Conservation of Mass Activities for 5th Grade Science

The Kesler Science Conservation of Mass Complete Lesson is a comprehensive, student-led physical science unit designed for elementary students. This fully editable, low-prep lesson includes presentations, worksheets, choice projects, and an assessment, all aligned with NGSS-5-PS1-2. It follows the 5E Model, guiding students through engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration, and evaluation.

Students explore how matter changes and whether mass remains constant during physical and chemical changes. The differentiated station lab includes multimodal input and output stations, featuring hands-on experiments, reading passages in English and Spanish, research activities, videos, card sorts, writing prompts, illustration tasks, and assessments. A bonus challenge station provides extension activities for advanced learners.

Editable PowerPoints, interactive notebook templates, and note-taking guides support explanation, while student-choice projects reinforce learning during elaboration. Evaluation includes STAAR 2.0-aligned assessments, review worksheets, and modified test options. 

This lesson offers maximum flexibility with printable and digital formats, Spanish translations of key materials, and accessibility for both in-person and virtual learning environments.

Engage your 5th-grade students with this student-led station lab on the conservation of mass. Designed for hands-on and digital learning, this interactive lesson helps students measure and graph quantities to understand that matter is conserved during heating, cooling, or mixing. 

Students explore concepts through eight differentiated stations, plus a bonus challenge station for early finishers. Stations include hands-on demonstrations, research activities, reading passages in English and Spanish, videos, and interactive tasks in PowerPoint or Google Slides. They demonstrate their learning by organizing information, illustrating models, writing responses, and completing assessments. 

With all necessary signage, resources, and task cards provided, this low-prep, high-engagement activity supports both in-person and virtual learning while fostering independent exploration and critical thinking.

The Conservation of Mass Student Choice Projects lesson allows 5th-grade students to select a project that aligns with their preferred output style. A project page outlines six student-led options, plus a “design your own” project, with an editable rubric for teacher, peer, or self-assessment. 

These flexible, multimodal projects provide creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding. Two versions of the project page support differentiation, with modified options for students needing remediation and challenge opportunities for advanced learners. Teachers can customize the rubric to fit grading needs and assign multiple projects if desired. 

The projects utilize standard classroom supplies such as paper, markers, and scissors, with many options available for digital completion.

The 5th Grade Physical Science Interactive Notebook is an essential resource for teachers looking to enhance student engagement in elementary physical science. This comprehensive set includes both print and digital versions, making it adaptable for traditional classrooms, 1:1 environments, and distance learning.  

The digital version features a unique interactive notebook PowerPoint that can be uploaded to Google Slides and shared via MS Teams, Schoology, or Canvas. It includes reflection pages for comprehension, space for student notes, a teacher answer key, and a modified version for students with accommodations. The paper version provides blank interactive notebook templates, pre-filled templates for students needing modifications or who were absent, and color photos demonstrating template use.  

Topics covered include particles of matter, conservation of mass, properties of matter, formation of new substances, gravitational force, the Sun’s energy, classifying matter, mixtures, solutions, uses of energy, closed circuits, reflection and refraction, and testing forces.  

These interactive notebook templates are also available in the Kesler Science 5E Lessons, which include presentations, notes, homework, student projects, station labs, assessments, and engagement activities.