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Dissolving M&Ms

Classroom Resource Information

Title:

Dissolving M&Ms

URL:

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/k-8/inquiryinaction/fifth-grade/chapter-1-investigating-matter-at-the-particle-level/dissolving-an-m-and-m.html

Content Source:

Other
American Chemical Society

Type:

Lesson/Unit Plan

Overview:

In this lesson, students explore the interaction of two substances and see that they can use what they know about the interaction of particles to explain their observations. Students place an M&M in water and see the colored sugar coating dissolve around the M&M. Students help develop a model to explain that the attraction of water molecules for sugar and color (dye) molecules is a good explanation for why the sugar coating dissolves. Students then test whether the coating dissolves as well in a sugar solution as it does in plain water. They put three or four different colored M&Ms together in water and watch the coatings dissolve. Students will see a distinct “line” where the colors meet. Students use molecular models to make an argument about why the dissolving M&Ms form a line.

Content Standard(s):

Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 5

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.

NAEP Framework

NAEP Statement::
P4.3: Matter exists in several different states; the most common states are solid, liquid, and gas. Each state of matter has unique properties. For instance, gases are easily compressed while solids and liquids are not. The shape of a solid is independent of its container; liquids and gases take the shape of their containers.

NAEP Statement::
P4.4: Some objects are composed of a single substance; others are composed of more than one substance.

NAEP Statement::
P8.1: Properties of solids, liquids, and gases are explained by a model of matter that is composed of tiny particles in motion.

Unpacked Content

Scientific And Engineering Practices:

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Provide evidence based on investigation results that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Teacher Vocabulary:

Investigation
Variable
Data
Hypothesis
Conclusion
Matter
Describe
Observe
Evidence
Immensely
Bulk matter
Particle

Knowledge:

Students know:

Matter is made of particles too small to be seen Matter too small to be seen still exists and may be detected by other means.
Gasses are made of matter particles that are too small to see, and are moving freely around in space (this can explain many observations, including the inflation and the shape of the balloon, and the effects of air on larger particles or objects).
The behavior of a collection of many tiny particles of matter and observable phenomena involving bulk matter (e.g., an expanding balloon, evaporating liquids, substances that dissolve in a solvent, effects of wind).
There is a relationship between bulk matter and tiny particles that cannot be seen.

Skills:

Students are able to:

Identify the phenomenon under investigation.
Identify evidence that addresses the purpose of the investigation.
Collaboratively plan the investigation.
Collect and analyze the data.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

Natural objects exist from the very small to the immensely large.

AMSTI Resources:

AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.1- Recognize that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Science
SC2015 (2015)
Grade: 5

2 ) Investigate matter to provide mathematical evidence, including graphs, to show that regardless of the type of reaction (e.g., new substance forming due to dissolving or mixing) or change (e.g., phase change) that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of the matter is conserved.

NAEP Framework

NAEP Statement::
P4.1: Objects and substances have properties. Weight (mass) and volume are properties that can be measured using appropriate tools.*

NAEP Statement::
P4.6: One way to change matter from one state to another and back again is by heating and cooling.

Unpacked Content

Scientific And Engineering Practices:

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Crosscutting Concepts: Scale, Proportion, and Quantity

Disciplinary Core Idea: Matter and Its Interactions

Evidence Of Student Attainment:

Students:

Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.

Teacher Vocabulary:

Quantitative measurements (mass, weight, standard unit)
Physical quantities (weight, time, temperature, volume)
Property changes
Matter
Reaction
Heating
Cooling
Mixing
Physical properties
Conservation of matter
Graphing

Knowledge:

Students know:

The amount (weight) of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish.
No matter what reaction or change in properties occurs, the total weight of the substances does not change. (Boundary: Mass and weight are not distinguished at this grade level.)

Skills:

Students are able to:

Measure and graph the given quantities using standard units, including: the weight of substances before they are heated, cooled, or mixed and the weight of substances, including any new substances produced by a reaction, after they are heated, cooled, or mixed.
Measure and/or calculate the difference between the total weight of the substances (using standard units) before and after they are heated, cooled, and/or mixed.
Describe the changes in properties they observe during and/or after heating, cooling, or mixing substances.
Use their measurements and calculations to describe that the total weights of the substances did not change, regardless of the reaction or changes in properties that were observed.
Use measurements and descriptions of weight, as well as the assumption of consistent patterns in natural systems, to describe evidence to address scientific questions about the conservation of the amount of matter, including the idea that the total weight of matter is conserved after heating, cooling, or mixing substances.

Understanding:

Students understand that:

Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight and can be used to demonstrate the conservation of the total weight of matter.

AMSTI Resources:

AMSTI Module:
Matter and Interactions

Alabama Alternate Achievement Standards

AAS Standard:
SCI.AAS.5.2- Recognize that regardless of the type of reaction (e.g., new substance forming due to dissolving or mixing) or change (e.g., phase change) that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of the matter is conserved.

Tags:

dissolve, investigation, molecular model, molecule, reaction, substances

License Type:

Custom Permission Type
See Terms: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/terms.html
For full descriptions of license types and a guide to usage, visit :
https://creativecommons.org/licenses

Accessibility

Comments

This resource provided by:

Author:

Stephanie Carver

ALEX Classroom Resource

Dissolving M&Ms