Subscribe

5th grade · Science · Unit 6 of 12

Physical or Chemical?

Changes that make new things

What your child practices

Telling a physical change from a chemical change, spotting the signs of a new substance, and how making and throwing away everyday products affects the environment.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 5.4 · physical and chemical changes, and when a new substance forms

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A physical change alters size, shape or state, but no new substance is made.
  2. Melting, crushing, cutting and dissolving are physical changes.
  3. A chemical change makes a new substance, like rusting or burning.
  4. Signs of a chemical change: gas bubbles, a new smell, color change or light and heat.

Example: Wood burns and turns to ash and smoke. Physical or chemical change? Ash and smoke are new substances. New substances mean a chemical change. Answer: chemical change

Physical or Chemical? in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 6 of 12 in 5th grade Science, after Changes of State and before Energy from the Sun.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    A banana peel turns brown. What kind of change is this?

    • Physical change
    • Change of state
    • Chemical change

  2. Question 2

    Baking soda and vinegar are mixed and fizz. What does this show?

    • Only a physical change happened
    • Nothing happened
    • A chemical change made a new gas

  3. Question 3

    Iron turns reddish-brown rust. This is a…

    • change of state
    • chemical change
    • physical change

  4. Question 4

    Plastic bags can take hundreds of years to break down. Which action helps reduce this harm?

    • Bury plastic bags in a park
    • Use a new plastic bag every time
    • Reuse cloth bags

  5. Question 5

    A factory burns fuel to make a product. What is one possible effect of this process on the environment?

    • It can release gases that pollute the air
    • It uses no energy at all
    • It always cleans the air

  6. Question 6

    Ice is melted, then the water is boiled. Which statement is correct?

    • Both are physical changes
    • Melting is chemical and boiling is physical
    • Both are chemical changes

More 5th grade