Worksheet

Foam or Fizz? The Museum Comparison Bench

Compare museum mixing tests, interpret bubbling data, and use evidence to decide whether mixing may have made a new substance.

Grade 5ScienceInteractive · Printable

Aligned to5-PS1-4

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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, Matching, Circle the answer, Short answer

About this worksheet

What students practice

Students compare controlled mixing tests for evidence that a new substance formed.
Students interpret repeated bubbling measurements and distinguish bubbling from trapped air.
Students support a mixing claim with observations and identify useful follow-up tests.

How to use

Read the museum investigation, then have students work through the graph and evidence questions. Discuss why one visible change may not settle a claim.

Curriculum

NGSS standard covered

5-PS1-4

Investigate whether mixing two or more substances makes a new substance.

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Foam or Fizz? The Museum Comparison Bench

Compare mixing tests and decide what the evidence supports.

Two Cups at the Comparison Bench

Read the investigation. Use the test records to choose your answers.

The Museum Team's Investigation

At a science museum's mixing comparison bench, visitors examined two clear cups. One held water, and the other held white vinegar. The museum team wanted to investigate whether adding the same powder to these liquids would produce evidence of a new substance. A new substance has properties different from the starting substances. A change in appearance can be a clue, but scientists compare several observations before deciding what happened.

An educator supervised the tests. Everyone wore safety goggles and kept materials away from their mouths and eyes. The team used small amounts of food ingredients in open plastic cups. They did not taste the mixtures or put lids on bubbling cups. Before adding powder, they stirred each liquid for ten seconds. A few small bubbles appeared in both liquids. These bubbles disappeared within five seconds after stirring stopped.

For the mixing tests, the team measured thirty milliliters of water into one cup and thirty milliliters of vinegar into another. Both liquids started at room temperature. They added two grams of baking soda to each cup and stirred each mixture for ten seconds. They used matching cups and the same stirring motion. They changed the liquid, kept the other steps the same, and measured how long visible bubbling continued after stirring stopped.

The team repeated the comparison three times with fresh materials. Small bubbles in the water mixtures disappeared quickly. The vinegar mixtures produced many bubbles that continued after stirring ended. After several minutes, neither mixture had visible baking soda grains. The team recorded bubbling times in the graph. They also noted that a disappearing powder, by itself, did not tell them what substances were present afterward.

At the same bench, the team stirred table salt into water until no grains were visible. They poured this mixture onto a clean tray. After several days, the water had evaporated at room temperature, leaving white crystals. The crystals looked like the starting salt. The team saved both samples for further comparisons instead of deciding from appearance alone.

Which claim is best supported by the comparison of the baking soda mixtures?

A. Both mixtures formed a new substance because the powder disappeared.
B. The vinegar mixture showed stronger evidence that a new substance formed.
C. The water mixture showed stronger evidence because its bubbles ended sooner.
D. Neither mixture showed useful evidence because both started with clear liquids.

Which factor did the team change between the two baking soda tests?

A. The amount of baking soda added
B. The length of time spent stirring
C. The kind of liquid in the cup
D. The amount of liquid in the cup

Why was it useful to stir the liquids before adding baking soda?

A. It showed how many salt crystals each liquid could leave behind.
B. It showed which cup would hold a larger amount of powder.
C. It showed whether stirring would turn vinegar into water.
D. It showed what bubbling could happen from stirring without powder.

Select the TWO observations that together support the idea that the vinegar mixture's bubbling was more than air mixed in by stirring.

Vinegar without powder lost its stirring bubbles within five seconds.The two starting liquids were both clear.Vinegar with baking soda kept bubbling after stirring ended.The team used matching plastic cups.

Compare the Repeated Tests

The museum team timed visible bubbling after stirring stopped. Use the graph and investigation to answer.

How long did the vinegar mixture bubble after stirring stopped in Trial 2? seconds

In Trial 2, how many seconds longer did the vinegar mixture bubble than the water mixture? seconds

What do the three trials show about the comparison?

A. The vinegar mixture bubbled longer in each trial, making the pattern more dependable.
B. The water mixture bubbled longer in later trials, showing a growing effect.
C. The liquids had nearly equal bubbling times, making their results similar.
D. The vinegar mixture bubbled less in each trial, showing a steady decrease.

Which mixture has stronger evidence that a new substance formed? Make a claim. Support it with numbers from the graph and an observation from the test without powder.

A visitor says, "The graph tells us the name of the gas in the vinegar mixture." Which response best evaluates this claim?

A. The claim is supported because sixty seconds identifies the gas.
B. The claim is supported because clear liquids produce the same gas.
C. The claim needs more evidence because bubbling time does not identify a gas.
D. The claim needs more evidence because the graph measures the cups' sizes.

Check the Evidence Before Deciding

Use the salt test and the bubbling tests to evaluate claims and plan useful comparisons.

10.

A visitor says, "The salt disappeared, so mixing salt and water made a new substance." Which observation gives the strongest reason to question that claim?

A. The salt mixture was poured onto a clean tray.
B. Salt-like crystals remained after the water evaporated.
C. The museum team stirred the salt into the water.
D. The salt grains became difficult to see in water.

11.

Match each investigation step to its purpose.

Stir vinegar without adding baking soda.
Repeat both baking soda mixtures with fresh materials.
Let water evaporate from the salt mixture.

A. Check whether the observed pattern happens again.
B. Examine solid material left after the liquid is gone.
C. Compare bubbling from stirring with bubbling after powder is added.

12.

The team wants more evidence about whether the recovered crystals are salt. Which follow-up would be most useful?

A. Compare how equal amounts of recovered crystals and starting salt dissolve in equal amounts of water.
B. Compare the recovered crystals in a large cup with starting salt kept inside its package.
C. Compare how quickly recovered crystals dissolve in stirred water and starting salt dissolves in still water.
D. Compare a large spoonful of recovered crystals with a small spoonful of starting salt in equal water amounts.

13.

The team wants to test whether adding baking soda to vinegar produces bubbles even without stirring. Describe a two-cup comparison. State what to change, what to keep the same, and what to observe.