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Desert Station: Choose a Material for Field Tags

Use test records from a desert research station to identify materials and choose a suitable field-tag shield.

Grade 5ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to5-PS1-3

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What’s included

Single worksheet
Auto-graded online
1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
15 questions
Classroom-ready

Details

Format: Interactive · Printable
Grade: Grade 5
Subject: Science
Question types: Fill in the blank, Multiple choice, Circle the answer, Sorting, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students observe and compare measured and observed properties of materials.
Students use evidence from several properties to identify unknown materials.
Students judge a material choice by matching properties to design needs.

How to use

Read the station report and test records together, then have students use several properties rather than one observation to identify each sample.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

5-PS1-3

Observe and measure properties to identify materials.

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Desert Station: Choose a Material for Field Tags

Use measured properties to identify materials and judge a design.

Read the station records

Read the report and table. Use the evidence from the tests to answer the questions.

A Shield for Field Tags

At a desert research station, scientists place small tags beside rock and soil samples. The tags show sample numbers and notes. Windblown dust can cover a tag, and a brief rain can wet it. The team wants a clear, stiff shield that can protect a tag while still letting scientists read it.

The students tested five reference materials. Each piece was the same size. They measured its mass and recorded how much its temperature rose after 10 minutes in the same sunlight. They used a magnet test, a scratch test, a bending test, and a light test. For the scratch test, a wooden pick was used in the same way each time. For the bending test, the students used the same gentle force. They started every temperature test at 22°C.

The students also tested five unknown pieces. Each unknown piece was the same size as the reference pieces. A material can be identified more confidently when several properties agree. A single property, such as mass, may not give enough evidence for an identification.