5-PS1-2
The standard
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.
Next Generation Science Standards
What this standard means
Students need to measure substances before and after changes, then use the numbers to show that the total weight stays the same. They should work with heating, cooling, dissolving, and mixing, including cases where something seems to disappear or become a new substance.
Mastery looks like careful weighing, clear data tables, simple graphs, and claims backed by evidence. Students often get stuck when gas, dissolved solids, or melted materials make it look like matter is gone. They also may forget to weigh every part of the system, including containers, lids, and leftover material.
Ways to teach it
- Hands-on activity: Weigh a sealed bag with baking soda and vinegar in a cup inside, mix them, then weigh the sealed bag again.
- Prompt: Explain why sugar seems to disappear in water, using weight data from before and after mixing.
- Quick assessment: Give students a small data table from a melting ice test and ask them to graph it and write one evidence sentence.
- Real-world connection: Compare the weight of a closed lunch container before and after an ice pack melts inside it.
Plan a lesson for 5-PS1-2
Generate a complete lesson plan aligned to this standard, with objectives, activities, and materials. Free, no account needed.
Related standards
- HS-PS1-7
Use mathematical representations to support the claim that atoms, and therefore mass, are conserved during a chemical reaction.
- MS-PS1-5
Develop and use a model to describe how the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction and thus mass is conserved.
- HS-PS2-2
Use mathematical representations to support the claim that the total momentum of a system of objects is conserved when there is no net force on the system.
- HS-PS3-4
Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that the transfer of thermal energy when two components of different temperature are combined within a clo...