The Importance Of Chemical And Physical Changes In Fifth Grade Science

When you look around, many changes happening and though students may not realize it until fifth grade; there is a system to characterize these changes as either a chemical or physical change. In fifth grade science, students are able to learn about the world around them, by experimenting and observing, and teachers and students will utilize these skills to develop a greater knowledge of chemical and physical changes. This paper’s purpose is to inform one about physical and chemical changes, and then explain how it can be used in a learning segment that is developmentally appropriate for fifth grade students. When one looks around during the autumn season, students see leaves trickling down from the tree’s and bonfires lit to draw a group of …show more content…
Physical changes are easier to understand for students to understand and then build on, (Jensen and Lott, 2012). A physical change is when a change occurs but is able to be reversed instead of being permanent, (Foresman, 2010, Georgia Performance Standards, 2007, Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). One of the most common examples would be ice melting, because the substance remains water and can be frozen to create ice, (Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). Another example would be a balled up piece of paper because the paper is still paper, (Foresman, 2010, Maurer, 2013). A chemical change happens when two different substances interact and make a completely new substance, (Foresman, 2010, Georgia Performance Standards, 2007, Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). An example of a chemical change would be wood burning because the result is ash or even smoke, but you will never get the wood back to its original form,( Foresman, 2010, Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). Chemical changes are easily witnessed with watching the reaction between …show more content…
So instead of building upon previous knowledge, the teacher is starting fresh because most students will not exactly understand how the similarities of the water cycle and physical changes, (Foresman, 2010, Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). This means teachers will have to be patient with their students, and use a variety of examples because all students learn in different ways, (Foresman, 2010, Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). But hands on activities allows the students to interact with the chemical and physical changes in a way that enhances their learning and comprehension, (Foresman, 2010, Jensen and Lott, 2012, Maurer, 2013). Fifth graders are able to learn and comprehend more when they are shown the material through experiments,(Anderson, 2011, Burton, Nino, and Hollingsead,2004 Jensen and