Virginia SOL PS.3.a
The Standard
pure substances can be identified based on their chemical and physical properties
Virginia Standards of Learning for Science · The student will investigate and understand that matter has properties and is conserved in chemical and physical processes. Key ideas include
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students measure or observe characteristic physical properties, such as density, melting point, conductivity, and solubility. They examine chemical properties, such as flammability and reactivity. They compare evidence with reference data to identify a pure substance.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student selects properties that stay the same regardless of sample size and uses more than one to identify an unknown. The student distinguishes physical observations from chemical reactivity and supports an identification with data.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may use mass, volume, or shape as identifying properties, even though these depend on sample size. They may confuse a physical change with a chemical property or assume one matching property proves identity. Some also treat mixtures as pure substances with fixed properties.
How to Assess It
- Give students data for three metals and one unknown. Ask them to identify the unknown and cite two properties that support their answer.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give groups salt, sugar, and baking soda, then compare solubility, conductivity, and vinegar reactivity to identify an unknown sample.
Ask students to explain why density identifies a substance more reliably than mass or volume.
Play a card sort matching property data, such as density and reactivity, to named pure substances.
Examine how recycling centers use magnetism, density, and conductivity to separate and identify metals.
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Printable PS.3.a Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to PS.3.a, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 1.3
The student will investigate and understand that objects are made from materials that can be described by their physical properties. Key ideas include
- PS.3.b
pure substances can undergo physical and chemical changes that may result in a change of properties;
- K.3
The student will investigate and understand that physical properties of an object can be described. Properties include
- 5.7.b
substances can be mixed together without changes in their physical properties; and
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