Year 5

What’s the Matter?

During Term 2, 5N students have been exploring matter. We discussed how everywhere around you is made of matter. The sun in the sky, the objects in the classroom and even people are made of matter. 

We learnt that matter is any physical substance that has mass and volume.

Mass is the amount of material in a substance or object and volume is the amount of space occupied by a subject or object.

Most students had never heard of an atom. So, they learnt that an atom is the basic building block of all matter. They also discovered that that an element is a substance made from one type of atom. Students looked at the 3 states of matter that exist and were able to determine their properties relating to shape, volume, and mass. We discussed solids as some students said that there are soft solids and hard solids. Can you name a soft solid? Most students came up with slime and toothpaste! As they have the same mass and volume and hold their shape when moulded.

Below are some photos of the student’s states of matter pyramids. They worked in small groups to research the 3 states of matter to form a hanging mobile.