Molloy College

Division of Education

Heading for Participatory Observation and Student Teaching

Teacher Candidate Sara Merkle College Supervisor Cathy Phillips

Content Area Science Cooperating Teacher Mrs. Foster
Grade 5th Lesson# 2 Topic Physical and Chemical Changes Date April 4, 2019
School District Valley Stream 24 School Robert W. Carbonaro Elementary School

INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES (s) (Lesson Objective(s)*)

After reviewing what a physical change is and learning about what a chemical change is,
students will observe a variety of items that have underwent a change. The students will come to
conclusions about if the object went through a chemical or physical change based on the
evidence. At the end of the lesson, students will complete an exit ticket in which they will have
to get 2 out of 3 questions correct.

NYS-CCLS / +NYS STANDARDS AND INDICATORS

Science Standards

5-PS1-3 Matter and Its Interactions

Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.

Indicator: This will be evident when students observe materials to understand if they
went through a physical or chemical change.

Common Core State Standards Connections ELA/Literacy

W.5.7
Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through
investigation of different aspects of a topic.
Indicator: This will be evident when students observe different objects to investigate the
differences between physical and chemical changes.

INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

● Google Slides Presentation

● Physical and Chemical Changes Packet
● Play Dough
● Bread/Toast
© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571
Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 ● Crackers
● Rusted Jewelry
● Popcorn and Kernels
● Exit Ticket (A,B,C)
● Is Popcorn Popping a Physical or Chemical Change? Article

MOTIVATION (Engaging the learner(s)*)

Students will be engaged in a motivation activity in which they pass around a piece of paper and
show the physical changes that can happen to it by cutting, ripping, crumbling the paper etc. This
will allow for the students to be able to recall prior knowledge learned.

DEVELOPMENTAL PROCEDURES
(including Key Questions)

1. Students will review what physical changes are, prior knowledge that they learned before
this lesson. (What does physical change mean? What are some examples of physical
change?)
2. Students will engage in an activity where they will suggest to do different things to a
piece of blank paper that will show a physical change. (How can we make physical
changes to this piece of paper?)
3. Students will then be asked if we still have the same piece of paper as when we started
the activity. This will show students that not changing something in this way, is a
characteristic of a physical change. (Do we still have the same piece of paper that we
started off with?)
4. Students will then be asked if this is true if we burn the paper. (What if we set the paper
on fire and it burns? Do we still have the same piece of paper that we had when we
started out?)
5. Students will watch a video of a piece of paper being set on fire to see if this is true.
6. Students will be introduced to chemical changes, since that is the type of change that
takes place when a piece of paper burns. They will fill out the notes in the Physical and
Chemical Changes Packet. (What do you think happened to the piece of burnt paper?
What do you think a chemical change is?)
7. Students will look at some other examples of chemical changes. (What do we notice
about the change that took place?)
8. Students will go to different stations that have objects at them that have either undergone
a chemical or physical change. They will answer questions about the objects at each
station in the Physical and Chemical Changes Packet. (What are you observing? Do you
think this object when through a physical or chemical change? Why do you think that?)
9. Students will review their answers to the packet with the teacher to understand the
characteristics and to compare and contrast physical and chemical changes.
10. Students will be introduced to a graphic organizer that they will create and personalize to
help them study and understand the differences between physical and chemical changes.
11. Students will complete an exit ticket about physical and chemical changes.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES (Learning Strategies*)

● Scaffolding
Indicator: This will be evident when the teacher asks students questions to help
them understand the difference between physical and chemical changes

● Cooperative Learning
Indicator: This will be evident when students work together, in stations, to
understand whether the object they are looking at went through a physical or
chemical change.

ADAPTATIONS (Exceptionality*)

● The English Language Learner will be paired with strong readers and writers when
working cooperatively within the different stations.
● The student that gets distracted easily will be placed in the front of the classroom to be
able to pay better attention to the lesson.

DIFFERENTIATION OF INSTRUCTION

Sample way to differentiate

Struggling Students
● Student will receive Exit Ticket (A) which will ask student 3 multiple choice questions
about physical and chemical changes.
Average Students
● Students will receive Exit Ticket (B) which will ask student 1 multiple choice question
and 2 short answer questions about physical and chemical changes.

Advanced Students
● Students will receive Exit Ticket (C) which will ask students 3 short answer questions
about physical and chemical changes.

ASSESSMENT (artifacts* and assessment [formal & informal]*)

● Formal: Students will complete an exit ticket in which they answer at least 2 out 3
answers correctly.
● Informal: Teacher will listen to the students’ observations and hypotheses as they observe
different objects at the different stations.
© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571
Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 INDEPENDENT PRACTICE

Following the lesson on physical and chemical changes, students will read the article, Is Popcorn
Popping a Physical or Chemical Change? This will help students understand why popped
popcorn is considered to have undergone a physical change opposed to a chemical change. Their
knowledge of this confusing question should be further reinforced after reading this article and
answering the questions.

FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES: DIRECT TEACHER INTERVENTION AND

ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT

Direct Teacher Intervention

● The student, under direct intervention with the teacher, will use the graphic organizer that
the students created as a “checklist” to understanding physical and chemical changes,
Together with the teacher, the students will look at the objects from the stations again,
and use the items from the graphic organizer “checklist” to check off what characteristics
of the changes the item possesses. This will give students a visual as to figuring out if the
object went through physical or chemical change.

