Grade 5. In 15 lessons over 20 class sessions, students learn how they can use the properties of materials to identify those materials. The module includes a teacher guide, 10 Student Activity Guides, 16 Smithsonian Science Stories student readers, and enough materials for 32 students to use 1 time.

Grade 5. Module Highlights: In 15 lessons spanning 20 class sessions, students learn how they can use the properties of materials to identify those materials. In the first focus question, they use their senses to compare properties of six solids, including sugar and cornstarch. They read about how sugar and cornstarch are made by plants and used as food by animals. In the second focus question, students learn that dissolving and evaporation can be explained by particles. They compare how six solids behave when mixed with water. In the third focus question, students learn that melting points can be used to identify solids. They look at the effect of heat on six solids. In the fourth focus question, students record what happens when six solids are mixed with either iodine or vinegar. They read about how carbon dioxide and water combine to produce sugar and oxygen in a plant. They weigh cornstarch and iodine before and after mixing and conclude that weight is conserved in any change. In the science challenge, students apply what they have learned about properties to identify four unknown solids.

This module includes a teacher guide, 10 Student Activity Guides, 16 Smithsonian Science Stories student readers, and enough materials for 32 students to use 1 time.

Student Readers Available HERE

Alignment to the Next Generation Science Standards*
Performance Expectations

• 5-PS1-1: Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.
• 5-PS1-2: 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.
• 5-PS1-3: Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
• 5-PS1-4: Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.
• 5-LS1-1: Support an argument that plants get the materials they need for growth chiefly from air and water.

Disciplinary Core Ideas
PS1.A: Structure and Properties of Matter

• Matter of any type can be subdivided into particles that are too small to see, but even then the matter still exists and can be detected by other means. A model showing that gases are made from matter particles that are too small to see and are moving freely around in space can explain many observations, including the inflation and shape of a balloon and the effects of air on larger particles or objects.
• The amount (weight) of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish.
• Measurements of a variety of properties can be used to identify materials.

PS1.B: Chemical Reactions

• When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed.
• No matter what reaction or change in properties occurs, the total weight of the substances does not change.

LS1.C: Organization for Matter and Energy Flow in Organisms

• Plants acquire their material for growth chiefly from air and water.

Science and Engineering Practices
Focal:

• Planning and carrying out investigations
• Analyzing and interpreting data
• Engaging in argument from evidence
• Using mathematics and computational thinking

Supporting:

• Developing and using models
• Constructing explanations
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Crosscutting Concepts
Focal:

• Patterns
• Scale, proportion, and quantity
• Cause and effect

Supporting:

• Structure and function
• Systems and system models
• Energy and matter

Concepts and Practices Storyline
Focus Questions and Lesson Summaries
Focus Question 1: How can we use our senses to compare materials?
Lesson 1: Sweet and Salty
Properties can be used to identify materials.
Students use appropriate methods and tools to identify similarities and differences between sugar and salt. They represent their observations in a box and T chart to identify a pattern.
Lesson 2: Four New Solids
Sugar, salt, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and alum can be compared using just our senses.
Students use appropriate methods and tools to identify similarities and differences between alum, cornstarch, baking powder, and baking soda. They represent their observations in a table and argue from evidence that six solids can be identified using just our senses.
Lesson 3: Plant Products
Sugar and cornstarch can be obtained from plants.
Students argue from evidence obtained from a text that the sugar and cornstarch we eat is made by plants.

Focus Question 2: What happens when materials are mixed with water?
Lesson 4: Sugar Water
When sugar is dissolved in water, there is no change in weight.
Students represent in a table the weight in grams of sugar and water before and after mixing. They draw a graph to show that the weight of sugar and water after mixing is the same as before.
Lesson 5: What We Can't See
Dissolving and evaporation can be explained by particles.
Students draw a model to show what happens to the very small particles of water and sugar during dissolving and evaporation. They use the model to explain why the weight of sugar and water after mixing is the same as before.
Lesson 6: Chemists Make Solutions
Solids can be compared based on how they mix with water.
Students carry out an investigation using a fair test to collect data on how six solids mix with water. They argue from evidence that six solids can be identified based on similarities and differences in how they mix with water.

Focus Question 3: How do heating and cooling affect materials?
Lesson 7: Lip Balm
A mixture of coconut oil and beeswax melts more easily than beeswax alone. Students represent in a table, observations and the melting point in degrees Celsius of beeswax and a mixture of beeswax and coconut oil. They interpret the data to explain why lip balm is a mixture of beeswax and coconut oil.
Lesson 8: Melting and Freezing Points
Mixtures have different melting points and freezing points from pure materials.
Students obtain evidence from a text to construct an explanation that adding something to a pure material causes the melting point and freezing point to change.
Lesson 9: Cooking with Fire
Solids can be compared based on how they respond to heat.
Students carry out an investigation using a fair test to collect data on how different solids respond to heat. Students argue from evidence that six solids can be identified based on similarities and differences in how they respond to heat.

Focus Question 4: Does mixing materials together form a new material?
Lesson 10: Making Something New
Bubbles or a change in color can be observed when six solids are mixed with vinegar or iodine.
Students carry out an investigation using a fair test to collect data on how six solids mix with vinegar and iodine. Students argue from evidence that something new being formed can cause a color change or bubbles.
Lesson 11: Change Is All Around Us
Bubbles or a change in smell, color, or texture can be a sign that a new material has been made.
Students obtain information from a text that formation of a new material can cause bubbles or a change in color, smell, or texture. They use evidence from the text to construct an explanation that plants make sugar and oxygen from the chemical reaction of carbon dioxide and water.
Lesson 12: A Weighty Matter
When something new is formed, there is no change in weight.
Students represent in a table the weight in grams of iodine and cornstarch before and after mixing. They draw a graph and compare data from different groups to conclude that the weight after mixing is the same as before.

Science Challenge
Focus Question 5: How can we identify unknown kitchen materials?
Lesson 13: Kitchen Crisis Part 1
A model can be used to plan an investigation.
Students plan an investigation using a model to identify four unknown solids based on similarities and differences in properties.
Lesson 14: Kitchen Crisis Part 2
Unknown solids can be identified by comparing properties.
Students carry out an investigation using a fair test to identify four unknown solids based on similarities and differences in properties.
Lesson 15: Kitchen Crisis Part 3
Scientists use evidence when communicating their findings.
Students communicate information and argue from evidence that four unknown solids can be identified based on similarities and differences in properties.

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