Class 6 Science · Original EZT practice
Materials Around Us (Class 6 Chapter 6): summary and practice
Look around your room: a steel spoon, a glass window, a wooden desk, a cotton shirt. Chapter 6 teaches how to sort such materials by their properties and ends by asking what matter is. All questions are original EZT tutor practice following the chapter's own section order. Edition note: this page covers the new NCERT book Curiosity (Grade 6). Older Class 6 books numbered this chapter differently - check your chapter title, not just the number.
8 original worked examples, 8 fresh self-check questions and 4 mixed questions, with explained answers. These are not copied textbook exercises, an official chapter index or a full answer key. No affiliation with NCERT is claimed.
Official sources for topic and edition context, checked 20 October 2026:
1. Observing and grouping materials
Objects are made of materials, and one material can make many objects. We group materials by a property we can observe, such as appearance, hardness, or whether they dissolve in water. A group depends on the property chosen - the same set of things can be grouped in more than one way.
2. Transparent, translucent, opaque
A transparent material lets light pass so we see clearly through it (clear glass, plain water). A translucent material lets some light through but we cannot see clearly (frosted glass, butter paper). An opaque material lets no light through (wood, metal, cardboard).
3. Lustre, hardness and solubility
Lustre is the shine of a material, typical of metals. Hard materials resist scratching and pressing (iron, diamond); soft ones can be scratched or pressed easily (chalk, sponge). A material is soluble if it dissolves in water (salt, sugar) and insoluble if it does not (sand, chalk powder).
4. Heavy or light, space and matter
Materials differ in how heavy they feel for the same size. Anything that has mass and takes up space (has volume) is matter. Solids, liquids and gases are all matter - even air, which we cannot see, takes up space (a blown-up balloon).
Choose, solve, check, then try a fresh question.
Before calculating, read the method prompt and name the condition that makes it useful. Write your own attempt. Open the steps only when you need them, and use the check to catch a wrong sign, unit or interpretation. Finish with the fresh question before reading its answer.
See that one object can come in many materials
Choose the method: Keep the object fixed and ask what changes when the material changes.
EZT practice question
A glass tumbler, a steel tumbler and a plastic tumbler are all tumblers. What differs?
Show the worked solution
- All three serve the same purpose and have the same general shape.
- The difference is what each is made of.
Answer: The material each tumbler is made of - glass, steel or plastic.
Check: The object (tumbler) stays the same while the material changes.
Watch for this: Do not say the shape differs; the shape is the same, only the material changes.
Now try it yourself
Name two objects made of wood.
Check your answer
Any two wooden objects, such as a desk and a chair.
One material (wood) can be used to make many different objects.
Group the same objects in more than one way
Choose the method: Pick one observable property, then sort every object by it.
EZT practice question
Group a coin, a rubber, a stone and a spoon as shiny and not shiny.
Show the worked solution
- Choose the property: shininess.
- Coin and spoon are metals and shine.
- Rubber and stone do not shine.
Answer: Shiny: coin and spoon. Not shiny: rubber and stone.
Check: Every object is placed using the same single property.
Watch for this: Do not switch the property midway; grouping must use one chosen property at a time.
Now try it yourself
Can one object be made of more than one material? Give an example.
Check your answer
Yes - a pen has plastic and metal parts.
Many everyday objects combine materials, which is why grouping always depends on the chosen property.
Classify materials by how much light they let through
Choose the method: Ask: can you see clearly through it, partly, or not at all?
EZT practice question
Classify clear glass, butter paper and a wooden board.
Show the worked solution
- Clear glass lets you see clearly through it.
- Butter paper lets some light through but no clear view.
- A wooden board blocks light completely.
Answer: Clear glass is transparent, butter paper is translucent, the wooden board is opaque.
Check: Each label matches how much light passes: all, some, or none.
Watch for this: Do not call butter paper transparent; a clear view through it is not possible.
Now try it yourself
Define opaque.
Check your answer
A material that allows no light to pass through it.
Opaque is the chapter's term for materials that block light completely.
Use translucency to solve an everyday problem
Choose the method: Ask what the material must let in and what it must hide.
EZT practice question
Why is a frosted bathroom window useful?
Show the worked solution
- The room needs daylight, so the window must let light in.
- Privacy needs the view blocked, so a clear view through must not be possible.
- Frosted glass is translucent: light passes, a clear view does not.
Answer: It is translucent - it lets in light but you cannot see through clearly, so it keeps privacy.
