Virginia SOL PS.3.b
The Standard
pure substances can undergo physical and chemical changes that may result in a change of 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 distinguish physical changes from chemical changes by deciding whether a new substance formed. They describe how properties such as state, color, shape, or reactivity change.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Students correctly classify melting, dissolving, crushing, burning, tarnishing, and reacting. They support each choice with observations and explain whether the substance kept its identity.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may treat every color, temperature, or state change as proof of a chemical change. They may think dissolving always creates a new substance. They may also use reversibility as the only test.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Ice melts, and a clean iron nail rusts. Classify each change, name one changed property, and state whether a new substance formed.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Students observe ice melting and a teacher heating sugar, then record changes in state, color, odor, and substance identity.
Ask students to explain whether dissolving sugar in water is physical or chemical, using evidence about the sugar’s identity.
Run a card sort with examples such as cutting foil, boiling water, burning wood, and tarnishing silver, then require evidence for each choice.
Compare melting and corrosion of aluminum cans, then discuss why one process helps recycling while the other damages the metal.
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Printable PS.3.b Worksheet
A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to PS.3.b, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.
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Related Standards
- 1.3.b
when a material is changed in size most physical properties remain the same; and
- PS.3.a
pure substances can be identified based on their chemical and physical properties;
- PS.3
The student will investigate and understand that matter has properties and is conserved in chemical and physical processes. Key ideas include
- 5.7.b
substances can be mixed together without changes in their physical properties; and
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