Worksheet

Granite Saddle Trail: A Scent Particle Model

Use orange-scent observations from a mountain trail station to develop and evaluate models of particles too small to see.

Grade 5ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to5-PS1-1

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Single worksheet
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1 NGSS standard
Printable answer key
13 questions
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Details

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

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students use scent observations as evidence for matter made of particles too small to see.
Students develop and evaluate particle models that explain how scent reaches a distant observer.
Students distinguish volunteer detection counts from the number and size of particles in a model.

How to use

Read the investigation and results together. Have students compare the evidence, evaluate particle models, and draw their own explanation before discussing model limits.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

5-PS1-1

Model that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

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Granite Saddle Trail: A Scent Particle Model

Use observations to model matter that is too small to see.

1. Examine the Trail Club's Evidence

Read the investigation and results. Use the observations to answer the questions.

An Orange-Scent Investigation

The Granite Saddle Trail has a sheltered map alcove where hikers plan their routes. A trail science club used its long counter to investigate orange scent. Club members could smell a freshly opened orange snack nearby, but they could not see orange-colored specks floating between the snack and their noses. They wondered how something from an orange could reach a person without being seen.

An adult prepared fresh orange peel for a comparison. Each trial used 10 grams of peel in the same kind of clear cup. One cover was mesh with small openings. The other was a solid lid that closed tightly. The mesh kept the pieces of peel inside the cup. The adult handled the peel, and nobody tasted the materials or put a nose against a cup.

The club marked three distances from the cup: 20, 60, and 100 centimeters. For each cover and distance, the adult set out a freshly prepared cup. Six volunteers waited away from the counter. After one minute, they took turns standing at the marked distance and reporting whether they could detect orange scent while breathing normally. The club counted yes reports, not how strong the scent seemed.

The club used the same six volunteers, peel mass, cup type, waiting time, and counter location throughout. The adult changed the cover and tested the three marked distances. Between trials, the adult removed the cup and aired the alcove until the volunteers reported no remaining orange scent. No fans were running during the trials. The order of the distances was mixed rather than tested from nearest to farthest.

The results appear below. During the mesh trials, the peel stayed inside the cup, and volunteers saw no orange specks in the air. The club now wants a model that explains these observations. In a particle model, drawn symbols stand for tiny bits of matter. A model is an explanation tool, not a photograph or a count of the actual particles.

Trail club results: volunteers who detected orange scent
Each result is out of the same 6 volunteers after a one-minute wait.
Distance from cup | Mesh cover | Solid lid
20 centimeters | 6 | 0
60 centimeters | 4 | 0
100 centimeters | 1 | 0

With the mesh cover, how many more volunteers detected scent at 20 centimeters than at 100 centimeters? volunteers

Which comparison best helps the club study the effect of the cover without also changing the distance?

A. Mesh at 20 centimeters and mesh at 100 centimeters
B. Mesh at 60 centimeters and solid lid at 60 centimeters
C. Mesh at 20 centimeters and solid lid at 60 centimeters
D. Solid lid at 20 centimeters and mesh at 100 centimeters

Select the TWO observations that together best support a model of unseen scent matter traveling from the cup through the air.

Four volunteers detected scent 60 centimeters from the mesh-covered cup.The club used a long counter in the map alcove.No orange specks were visible between the cup and the volunteers.The adult mixed the order of the tested distances.

Which statement describes a pattern in the mesh-cover results without claiming more than the results show?

A. More volunteers detected scent as the distance from the cup increased.
B. The same number detected scent at the three tested distances.
C. Fewer volunteers detected scent as the distance from the cup increased.
D. The volunteers detected larger scent particles at the farther distances.

Another club repeats the cover comparison. Which plan would make it harder to tell whether the cover caused a difference?

A. Use the same peel mass with the mesh cover and the solid lid.
B. Use the same waiting time with the mesh cover and the solid lid.
C. Use the same distance with the mesh cover and the solid lid.
D. Use more peel with the mesh cover than with the solid lid.

2. Build and Check a Model

Think about how a particle model could explain the observations. In these models, dots represent scent matter. The surrounding air is present even when its particles are not drawn.

Which model best explains the mesh-cover observations?

A. Tiny scent particles leave the peel, pass through the mesh, and spread through the surrounding air.
B. Tiny scent particles stay inside the peel, while orange light travels from the cup to people's noses.
C. Visible pieces of peel pass through the mesh and float from the cup to the nearby volunteers.
D. Scent matter changes into empty space at the mesh, and that empty space reaches people's noses.

A club member writes, “Orange scent is not matter because we cannot see it.” Which revision best fits a particle model and the observations?

A. Scent becomes matter when enough volunteers report that they can smell it.
B. Scent is a kind of light that travels between the orange peel and a nose.
C. Scent can be matter made of particles that are too small to see individually.
D. Scent is a collection of orange pieces large enough to see floating in air.

Sort these proposed model features. Decide whether each feature fits or conflicts with the observations.

The mesh model shows scent particles outside the cup while the peel pieces stay inside.The model shows visible orange flakes reaching the volunteers' noses.The solid-lid model shows scent particles contained beneath the lid.The mesh model shows scent matter staying inside the cup throughout the trial.

Fits the observations	Conflicts with the observations

Draw two labeled particle models: one for the mesh-covered cup and one for the solid-lid cup after one minute. Show the peel, each cover, and where scent particles would be. Add arrows if they help explain movement. Include a key explaining your particle symbols. You do not need to show an actual particle count.

10.

A drawing uses dots as large as pencil erasers for scent particles. How should the club explain the dots?

A. The dots show the actual sizes of particles close to the cup.
B. The dots are enlarged symbols, not actual-size pictures of particles.
C. The dots show particles after they grow large enough to smell.
D. The dots are tiny peel pieces that the volunteers could see.

3. Use the Model

Use both the particle model and the investigation results. Explain your reasoning when asked.

11.

The club tries another mesh. Its openings are smaller than the peel pieces but still much larger than individual scent particles. What does the particle model predict?

A. The smaller openings turn scent particles into visible orange flakes.
B. The peel pieces travel out through the openings along with the scent.
C. The openings make the scent particles grow to the size of the peel.
D. Scent particles can pass through while the peel pieces stay inside.

12.

Make a claim about how the cover affected scent reaching volunteers at 60 centimeters. Use BOTH results at that distance as evidence. Explain the results using particles too small to see.

13.

A student draws six scent dots near the 20-centimeter mark and labels them “the six particles counted in the test.” Explain why that label is not supported. What did the club actually count?