Academic Enrichment
● Students will complete the What Type of Change is it? Worksheet. This worksheet will
ask students to read short scenarios and identify what change is occurring. They will have
to write the evidence for the change so that they understand their own reasoning.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 REFERENCES

Chem 4 Kids. http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_chemphys.html

Next Generation Science Standards. (2018, October 10). Retrieved from

http://www.nextgenscience.org/

Physical and Chemical Changes Worksheet.

http://www.wintonwoods.org/userfiles/557/EXTENDED%20LEARNING/Grade
%209%20Science.pdf

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
Name # ______________________________ Date_________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Review of Physical Changes

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Chemical Changes

A chemical change is...

A change of matter that occurs when atoms link

together in a ______________, creating a new
substance that is ____________ from the
original substance.

When a chemical change occurs there is a

________________. The original substance at
the beginning of a chemical reaction is the
_____________ and the substance at the end of
© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571
Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
a chemical reaction is the _____________.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Station 1: Play Dough

1. What are you observing?

__________________________________

2.Did a physical or chemical change occur?

__________________________________

3.How do you know?

__________________________________

__________________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Station 2: Bread and Toast

1.What are you observing?

____________________________

2. Did a physical or chemical change

occur?

____________________________

3. How do you know?

____________________________

____________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Station 3: Crackers and Crushed
Crackers

1.What are you observing?

____________________________

2. Did a physical or chemical change

occur?

____________________________

3. How do you know?

____________________________

____________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Station 4: Rusted Jewelry

1.What are you observing?

____________________________

2. Did a physical or chemical change

occur?

____________________________

3. How do you know?

____________________________

____________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 Station 5: Popcorn and Kernels

1.What are you observing?

____________________________

2. Did a physical or chemical change

occur?

____________________________

3. How do you know?

____________________________

____________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
Is Popcorn Popping a Physical or Chemical Change?
by Adam on Dec 7

When popcorn “pops” is it a chemical or a physical change? It seems a bit tricky, but it’s a
physical change. Let’s explore why.
Popcorn “pops” when a tiny amount of water contained in the kernel is superheated and turns to
steam. When enough pressure builds up inside the kernel, it ruptures, and some starch
previously contained within the kernel fuses together as it cools to form a fluffy solid.
Because the driving force behind this change is water being converted to steam (a change of
state), and nothing chemically new is made, this is a physical change.

Misunderstandings can arise when we try to use the common “clues of chemical change” as the
sole deciding factor in classifying something as a chemical or physical change.
What really distinguishes them is whether or not something chemically different is made.
If so, then it’s a chemical change. If not, it’s a physical change.
While that can be a bit difficult to discern just from observation, it really helps us to avoid some
of the common traps that the clues of chemical change sometimes set for us.
For example, it is commonly noted that popped popcorn seems to have changed color, possibly
produces a “gas”, and can’t be changed back to its original form. Really, the color doesn’t
change, as the popcorn kernel is just inverted—what used to be on the inside is now on the
outside, thereby exposing the previously hidden color. Also, a gas isn’t produced, only steam is
produced.
Even if those were true, however, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that a chemical change is taking
place. These common observations can only give us clues about what might be happening, but in
order to really classify a change, we need to know whether something chemically different
has been made.

Consider, for example, adding Kool-Aid mix to water.

The color of the water changes, but it’s a physical change.

Or think about a block of dry ice exposed to open air.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571
Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
A gas is produced, but again, it’s a physical change.

The carbon dioxide just sublimes (changes to a gas from a solid without passing through the
liquid phase) to form the mist or “smoke” that we observe.

Sometimes, the clues of chemical change are really handy, and they can help us to venture good
guesses about whether something is a chemical or physical change, but in the end we always
have to ask ourselves the question: was something chemically new made?
If the answer is no, then it’s a physical change.
http://www.middleschoolchemistry.com/atomsworld/2011/12/is-popcorn-popping-a-chemical-
or-physical-change/

1. After reading this article, what did you learn about physical and chemical changes?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
_____________________

2. After reading this article, did you change your position about the popcorn station from the
other day? Explain why or why not.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
 What Type of Change Is It?

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
Name # _____________________ Date__________________

Exit Ticket (A)

1. True or false: Burnt paper is an example of a physical change?

a. True
b. False

2. Circle all of the following that are examples of physical changes:

a. Putting butter on bread
b. Fireworks exploding
c. Rotten food
d. Folding a piece of paper
e. Cutting your hair

3. True or false: A chemical change produces a new substance that is different

from the original.

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
Name # _____________________ Date__________________

Exit Ticket (B)

1.)True or false: A chemical change produces a new substance that is different

from the original.
a.) True
b.) False

2.) Write one example of a physical change (different from the examples we

discussed in class!)

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

3.) Write one example of a chemical change (different from the examples we

discussed in class!)

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language
Name # _____________________ Date__________________

Exit Ticket (C)

1.) When a chemical change occurs, a reaction happens. The original substance
at the beginning of a chemical reaction is the
________________________ and the substance at the end of a chemical
reaction is the ______________________.

2.) Write one example of a physical change (different from the examples we

discussed in class!)

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

3.) Write one example of a chemical change (different from the examples we

discussed in class!)

______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

© Molloy College, Division of Education, Rockville Centre, NY 11571

Revised 10/25/16
*edTPA academic language