Formation of New Substances Activities for 5th Grade Science

The Kesler Science Formation of New Substances Complete Lesson is a comprehensive elementary chemistry unit designed for engaging, student-led learning. It includes editable presentations, worksheets, choice projects, and assessments, requiring low to no prep. Aligned with NGSS-5-PS1-4, this lesson explores what happens when substances mix and differentiates mixtures from solutions.

Following the 5E Model, the lesson begins with engagement activities, including objectives, word wall cards, and class discussions. The exploration phase features a nine-station student-led lab with hands-on experiments, reading passages in English and Spanish, research activities, video discussions, categorization tasks, writing prompts, illustrations, assessments, and a challenge station for early finishers. Explanation resources include editable PowerPoints, interactive notebooks, and note-taking templates. Students extend learning through choice projects, while evaluation includes assessments updated for STAAR 2.0, review questions, and worksheets.

This resource offers flexibility with printable and digital formats, Spanish translations, and multimodal learning opportunities. Designed for both in-class and virtual settings, it ensures accessibility and engagement for all learners.

Engage your 5th-grade students with this interactive, student-led station lab exploring the formation of new substances. Designed for in-class or virtual learning, this lesson allows students to investigate whether mixing substances results in new ones through nine differentiated stations featuring videos, readings, research, and hands-on tasks.

Students actively engage with content by manipulating images, answering questions, organizing information, illustrating models, writing responses, and completing assessments. A bonus challenge station offers extension activities, while English and Spanish reading passages support differentiated learning. 

This modular, low-prep resource promotes active learning and critical thinking, making science exploration engaging and accessible.

The Formation of New Substances Student Choice Projects allow 5th-grade students to demonstrate their understanding in a way that suits 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 support differentiation with two versions of the project page—one including modified options for students needing remediation and the other allowing advanced learners to take on multiple projects using the same rubric. Teachers can adjust the rubric to fit their grading needs. 

The projects require standard classroom supplies like paper, markers, and scissors, with many options available for digital completion. Some crafting materials may be useful for building models.

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.