Middle School Chemistry - Physical Properties and States of Matter (NGSS)

Physical Properties and States of Matter
Middle School Chemistry Unit - Part One
Inquiry Based Curriculum and NGSS Based

This bundled unit encourages students to "uncover" and "reveal" their understandings of scientific phenomenon through student centered activities and readings. In a true NGSS classroom, teachers are no longer lecturers, but rather facilitators for student discovery. In Part One of this 2 part chemistry series, students learn how to make evidence based claims, design their own data tables, annotate and "Talk to the Text" in their readings, analyze and make sense of experimental observations, illustrate scientific concepts through modeling, work together in groups, and self assess their own progress using student friendly rubrics. All activities have been tested in diverse, urban classrooms and revised.

(This is PART ONE of a series. Stay tuned for PART TWO to be released soon)

Purchase of this product will provide you with the following classroom tested resources and activities:

Resource and Activity List:
1) REFERENCE Table of Contents
2) REFERENCE Unit Summary
3) REFERENCE Periodic Table
4) DISCOVER What elements do I recognize?
5) SELF ASSESSMENT Group Conclusions Rubric
6) Writing Compounds Student Task Card
7) Compounds and Elements – Student Task Card
8) Mystery Substances A and B : Comparing Properties – Student Task Card
Mystery Substance A = Water
Mystery Substance B = Rubbing Alcohol
9) Liquids A and B : Claims and Evidence – Exit Ticket
10) Mystery Substances C and D : Comparing Properties – Student Task Card
Mystery Substance C = Air Mixture
Mystery Substance D = Carbon Dioxide
11) Oobleck Lab – Student Task Card
12) Annotating Scientific Readings – Rubric
13) States of Matter – Scientific Reading
14) Three States of Matter – Graphic Organizer
15) Comparing States of Matter Foldable – Student Task Card
16) Oobleck Final Claim – Exit Ticket
17) Non-Newtonian Fluids – Advanced Reading Task
18) VOCABULARY - Interactive Word Wall


In Part One of this Middle School Chemistry Unit, students will develop scientific inquiry skills to discover and investigate the Periodic Table, elements, compounds, properties of substances, and states of matter. This is a work in progress with assignments being revised and adapted as they are tested in the classroom.

Students are provided with rubrics to guide and self-assess their group work, and to support them through reading activities as they annotate and respond to text dependent questions. Students will practice creating their own data tables, concept webs, foldables, and Frayer Models to organize observations and information collected in their research and investigations. Students will also practice generating claims and supported with scientific evidence.

For purposes of differentiation and in meeting the needs of diverse learners, a vocabulary word wall is included containing high frequency words, and an advanced reading activity on non-Newtonian fluids is available for high achieving students.


Next Generation Science Standards Covered:
PS1.A
Substances are made of different types atoms, which combine with one another in various ways. Atoms form molecules that range in size from two to thousands of atoms.
PS1-2, PS1-3
Each pure substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties that can be used to identify it
MS-PS1-4
Gases and liquids are made of molecules or inert atoms that are moving about relative to each other.
MS-PS1-4
In a liquid, the molecules are constantly in contact with others; in a gas, they are widely spaced except when they happen to collide. In a solid, atoms are closely spaced and may vibrate in position but do not change relative locations.
MS-PS1-4
Gases and liquids are made of molecules or inert atoms that are moving about relative to each other.

Common Core Standards Covered:
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.8
Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, assessing whether the reasoning is sound and the evidence is relevant and sufficient; recognize when irrelevant evidence is introduced.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.8.10
By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.2
Determine the central ideas or conclusions of a text; provide an accurate summary of the text distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.3
Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.7
Integrate quantitative or technical information expressed in words in a text with a version of that information expressed visually (e.g., in a flowchart, diagram, model, graph, or table).
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.6-8.9
Compare and contrast the information gained from experiments, simulations, video, or multimedia sources with that gained from reading a text on the same topic.