Lesson Title: ​What’s Matter?

 
Grade Level: ​5th 
State Standards Connection: 
ILO: 
Standard 1.​ Use science process and thinking skills  
Indicator f.​ Plan and conduct simple experiments.  
Standard 1:​ ​Students will understand that chemical and physical changes occur in matter. 
Objective 1:​ ​Describe that matter is neither created nor destroyed even though it may 
undergo change. 
Indicator b:​ C
​ ompare the weight of a specified quantity of matter before and after it 
undergoes melting or freezing.  
Specific Lesson Objective:​​ Students will measure the mass of water as a solid and a liquid 
and communicate their findings. 
Lesson Purpose:​​ Does matter change mass depending on its state? Why or why not? 
Vocabulary Focus:  
Matter: everything around us; anything that has mass and volume  
Mass: measurement of how much matter is in an object  
Materials: 
Explore​: 1 aluminum pie pan per group, 1 ice cube per group, printout of worksheet, 1 
triple beam balance per group  
Extend​: 1 hot plate per group, 1 triple beam balance per group, 1 aluminum pie pan per 
group, 2 oven mitts per group, 2 gummy candy per group, 1 plain chocolate bar per group, 
1 Tbs butter per group, 1 can of solid shortening (for class)  
Anticipated Time Frame: (45-70 minutes - depending on when you do the extend) 
______________________________________________________________________ 
Engage and Launch: (10-15 minutes) 
1. Start lesson off by asking students what they know about matter. 
2. Write comments on board or restate what a student said. 
3. Show students this ​Crash Course​ video to get them engaged and thinking about 
what matter is. 
4. After watching the video, have students talk in their tables about what matter is. 
a. “What did the video say matter is?” 
b. “Does what the video shared match anything we said about matter?” 
5. Ask students to share. 
6. Ask students to think of something that can be solid, liquid, and gas. Answer: water 
7. “Do you think this unfrozen bottle of water would weigh the same if we froze it?” 
8. Write their guesses on the board or have them write them in their science journals. 
9. “Well we are going to test that out today by weighing ice cubes, melting them, and 
weighing them again.” 
 Teacher Role:  Ask questions, assess prior knowledge 

Student Role:  Has an interest, identifies problem to solve 

 
Explore: (20 minutes) 
The activity is designed to introduce the idea that (1) matter can undergo physical change 
and (2) matter cannot be created or destroyed even though it may undergo change.  
1. Give students directions. 
a. Find the mass of the aluminum pie pan using the triple beam balance, and 
record the amount. (Students should find the mass of the pie pan by itself 
and then subtract that amount from the total mass of the ice cube and the 
aluminum pie pan during the investigation. Give students some time to 
come up with the process on how to calculate the mass on their own before 
you show them.) 
b. Place the ice cube in the aluminum pie pan.  
c. Find and record its mass.  
d. Wait for the ice cube to melt completely. Do not use a heat source.  
e. Measure the mass again using the triple beam balance. 
2. Ask students to repeat back the directions.  
3. Pass out the worksheet.  
4. Have students do experiment.  
Teacher Role:  Models when needed, questions and probes 

Student Role:  Explores resources and materials, hypothesizes and predicts, records 
observations and ideas 
 
Explain/Summarize: (10 minutes) 
1. Have students talk in their groups after asking each question: 
a. What properties of the ice cube changed when it melted? 
i. It changed from a solid state to a liquid state. It changed its shape. It 
changed its temperature. 
b. What properties of the ice cube remained the same when it melted? Why? 
i. The mass stayed the same because we did not add or take anything 
away. 
c. Explain how this was only a physical change. 
i. The substance is still water even though its state of matter changed.  
2. Discuss results with students. 
3. Matter cannot be created or destroyed even though it may undergo change.  
 
Teacher Role:  Asks for evidence and clarification from students, uses students’ 
experiences as a basis for explaining new concepts 

Student Role:  Clarifies understandings discovered, shares understandings for 

feedback  
 
Elaborate/Extend: (30 minutes) 
(This activity can be done during the same class period or during the next class.) 
1. Ask students what they think would happen if they melted other solids (such as 
chocolate, butter, shortening, gummy candy, etc.) 
2. Have students write a hypothesis about what will happen if they melt butter, 
chocolate, shortening, and a gummy bear (separately, not together). 
3. Have students repeat the experiment, but with a new substance.  
a. 1. Select a material, place it on an aluminum pan, and measure the mass 
using a triple beam balance. Record this data on the chart.  
b. Place the pie pan with the material in it onto a hot plate, and let the 
substance melt.  
c. After the material has melted, use oven mitts or the teacher’s assistance, to 
transport the pan from the hot plate to the triple beam balance. 
d. Measure the material’s mass on the triple beam balance again. Record this 
data on the chart. 
e. Be sure to turn off the hot plate as soon as your group is done melting all 
materials.  
4. Each group will have a different substance (some groups may have to have the 
same substance). 
5. Students will digitally record their data in a graph on a laptop or iPad. (The website 
https://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/createagraph/​ allows students to create different 
kinds of graphs.)  
6. Discuss with students: 
a. What happened when we added heat to each substance? 
i. The substances changed from a solid to a liquid. 
b. How did the mass before melting the substance compare to the mass after 
melting the substance? 
i. The mass was about the same for each substance. 
c. Why do you think the mass was the same after the substance melted? 
 i.We did not add or take away anything from the pie pan. If we were to 
leave the pie pans on the hot plate for a long time, some of the liquid 
might evaporate, which may cause the mass to change.  
d. What do you think will happen to the mass once the materials return to 
their solid state? 
i. The mass will stay the same unless some of the liquid evaporated 
when it heated.  
7. Ask students if they understand the experiment and why we did it. 
8. Explain how it is similar to the first experiment with the ice cube. 
9. Matter cannot be created nor destroyed. 
 
Teacher Role:  Provides feedback, poses new problem and issues 

Student Role:  Applies knowledge by performing related tasks, plans and carries out 
new project 
 
Evaluate/Assess: 
1. Have students turn in the lab/activity worksheet.  
 
Teacher Role:  Observe and assess students as they apply new concepts and skills 

Student Role:  Demonstrates an understanding of a skill or concept 

 
Adaptations for Gifted/Talented, ELL and Special Education:  
- Have visuals and definitions of words printed out 
- Give students a printout of instructions/directions or post them on the whiteboard 
for students to reference 
- For students who finish early, have them formulate and write down their own 
experiment; have them think of a question they would like to find the answer to 
and explore a way to answer it (other than the internet) 
 
 
 
 
 
 
   
Name: __________________________ 
 
Material  Mass 

Pie pan   

Pie pan and ice cube    

Ice cube only   

Pie pan and melted ice cube   

Melted ice cube only   

 
 
 
 
   
Name: __________________________ 
 
 
Material  Mass of Material +  Mass of Melted  Mass of Solid 
Pie Pan Before  Material + Pie Pan  Material + Pie Pan 
State Change  After State Change  After State Change 

Shortening       

Gummy candy       

Chocolate       

Butter