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Exploring Matter Properties

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Exploring Matter Properties

Tane and Manaia are helping prepare equipment at a fishing harbour. Use the information and visuals on this sheet to investigate what matter is and how materials can be described. For questions about properties, use evidence shown or stated here.

What counts as matter?

Matter has mass and takes up space. It is made of tiny particles. Solids, liquids and gases are all states of matter.

1.At the harbour, Ruben says, “Only things we can see are matter.” Which statement best corrects Ruben?
  • Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space.
  • Matter is only solid objects.
  • Matter is anything that gives off light.
  • Matter is only living things.
2.Choose all the examples of matter from the harbour equipment scene: wooden crate, water, sunlight, air, or a thought.
  • Wooden crate, water and air
  • Sunlight and a thought
  • Wooden crate and a thought
  • All five
3.Complete the idea using these words: mass, space, particles. All matter is made of tiny . Matter has and takes up .
4.Tane pours water from a narrow bottle into a wide bowl. True or false: the water is still matter even though its shape changes.
TrueFalse
5.A liquid has particles close together but arranged irregularly and able to move past one another. Which state of matter does this describe?
6.Gas particles are far apart and move freely in all directions. Solid particles are tightly packed in fixed positions and only vibrate. Use these descriptions to explain why a gas can spread out to fill its container, while a solid keeps its own shape.

Investigate useful properties

A material’s properties help people choose it for a job. Hardness, texture and flexibility are physical properties. The scene shows a crate, spoon, ball and cloth; use the descriptions below as test results.

7.Match each material to the most useful description: wooden crate; metal spoon; rubber ball; fabric cloth. Descriptions: bends and folds easily; hard and rigid; squashes and springs back; hard, smooth and rigid.
  • Wooden crate
  • Metal spoon
  • Rubber ball
  • Fabric cloth
  • Hard, smooth and rigid
  • Bends and folds easily
  • Squashes and springs back
  • Hard and rigid
8.Manaia needs to cover a small box of fishing hooks with a material that can bend around its corners. Which material in the scene is the best choice, and which property makes it suitable?
9.Tane says, “The air in a sealed ball is not matter because I cannot see it.” Explain why this claim is incorrect and give one way to show that air takes up space.
10.Choose the best conclusion about the materials in the harbour scene.
  • Different materials can have different properties, and those properties affect how they are used.
  • All solids are flexible.
  • A material’s texture tells us whether it is matter.
  • Only liquids can take the shape of a container.

3 printable pages

  • Exploring Matter Properties, page 1 of 3: What counts as matter?

    Page 1

  • Exploring Matter Properties, page 2 of 3: Investigate useful properties

    Page 2

  • Exploring Matter Properties, page 3 of 3: 10. Choose the best conclusion about the materials in the harbour scene.

    Page 3

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