Solid, liquid, gas · Alberta Grade 5 · maddyhelps.com
Draw the particles in each box — packed, close and sliding, or far apart — then answer the questions using the word particles in each answer.
What happens to the particles when chocolate melts?
Why can you smell cookies from another room?
Why does a puddle disappear on a sunny day?
Particles in motion
Melting: the particles gain energy, move more, and slide past each other instead of vibrating in place. Smell: particles from the cookies spread through the air, moving fast in every direction, until some reach your nose. Puddle: the Sun gives the water particles energy, and the fastest ones escape into the air as a gas — evaporation.
The particles themselves do not change, grow or melt. A child who says the particles melt has mixed up the model with the thing it explains, which is the misconception to watch for.
Why this matters is on the looking closely page. More sheets