accounted for?', South African Journal of Childhood Education, 9(1), article a759. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v9i1.759
(Accessed: 26 October 2026).
Kok, L. and Van Schoor, R. (2014) 'A science-technology-society approach to teacher education for the foundation phase: Students’ empiricist views', South African Journal of Childhood Education, 4(1), article a180. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.4102/sajce.v4i1.180
(Accessed: 25 October 2026).
Naudé, M. and Meier, C. (eds.) (2025) Teaching life skills in the foundation phase. 3rd edn. Van Schaik Publishers.