Describe Materials as Transparent, Translucent or Opaque

We are surrounded by lots of different materials in our homes.

We can describe materials by their properties - these are the features of a material that are special to that material.

 

Here are three different types of properties - transparent, translucent, opaque.

 

  

 

This drinking cup is made from glass.  We can see through this type of glass.

The property is transparent, which means that we can see through it.

Other properties of this glass are that it is hard, waterproof and light in weight.

 

 

Here is some ice.  We can see shapes through the ice, but not the images clearly. 

A property of the ice cube is that it is translucent. This means that we can see shapes through it, but not see clearly as with glass.

Other properties of the ice cube are that it is hard, cold and wet.

 

 

Here is some coloured paper.  We cannot see shapes through the paper at all.

A property of the paper is that it is opaque. This means we cannot see through it.

Other properties of the paper are that it is smooth and flexible.

 

There's some tricky words to remember here, so let's have a go at learning them by looking at some examples in the questions.