In Grade 5 Curriculum:

3. Water to Ice:  Investigation 12

What changes and what stays the same as ice melts?

2. Share data

All Class 5 Mins

Use the data from the class chart, Comparing Ice and Water and/or the class data table, Transforming Water to Ice and Ice to Water to address the following:

Some of the properties of ice and water are the same and some are different. Do you think ice and water are the same or different kinds of matter?

Some possible student arguments:

Transforming Water to Ice and Ice to Water
Yes, ice and water are the same kind of matter No, ice and water are not the same kind of matter
  • The container had water in it when it was first sealed, and it has water in it now, so it had to be water when it was frozen.
  • If you put a piece of ice in a glass of water and it melts, the type of material is all water.
  • The weight of a sample doesn't change when water freezes to ice and ice melts to water.
  • Ice is translucent and water is clear (transparent).
  • Ice is a solid and water is a liquid.
  • The volume of a sample of ice decreases when it melts to water.

Explain that you are going to introduce a scientific model that may help them think in a new way about the matter that makes up ice and water.