Term 1 Week 3 · What It Can Do, Not Just What It Looks Like · CG Quarter 1, competency 3
| # | The misconception | Where it shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dissolving is a chemical change — "the sugar disappeared" | §C2, worksheet C | Ask where the sugar went. Taste the water. Boiling it dry brings the sugar back, so nothing new was made |
| 2 | "Chemical" means artificial or dangerous | §C3, exit ticket 2 | Ask what water is made of. This is a language problem before it is a science problem, and it will recur all year |
| 3 | Biodegradable and recyclable mean the same thing | §IV item 2 | One is a property of the material; the other is about what a factory can do with it. A glass bottle is recyclable and not biodegradable |
| 4 | If it changed, it must be chemical — melting, bending, tearing | §C1 | Apply the one test: can you get the old material back? Bend the spoon back in front of them |
| 5 | Burning is reversible because the ash is still there | §C2 | Ash is not paper. Ask them to write on it |
| 6 | Not rusting is not a chemical property — "gold does nothing" | Game Round 1 | A chemical property can be about what a material will not do. That is exactly why gold is used for jewellery kept for generations |
| 7 | Colour is always physical | Worksheet A | The colour a thing is — physical. A colour change that will not wash off — evidence of a chemical change. The difference is whether it can be undone |