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5th grade · Science · Unit 3 of 15

Solid, Liquid, Gas

Mass, volume and particles

What your child practices

Matter as anything with mass and volume, how particles are arranged in solids, liquids and gases, and why materials are chosen for their properties.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 5.6(A) · physical states and measurable properties of matter

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.
  2. A solid keeps its shape and volume. A liquid takes the shape of its container but keeps its volume.
  3. A gas spreads out to fill its whole container.
  4. We choose materials for their properties, like steel for strong bridges.

Example: Juice is poured from a tall glass into a wide bowl. What stays the same? A liquid changes shape to fit its container. It keeps the same volume. Answer: its volume

Solid, Liquid, Gas in Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 3 of 15 in 5th grade Science, after Measuring Matter and before Forces, Friction and Machines.

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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    What does volume measure?

    • How heavy something feels
    • How hot something is
    • How much space something takes up

  2. Question 2

    In which state are particles packed closely and only vibrate in place?

    • Solid
    • Liquid
    • Gas

  3. Question 3

    Which tool measures the mass of an object?

    • A thermometer
    • A graduated cylinder
    • A balance

  4. Question 4

    Which state of matter takes the shape of its container but keeps the same volume?

    • Solid
    • Gas
    • Liquid

  5. Question 5

    Sand can be poured like a liquid. Why is each grain still a solid?

    • Each grain keeps its own shape and volume
    • Sand grains are made of liquid
    • Sand has no mass

  6. Question 6

    A gas can be squeezed into a smaller space, but a solid cannot. Why?

    • Gas particles are bigger than solid particles
    • Solid particles do not move at all
    • There is a lot of empty space between gas particles

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