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2nd grade · Science · Unit 4 of 7

Mixtures & Materials

Dissolve, sink, float, absorb

What your child practices

Mixing liquids and solids (dissolving, separating), what sinks or floats, and which materials soak up or push away water.

Alaska content standards learning standard: 2-PS1-1; 2-PS1-2 · testing materials' properties and choosing the best one for a job

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Stirring things together makes a mixture.
  2. Some solids dissolve in water and seem to disappear, like sugar.
  3. Light things like a rubber duck float. Sponges soak up water.

Example: You stir sugar into water. What happens to the sugar? You can't see the sugar any more. It dissolves in the water. Answer: it dissolves

Mixtures & Materials in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 4 of 7 in 2nd grade Science, after Changing Materials and before Plants, Seeds & Pollinators.

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: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

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

    Which will float in water?

    • 🦆a rubber duck
    • 🪨a rock
    • 🪙a coin

  2. Question 2

    Salt is stirred into water. What happens?

    🧂
    • It dissolves and seems to disappear
    • It stays in a lump and never mixes
    • It turns into a rock

  3. Question 3

    Which one makes a mixture of a liquid and a solid?

    • Plain water only
    • An empty cup
    • Orange juice with pulp

  4. Question 4

    Which one is a liquid?

    • 🧱a brick
    • 🪵a block of wood
    • 🥛milk

  5. Question 5

    Which one is a solid?

    • 🧱a brick
    • 🌧️rain
    • 🧃juice

  6. Question 6

    Which keeps your feet dry in a puddle?

    🥾
    • cotton socks
    • paper shoes
    • rubber boots

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