Classroom Resource

Dissolving M&Ms

Subject Area

Science

Grade(s)

5

Overview

In this lesson, students explore the interaction of two substances and see that they can use what they know about the interaction of particles to explain their observations. Students place an M&M in water and see the colored sugar coating dissolve around the M&M. Students help develop a model to explain that the attraction of water molecules for sugar and color (dye) molecules is a good explanation for why the sugar coating dissolves. Students then test whether the coating dissolves as well in a sugar solution as it does in plain water. They put three or four different colored M&Ms together in water and watch the coatings dissolve. Students will see a distinct “line” where the colors meet. Students use molecular models to make an argument about why the dissolving M&Ms form a line.

Science (2015) Grade(s): 5

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Plan and carry out investigations (e.g., adding air to expand a basketball, compressing air in a syringe, dissolving sugar in water, evaporating salt water) to provide evidence that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

Unpacked Content

UP:SC15.5.1

Vocabulary

  • Investigation
  • Variable
  • Data
  • Hypothesis
  • Conclusion
  • Matter
  • Describe
  • Observe
  • Evidence
  • Immensely
  • Bulk matter
  • Particle

Knowledge

Students know:
  • Matter is made of particles too small to be seen Matter too small to be seen still exists and may be detected by other means.
  • Gasses are made of matter particles that are too small to see, and are moving freely around in space (this can explain many observations, including the inflation and the shape of the balloon, and the effects of air on larger particles or objects).
  • The behavior of a collection of many tiny particles of matter and observable phenomena involving bulk matter (e.g., an expanding balloon, evaporating liquids, substances that dissolve in a solvent, effects of wind).
  • There is a relationship between bulk matter and tiny particles that cannot be seen.

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Identify the phenomenon under investigation.
  • Identify evidence that addresses the purpose of the investigation.
  • Collaboratively plan the investigation.
  • Collect and analyze the data.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Natural objects exist from the very small to the immensely large.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Planning and Carrying out Investigations

Crosscutting Concepts

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Science (2015) Grade(s): 5

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Investigate matter to provide mathematical evidence, including graphs, to show that regardless of the type of reaction (e.g., new substance forming due to dissolving or mixing) or change (e.g., phase change) that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of the matter is conserved.

Unpacked Content

UP:SC15.5.2

Vocabulary

  • Quantitative measurements (mass, weight, standard unit)
  • Physical quantities (weight, time, temperature, volume)
  • Property changes
  • Matter
  • Reaction
  • Heating
  • Cooling
  • Mixing
  • Physical properties
  • Conservation of matter
  • Graphing

Knowledge

Students know:
  • The amount (weight) of matter is conserved when it changes form, even in transitions in which it seems to vanish.
  • No matter what reaction or change in properties occurs, the total weight of the substances does not change. (Boundary: Mass and weight are not distinguished at this grade level.)

Skills

Students are able to:
  • Measure and graph the given quantities using standard units, including: the weight of substances before they are heated, cooled, or mixed and the weight of substances, including any new substances produced by a reaction, after they are heated, cooled, or mixed.
  • Measure and/or calculate the difference between the total weight of the substances (using standard units) before and after they are heated, cooled, and/or mixed.
  • Describe the changes in properties they observe during and/or after heating, cooling, or mixing substances.
  • Use their measurements and calculations to describe that the total weights of the substances did not change, regardless of the reaction or changes in properties that were observed.
  • Use measurements and descriptions of weight, as well as the assumption of consistent patterns in natural systems, to describe evidence to address scientific questions about the conservation of the amount of matter, including the idea that the total weight of matter is conserved after heating, cooling, or mixing substances.

Understanding

Students understand that:
  • Standard units are used to measure and describe physical quantities such as weight and can be used to demonstrate the conservation of the total weight of matter.

Scientific and Engineering Practices

Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking

Crosscutting Concepts

Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
Link to Resource
https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/k-8/inquiryinaction/fift…

CR Resource Type

Lesson/Unit Plan

Resource Provider

American Chemical Society
Accessibility
License

License Type

Custom

Custom License Type (URL)

https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/terms.html

Approved Date

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