NGSS 5-PS1-3
The Standard
Make observations and measurements to identify materials based on their properties.
Next Generation Science Standards
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students inspect and test unknown materials for traits such as color, hardness, shine, magnetism, conductivity, and solubility. They use more than one result to match each unknown to a known material.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given unknown samples, students select safe tests and record results with clear labels and units when needed. They compare several properties with reference data, identify each material, and explain why the evidence fits.
Common Misconceptions
- Some students think all metals are magnetic, dissolving means a substance vanished, or color alone proves identity. They may use sample mass or size as evidence, even though both change with the amount.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Material A is white, soluble, and not magnetic; Material B is gray, shiny, and magnetic; unknown X matches B. Identify X and cite two supporting properties.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Set up stations where pairs test safe mystery solids for magnetism, solubility, hardness, color, and reflectivity, then match each to a reference sample.
Have students write which two properties provide the strongest identification evidence, then support their claim with data from the class table.
Play Property Match: teams draw an unknown-material card, request three test results, and earn a point for a correct evidence-based identification.
Give groups property cards for steel, copper, and wood, then have them choose a pan-handle material and justify the choice.
Free download
Printable 5-PS1-3 Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to 5-PS1-3, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
PDF, US Letter, prints cleanly in black and white.
Download the worksheetLearning progression
Where This Standard Sits
See the whole path on the Physical Science progression map.
What This Unlocks
Mastery here sets students up for these next.
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Related Standards
- 2-PS1-1
Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
- MS-PS1-2
Analyze and interpret data on the properties of substances before and after the substances interact to determine if a chemical reaction has occurred.
- 2-PS1-2
Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose.
- 4-ESS2-1
Make observations and/or measurements to provide evidence of the effects of weathering or the rate of erosion by water, ice, wind, or vegetation.
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