Brief Description
To figure out how two things are similar and different.
How to Talk About This Term with Young Children
For Structure and Properties: Take the opportunity to notice how combining materials changes the properties of those materials. For example,”if we combine flour, water, and yeast, we make dough.” How do the properties of the individual ingredients change? Encourage children to compare the properties of the dough to the properties of the individual properties of the ingredients.
For Engineering: Encourage children to consider different materials during engineering investigations. How are materials similar? How are they different? What might make one material work for a certain design idea and another material not work?