Everything that takes up space and has mass is matter, and matter is made of particles too small to see. Fifth graders use that idea to explain what they notice every day: why a smell spreads across a room, why sugar seems to disappear in water, and why a balloon pushes outward on all sides. On this sheet a child reads eight groups of three statements about particles and circles the one that is true.
The wrong statements are the ideas many children really hold, such as that air is empty or that particles in a solid never move, so the sheet shows which ideas still need work. Each version has different statements, and the answer key gives the true one for every question.
What your child will learn
Say what matter is
Describe particles in solids, liquids and gases
Use particles to explain smells and dissolving
Tell a true statement from a common mistake
NGSS standard: 5-PS1-1
Worked example
A smell spreading across a room shows that particles of the smell are moving through the air.
Common mistake
Thinking air or a gas is not matter because it cannot be seen.
Helpful hint
Picture tiny particles. In a solid they stay in place, in a liquid they slide, and in a gas they spread out.
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