Materials

Tin is one of the metals known for the longest to man. It is one of the main components of bronze, which revolutionised civilisation as bronze was harder and easier to work with than copper. Tin is smelted in a similar way to iron, by reducing it with coal.
Tin is soft at room temperature and above but becomes brittle at low temperatures because it becomes crystalline as it cools. Tin is very stable and doesn't tarnish or rust like other metals.
Today tin is used mainly as an alloy with other metals, and to coat other metals to stop them from rusting. Tin is used to line tin cans, which are actually made of steel.

Pure topaz is made from crystalline silicate of aluminium and fluorine. When it is pure it has no colour, but can be coloured pale yellow, brown, pale green, reddish or even rare instances blue if the stone contains impurities.
Topaz has been used in jewellery for thousands of years, and originally any clear yellow stone was called topaz. Now only stones that are the correct chemical composition can be called topaz.

Tourmaline is a crystal silicate that comes in a wide variety of colours. The colours can be from aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium.

Tweed is a rough woolen fabric. It is usually quite thick and warm, and has a distinctive herringbone or check pattern in it. Tweed is usually made in fairly dull colors like grey or brown, and is seen as a very old-fashioned fabric.

Varnish is made by dissolving some kind of substance, often a resin, tree sap or even the shell of beetles, into something like oil or alcohol. When you put varnish on wood, it becomes hard, smooth and shiny.

Originally wax was something bees made the inside of their hives out of, that people harvested to use. Wax is soft enough to be able to mold it into new shapes, but doesn't melt at room temperature. Liquid wax will burn with a bright light, and is used to make candles out of.
Things that are waxy and similar to beeswax are also called wax. Modern candles are made from paraffin wax. The stuff you sometimes scratch out of your ears is waxy and called earwax. Many cosmetics like lipstick are made mostly from wax.

Wire is made of metal stretched out long and thin. Wire is stiffer than string so you need tools like pliers to bend it into intricate shapes.
Wire is most often used to make fences out of on farms.

Wool, also called yarn, is made from animal fleece, spun into a long, thin string. It can be made in any thickness and then dyed in any color. People then use the wool to knit things like socks out of.

Zinc is a hard, brittle metal. It is most commonly used mixed with other metals to make alloys like brass, and as a coating on other metals to stop them rusting. Zinc stops other metals rusting because when it is attached to another metal it will rust before that other metal does. The other metal will then start to rust when all the zinc is gone.
Metal that is coated with zinc is called galvanized. If you look closely at galvanised metal you can see the zinc crystals.