ALEX Classroom Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 1 :

1 ) Plan and carry out investigations (e.g., adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, evaporating salt water) to provide evidence that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

[SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to identify a liquid based on how it interacts on different paper surfaces. Students will also be able to explain that since different liquids are made of different atoms and molecules, they act in their own characteristic way. Students will test four known liquids and an unknown liquid on two different paper surfaces. They will use their observations to identify an unknown liquid. Students will realize that by using a combination of results from two tests, they can successfully identify an unknown liquid. Students will also add water and saltwater to green food coloring on a coffee filter. They see a distinct difference in the way each liquid makes the colors in green food coloring separate.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 1 :

1 ) Plan and carry out investigations (e.g., adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, evaporating salt water) to provide evidence that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

[SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to identify a liquid based on how it interacts with water. Students will also be able to explain, on a molecular level, why different liquids act differently when mixed with water. Students will test the water, salt water, alcohol, and detergent solution.  All the liquids tested are colored yellow. Students will mix these liquids with water that has been colored blue to see if the liquids have a characteristic way of mixing with water. Students will use their results to identify an unknown liquid that is the same as one of the known yellow liquids. The unknown in this lesson is saltwater.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

In this lesson, students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to compare the solubility of different substances and develop and explain a particle-level model to describe the process of dissolving. Students will also be able to explain that substances dissolve in different amounts because of the molecules they are made from. Students are given labeled samples of salt and sugar. They are also given unknown samples marked A, B, and C. One is salt, one is sugar, and the other is alum, which looks like it could be either salt or sugar. Students first use a dissolving test to see how salt and sugar dissolve in water. Students then run the same dissolving test on substances A, B, and C; identify the salt and sugar; and conclude that the other substance must be something different. Students then see an animation to help explain that the substances are made of different atoms and molecules, so they dissolve differently.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (2) 1 :

1 ) Conduct an investigation to describe and classify various substances according to physical properties (e.g., milk being a liquid, not clear in color, assuming shape of its container, mixing with water; mineral oil being a liquid, clear in color, taking shape of its container, floating in water; a brick being a solid, not clear in color, rough in texture, not taking the shape of its container, sinking in water).

[SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

In this lesson, students will develop an understanding that whether and how much a substance dissolves (solubility) is a property of that substance. Students will be able to plan and carry out an investigation to compare the solubility of two substances.    

Students develop a test to compare how the candy coating from an M&M and a Skittle dissolve in water. Students put an M&M and a Skittle in the same amount of water at the same temperature at the same time. Students will also see that the inside of the Skittles dissolves but the inside of the M&M does not. Students see an animation to help explain why the inside of the Skittles dissolves but the inside of the M&M does not.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

We've all seen substances change as a result of changes in temperature. Water heated on the stove eventually changes from a liquid to a gas and seemingly disappears as it disperses into the air. But even at lesser extremes, temperature affects the density of water. In this video segment adapted from ZOOM, a cast member demonstrates how temperature affects the way water molecules react with one another.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

[SC2015] (5) 5 :

5 ) Construct explanations from observations to determine how the density of an object affects whether the object sinks or floats when placed in a liquid.

Students experiment with density by changing the density of water, in this activity from Zoom. Students will discover that the more salt there is in the water, the denser the water is. Density is one thing that makes things float. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (2) 1 :

1 ) Conduct an investigation to describe and classify various substances according to physical properties (e.g., milk being a liquid, not clear in color, assuming shape of its container, mixing with water; mineral oil being a liquid, clear in color, taking shape of its container, floating in water; a brick being a solid, not clear in color, rough in texture, not taking the shape of its container, sinking in water).

[SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

[SC2015] PS8 (8) 2 :

2 ) Plan and carry out investigations to generate evidence supporting the claim that one pure substance can be distinguished from another based on characteristic properties.

Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. That is why mass and volume are the properties of matter.

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe the properties and characteristics of matter. This resource can provide background information for students before they conduct their own investigations. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (2) 1 :

1 ) Conduct an investigation to describe and classify various substances according to physical properties (e.g., milk being a liquid, not clear in color, assuming shape of its container, mixing with water; mineral oil being a liquid, clear in color, taking shape of its container, floating in water; a brick being a solid, not clear in color, rough in texture, not taking the shape of its container, sinking in water).

[SC2015] (2) 10 :

10 ) Collect and evaluate data to identify water found on Earth and determine whether it is a solid or a liquid (e.g., glaciers as solid forms of water; oceans, lakes, rivers, streams as liquid forms of water).

[SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

All matter can exist in three forms: solid, liquid, or gas. Matter can change states through heating or cooling, and it is sure to change states when it reaches its boiling point or freezing point.

The classroom resource provides a video that will explain the three states of matter and how matter can change states. There is a karaoke song that students can learn to help them remember the characteristics of the states of matter. This resource can provide background information for students before they conduct their own investigations. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (2) 4 :

4 ) Provide evidence that some changes in matter caused by heating or cooling can be reversed (e.g., heating or freezing of water) and some changes are irreversible (e.g., baking a cake, boiling an egg).

[SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

[SC2015] (5) 4 :

4 ) Investigate whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances (e.g., mixing of baking soda and vinegar resulting in the formation of a new substance, gas; mixing of sand and water resulting in no new substance being formed).

An object’s pH level can be tested using indicators. Objects with a low pH are acids, and those with a high pH are bases. Acids and bases react together to form water and salt.

The classroom resource provides a video that will introduce students to pH levels, acids, bases, and their possible reactions. This resource can provide background information for students before they conduct their own investigations. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

Make peace with glossaries and charts as you learn to use these text features to find and record information on matter, its properties, and how it is measured. A hippie hippo will make learning to observe and measure matter seem a little bit groovy for all ages.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

[SC2015] ES6 (6) 10 :

10 ) Use research-based evidence to propose a scientific explanation regarding how the distribution of Earth's resources such as minerals, fossil fuels, and groundwater are the result of ongoing geoscience processes (e.g., past volcanic and hydrothermal activity, burial of organic sediments, active weathering of rock).

Minerals are either elements or compounds with a crystalline structure that makeup rocks or are dissolved in water. They have many properties, including streak, color, luster, hardness, and structure.

The classroom resource provides a slide show that will describe minerals and their properties. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding. This resource can be used to provide background information before students perform their own observations and investigations.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] (5) 3 :

3 ) Examine matter through observations and measurements to identify materials (e.g., powders, metals, minerals, liquids) based on their properties (e.g., color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, solubility, density).

[SC2015] PS8 (8) 5 :

5 ) Observe and analyze characteristic properties of substances (e.g., odor, density, solubility, flammability, melting point, boiling point) before and after the substances combine to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.

What are the “physical properties” of matter, and how can they be measured and observed? Students will learn about some basic characteristics of matter—including those that depend on the amount of a substance and those that don’t—with this interactive lesson.