Teaching students about the properties of matter is fun and exciting. Students will love being able to plan and carry out real investigations on the properties of matter. Properties of Matter for 5th Grade: Mixtures and Solutions is a complete unit on identifying materials based on their properties. Students will learn about the properties of solubility and conductivity and will plan investigations.
Students will also investigate suspensions and colloids. This resource includes six investigations, a slide show on planning an investigation and identifying variables, a nonfiction reading passage on Particles in Matter, and another nonfiction reading passage on Mixtures and Solutions. This resource used phenomena to engage students and has great response pages and lab pages. This unit also includes a multiple-choice quiz. The materials for the labs are easy to find household materials. Students will love this engaging unit! You may also like Water Distribution Unit for Fifth Grade.
In this lab, the students will explore the property of matter, solubility. Students will investigate to see if coarse salt dissolves at the same rate or slower than granulated salt in water.
Mixtures and Solutions
A mixture is a combination of two or more different substances that do not lose their identifying characteristics when combined, such as soil and water, or milk and cereal. There are two main categories of mixtures: homogeneous mixtures and heterogeneous mixtures. In a homogenous mixture, all the substances are evenly distributed throughout the mixture (air, ocean water, blood). In a heterogeneous mixture the substances are not evenly distributed (salad, chocolate chip cookies, lava).
Many mixtures can be separated by simple physical means. When two substances mixed cannot be easily separated because one substance dissolves in the other, the mixture is a solution. It is possible to separate the two substances, but not very easily. An example of a solution is sugar dissolved in water: the sugar is still there, but it is dissolved, and in order to separate it out, the liquid would need to evaporate.
A solution is one type of mixture. The substance that dissolves is called the solute. The substance that the solute is dissolved into is the solvent. A solution is a homogeneous mixture. It has a uniform composition throughout. Saltwater is an example of a solution.
Exploring Properties of Matter
Students will learn about suspensions and colloids and learn that suspensions will eventually separate. This is an interesting property of matter.
Some types of matter do not dissolve in water.
Other Properties of Matter
I also had students test materials for conductivity. This is another property of matter. Students tested materials to see if they were conductors or insulators
This engaging resource has six investigations and includes two reading passages and a slide show on planning an investigation Students will learn about setting up variables so as to have a fair test to determine information about properties of matter and mixtures and solutions.
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There are many types of mixtures. Students will learn about suspensions, colloids, non-Newtonian fluids, alloys, solutions, homogenous mixtures, and heterogeneous mixtures. Students will learn that suspensions will eventually separate. In these six investigations, informational text passages, and lessons students will learn about the properties of matter.
Standards Aligned with Properties of Matter
This resource meets the standards from the strand Structure and Properties of Matter NGSS 5th grade NGSS 5-PS1-1. and NGSS 5-PS1-3. And also Utah SEEd 5.2.1 and 5.2.2
NGSS 5-PS1-1. Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen. [Clarification Statement: Examples of evidence could include adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, and evaporating salt water.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include the atomic-scale mechanism of evaporation and condensation or defining the unseen particles.]
5-PS1-3. Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties. [Clarification Statement: Examples of materials to be identified could include baking soda and other powders, metals, minerals, and liquids. Examples of properties could include color, hardness, reflectivity, electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, response to magnetic forces, and solubility; density is not intended as an identifiable property.] [Assessment Boundary: Assessment does not include density or distinguishing mass and weight.]
Utah SEEd 5.2.1
Develop and use a model to describe that matter is made of particles on a scale that is too small to be seen. Emphasize making observations of changes supported by a particle model of matter. Examples could include adding air to expand a balloon, compressing air in a syringe, adding food coloring to water, or dissolving salt in water and evaporating the water. The use of the terms atoms and molecules will be taught in Grades 6 through 8. (PS1.A)
Utah SEEd 5.2.2
Ask questions to plan and carry out investigations to identify substances based on patterns of their properties. Emphasize using properties to identify substances. Examples of properties could include color, hardness, conductivity, solubility, or a response to magnetic forces. Examples of substances could include powders, metals, minerals, or liquids. (PS1.A)
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Either way, your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed.
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Properties of Matter Sand and Water
I have another great resource for properties of matter. Students will love Identifying the Mystery Substance.
FREE Chemical Reaction Resource
