Learners will test how physical and chemical changes affect the…
Learners will test how physical and chemical changes affect the properties of matter, including how dissolving happens and how physical changes can be reversed (partial: salt dissolving in meltwater).
The Nova Scotia Science curriculum outcome (Physical Science: Matter) for Grade 5 says: “Learners will test how physical and chemical changes affect the properties of matter, including how dissolving happens and how physical changes can be reversed (partial: salt dissolving in meltwater).” This Fieldbook unit teaches it hands-on, with everyday materials and a printable teacher guide and student sheet for every lesson. Official wording: Nova Scotia Science curriculum.
Winter Science at Home Grades K–5
Make frost on the outside of a can, race ice cubes with salt and sugar, lift an ice cube with a piece of string, and look inside a real snowflake. Three kitchen-table winter experiments that actually work, with the real science explained for grown-ups.
- Can you make frost in a can? 40 min
Children crush ice, pack it into two cans, add salt to one, and watch water and then frost appear on the outside. They finish able to explain that the water and frost came out of the air, not through the can.
- Why does salt melt ice? 40 min
Children race three ice cubes covered in salt, sugar and nothing, then use a pinch of salt to lift an ice cube out of a glass with a piece of string. They finish able to explain that salt melts ice by mixing into the water, and that it makes the ice colder, not warmer.
- What's inside a snowflake? 45 min on a snowy day, or 40 min plus overnight without snow
Children catch falling snowflakes on a chilled dark cloth and look at them with a magnifier, or, with no snow, look at freezer frost and grow crystals on a pipe-cleaner snowflake overnight. They finish able to explain that a snowflake is an ice crystal grown from water vapour, and why it has six sides.
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