What Is This Unit About?

In Modeling Matter, students take on the role of food scientists trying to figure out if a dangerous food dye is in a food coloring mixture. Then they work on creating a salad dressing that looks and tastes good. They observe hands-on investigations and use models to get evidence about different mixtures. They learn about how what happens at the nanoscale (the scale of molecules) is related to what happens at the observable scale (the scale of things we can see). They make their own models and write scientific explanations to share what they have figured out about matter and mixtures.

What Science Vocabulary Words Do Students Use?

These are the most important science words that students use throughout the unit. These words are introduced one at a time throughout the unit and not all at once. Getting familiar with these definitions, which are sometimes different from how people use these words in everyday life, may be useful as you support your student’s at-home learning. Your student will have a Glossary that includes these words.

• atom: a tiny piece of matter that is too small to see

átomo: un pedacito de materia que es demasiado pequeño para ver

• attract: to pull on an object, even without touching it

atraer: jalar a un objeto, aún sin tocarlo

• dissolve: to mix evenly into a liquid by breaking apart into pieces that are too small to see

disolver: mezclar uniformemente en un líquido al separarse en pedacitos que son demasiado pequeños para ver

• evidence: information that supports an answer to a question

evidencia: información que respalda una respuesta a una pregunta

• explain: to describe how something works or why something happens

explicar: describir cómo algo funciona o por qué algo pasa

• inference: something you figure out based on observations and what you already know

inferencia: algo que puedes resolver basándote en observaciones y lo que ya conoces

• matter: the stuff that things are made of

materia: lo que constituye las cosas

• mixture: matter that is made of more than one substance

mezcla: materia que está hecha de más de una sustancia

• model: something scientists make to answer questions about the real world

modelo: algo que los científicos crean para responder preguntas sobre el mundo real

• molecule: a group of atoms joined together in a particular way

molécula: un grupo de átomos unidos de una manera particular

• observe: to use any of the five senses to gather information about something

observar: usar cualquiera de los cinco sentidos para recolectar información sobre algo

• property: what you can observe or measure about something that helps you identify
  or describe it

propiedad: lo que puedes observar o medir acerca de algo que te ayuda a identificarlo
o describirlo

• soluble: able to dissolve in water or another liquid

soluble: capaz de disolverse en agua u otro líquido

• substance: matter that is made of only one kind of atom or molecule

sustancia: materia que está hecha de solo un tipo de átomo o molécula

What Do Students Read?

Your student will read these books, which give them a chance to learn about the science concepts in the unit through stories, illustrations and photos, real-world examples, and information about real scientists and engineers. The books help students get more evidence to answer the questions in the unit. Your student does not need to read the books on their own. These books can be enjoyed together, and you can read them multiple times.

*Click for directions to reading the books.

Modeling Matter

Questions for At-Home Discussion

Chapter 1

● What are some properties of ingredients that might be important for a cook or a food scientist to think about? Why?

● If we mix three ingredients together—for example milk, cocoa powder, and sugar—do you think we could separate them back out again? Why or why not?

● What do you wonder about ingredients, food science, or atoms and molecules?

Chapter 2

● If we could zoom in very, very close and look at our dinner at the nanoscale, what do you think we might see?

● What are you learning about being a food scientist? What are some things you think food scientists do?

● I mixed some sugar into a cup of tea, and the sugar seemed to disappear. What do you think happened to it?

Chapter 3

● If I want to make a great salad dressing, what should I know? What do molecules have to do with that?

● I hear you’ve been learning about substances separating or mixing together. Can you tell me something about what you’ve learned?

Amplify Family Resources website:  amplify.com/amplify-science-family-resources-es