Check: The answer uses both effects of translucency: light in, view blocked.
Watch for this: Do not say transparent; a transparent window would give no privacy.
Now try it yourself
Is a cardboard box transparent?
Check your answer
No - it is opaque; no light passes through it.
Cardboard blocks light completely, which is the definition of opaque.
Tell soluble from insoluble in water
Choose the method: Stir each material in water and watch whether it disappears.
EZT practice question
Sugar and sand are each stirred in water. What do you see?
Show the worked solution
- Sugar disappears into the water - it dissolves.
- Sand stays as grains and settles at the bottom.
Answer: Sugar dissolves (soluble); sand stays and settles (insoluble).
Check: Dissolving means the material mixes into the water and is no longer seen as separate grains.
Watch for this: Do not call sand soluble because it mixes briefly while stirring; it settles back unchanged.
Now try it yourself
What is lustre?
Check your answer
The shine of a material, typical of metals.
Lustre is one of the observable properties used to group materials.
Test which of two materials is harder
Choose the method: Scratch each material with the other; the scratcher is harder.
EZT practice question
Which is harder - an iron nail or a piece of chalk? How would you test it?
Show the worked solution
- Scratch each with the other.
- The nail scratches the chalk.
- The chalk cannot scratch the nail.
Answer: The iron nail is harder - it scratches the chalk, not the reverse.
Check: A harder material scratches a softer one, so the scratch test decides.
Watch for this: Do not judge hardness by weight; heavy is not the same as hard.
Now try it yourself
Name one soluble and one insoluble material.
Check your answer
Soluble: salt or sugar. Insoluble: sand or chalk powder.
Solubility is decided by whether the material dissolves in water.
Show that air takes up space
Choose the method: Compare the balloon before and after filling it with air.
EZT practice question
A balloon is empty and then filled with air. Why does it now take up more space?
Show the worked solution
- Air is matter - it has mass and occupies space.
- Filling the balloon puts air inside it.
- The air inside pushes the balloon walls outward.
Answer: Air is matter and occupies space, so the filled balloon takes up more room.
Check: The explanation uses the defining property of matter: it occupies space.
Watch for this: Do not say air is nothing because it is invisible; invisible things can still occupy space.
Now try it yourself
Define matter.
Check your answer
Anything that has mass and occupies space.
That is the chapter's definition of matter.
Test whether something is matter
Choose the method: Apply the definition: does it have mass and occupy space?
EZT practice question
Is light matter?
Show the worked solution
- Matter has mass and occupies space.
- Light has neither mass nor volume in the sense used here.
Answer: No - light has neither mass nor volume in the sense used here, so it is not matter.
Check: Both parts of the definition fail, so the conclusion follows.
Watch for this: Do not call everything we can sense matter; apply the mass-and-space test.
Now try it yourself
Name one gas that is matter.
Check your answer
Air (or oxygen, or any named gas).
Gases have mass and occupy space, so they are matter.
Try a mixed set
Choose a method or explanation before opening each answer.
1. What is a transparent material?
Show answer and reason
One that lets light pass so we see clearly through it.
Clear glass and plain water are the chapter's examples.
2. What is lustre?
Show answer and reason
The shine of a material, typical of metals.
Lustre is one of the properties used to group materials.
3. Name one soluble and one insoluble material.
Show answer and reason
Soluble: salt. Insoluble: sand.
Salt dissolves in water; sand does not.
4. Define matter.
Show answer and reason
Anything that has mass and occupies space.
Solids, liquids and gases are all matter.
Try it yourself
Work these on paper before checking any notes. Answers are deliberately not shown here.
- Sort these by transparency: a clear window, frosted glass, a steel plate.
- Group a key, a crayon, a coin and a sponge in two different ways and name the property used each time.
- Is smoke matter? Give a reason for your answer.
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Questions about this practice page
- What are transparent, translucent and opaque materials?
- Transparent lets light pass so you see clearly; translucent lets some light pass but not a clear view; opaque lets none through.
- What does soluble mean?
- A material that dissolves in water, like salt or sugar.
- What is lustre?
- The shine of a material, typical of metals.
- What is matter?
- Anything that has mass and occupies space - solids, liquids and gases are all matter.
- Are these the NCERT exercise questions for Materials Around Us?
- No. EZT pages are original practice following the chapter's section order - use them to prepare for the textbook exercises, not as a substitute for your book.