Study guide: Matter Properties and Changes
Use properties and change descriptions to explain familiar materials.
Ideas to explain in your own words
- A property describes a material, while an object also has a shape and purpose. Use printed property tests. Never taste, burn or heat a material for this activity.
- Solids keep a shape under ordinary conditions. Liquids flow and take a container’s shape while keeping volume approximately fixed. Gases spread through available space.
- Melting and freezing change state without changing the substance’s identity. Cutting changes shape. Some changes form new substances and cannot be simply reversed by restoring temperature.
- The same components can form different structures. Count what parts are used and describe their arrangement. Shape can change an object’s function without changing the material.
Useful vocabulary
- flexible
- bends without breaking in the supplied test
- solid
- keeps its own shape in this record
- melting
- solid changes to liquid
- component
- one separate building part
Watch your reasoning
- Check what flexible and rigid each mean. They describe different clues.
- Check what solid and liquid each mean. They describe different clues.
- Check what melting and freezing each mean. They describe different clues.
A worked review example
Worked reference-card problem: a card states “bends without breaking in the supplied test”; a second states “resists bending in the supplied test.” The first fits flexible and the second fits rigid. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case. Worked reference-card problem: a card states “keeps its own shape in this record”; a second states “flows and takes container shape.” The first fits solid and the second fits liquid. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case. Worked reference-card problem: a card states “solid changes to liquid”; a second states “liquid changes to solid.” The first fits melting and the second fits freezing. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case. Worked reference-card problem: a card states “one separate building part”; a second states “parts arranged into a whole.” The first fits component and the second fits structure. The reason is the described function or change, not the order of the cards or a favorite name. If their descriptions exchange places, their category labels exchange too. Keep the supplied descriptions attached to the correct case.
Make a practice plan
- Use an example from Describe useful material properties. Say what happens and point to the clue that helps explain it.
- Complete Recognize states of matter and correct the specific misconception in its feedback.
- Resolve a changed case from Describe reversible changes, then combine the four ideas in the transfer task.