Lesson Exemplar — Science 5
Term 1 · Week 3 · Day 1 · Domain: Materials
This is one day. For the whole of Week 3 in the format DepEd prescribes for filing, see
lesson-plan-ilaw.md.
| Learning Area | Science |
| Grade Level | Grade 5 |
| Term | Term 1, Week 3 |
| CG source | Quarter 1, competency 3 (p. 37) |
| Lesson Title | Does It Keep Its Shape? Does It Keep Its Space? |
| Duration | 45 minutes |
| Medium of instruction | English |
| Format | MATATAG Lesson Exemplar (DepEd) — not ILAW, see above |
I. CURRICULUM CONTENT, STANDARDS, AND LESSON COMPETENCIES
A. Content Standards
Quoted from the curriculum guide (DepEd, August 2023, p. 37), Grade 5 Quarter 1, content standard 1:
Scientists identify three states of matter based on shape and volume.
B. Performance Standards
By the end of the Quarter, learners describe three states of matter based on properties of shape and volume and identify that heat is involved in changes of state.
C. Learning Competency
CG Quarter 1, competency 3:
describe the properties of solids, liquids, and gases in terms of shape and volume: a. solids: definite shape and volume; b. liquids: no definite shape, definite volume; c. gases: no definite shape or volume.
By the end of the session, learners can:
- ask the two questions — does it keep its own shape? and does it keep its own space? — of any sample;
- name the state from those two answers, without recalling a list;
- explain why sand is a solid even though it pours; and
- state that a gas has mass, and describe evidence for it.
D. Key Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning as used in this lesson |
|---|---|
| Matter | Anything that has mass and takes up space. Air included. |
| Volume | The amount of space something takes up. Measured in mL and L. |
| Definite shape | It keeps its own shape when you move it. |
| Definite volume | The amount stays the same however the shape changes. |
| State | Solid, liquid or gas. Not a description of hardness. |
The class sentence, said in §D and printed on the wall chart: "Two questions, asked in order, name every state of matter."
E. Integration Across Learning Areas
| Area | How it appears |
|---|---|
| Mathematics | Volume in mL and L is Mathematics 5 measurement; the two subjects should agree on how a cylinder is read. |
| EPP | A recipe measured in cups, spoons and millilitres is the same competency in a different room. |
| Araling Panlipunan | Water supply is a volume problem before it is anything else — litres per household per day. |
| English | Definite is used here in its precise sense, not as an intensifier. Worth ten seconds. |
II. MATERIALS
Needed — no cost. A stone; a bottle of water; a blown-up balloon; a jar of dry sand; two or three containers of different shapes; a cup. Chalk and a board.
Strongly worth having, and improvisable. A stick, two identical balloons and string for the air-balance in §C3. If there is no stick, a ruler and two paper clips will do.
Not used: a measuring cylinder. Volume measurement is Week 5. Today is about shape and volume as properties, not about reading a scale.
In addition. slides.html slides 1–11 ·
worksheet.html · game.html Rounds 1–2 ·
wall-chart.html
III. TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCEDURE
A. Activating Prior Knowledge · 5 minutes
Put three things on the desk: the stone, the bottle of water, the balloon. Say nothing about them.
Ask: "Which of these is a solid, which is a liquid, and which holds a gas?"
Everybody knows. Take the answers quickly and then ask the question that matters:
"How do you know? What is the test?"
Write the answers on the board exactly as given. Expect because it's hard, because you can pour it, because you can't see it. Do not correct any of them. All three come back in §C.
B. Establishing Lesson Purpose · 4 minutes
Say: "Every one of those answers is a real answer. By the end of today you will have a better one — two questions that work every time, including on the things that fool everybody."
Show slides 1–2. State the purpose: "You will be able to name the state of any sample I put in front of you, and say which question decided it."
C. Developing and Deepening Understanding · 25 minutes
C1 · The two questions · 9 minutes
Slide 3. Do all three demonstrations in front of the class:
| Do this | The class sees |
|---|---|
| Move the stone from your hand to the desk | Same shape |
| Pour the water from the bottle into a cup, then into a bowl | New shape each time |
| Let a little air out of the balloon near a learner's face | It goes wherever it likes |
Ask the first question: "Does it keep its own shape?" Build the column.
Slide 4. Now the second: "Does it keep its own space? Is the amount the same?"
Pour the cup of water into the bowl and back into the cup. Same water. Say: "The shape changed three times. The amount never did."
Slide 5 and 6. Complete the table and read the guide's own wording aloud.
C2 · The sand · 9 minutes
Slide 7. Pour the sand from one container into another. Ask nothing yet — just pour it twice.
Then: "Solid, liquid, or gas?"
Take a show of hands and write the count on the board. Most classes split; a good number vote liquid. Say: "Hold that. We will come back to it."
Ask the two questions of the sand — slide 8:
- Does it keep its own shape? The pile does not. But pick up one grain and look at it. That keeps its shape, in any container, forever.
- Does it keep its own space? Yes. A cup of sand is a cup of sand.
Say: "Sand is a solid. A very large number of very small solids. What fooled us was pouring — and pouring is not one of the two questions."
Slide 9. Add the other three: salt, rice, powdered milk. All solids, all pour.
Take the vote again. A class that changes its mind in public and can say why has done something harder than getting it right first time, and it is worth naming.
C3 · Air has mass · 7 minutes
Slide 10. Say: "Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. That is the curriculum's first competency this quarter. So — is air matter?"
Hang the two balloons from the stick and balance them. Ask for a prediction: "What happens if I blow one up?"
Take the prediction, then do it. The blown-up side goes down.
Slide 11. Say: "Air has mass. You have been carrying it around all your life. It is matter, and that is why a gas is one of the three states and not an absence of one."
If there is no stick and string: describe it exactly as above and set it as the Day 2 activity rather than claiming the result.
D. Making Generalisations · 7 minutes
Slides 12–15 in brief. Say the class sentence together, twice:
"Two questions, asked in order, name every state of matter."
Then close the loop on §A. Point at the three answers still on the board:
| What was said in minute two | What it turned out to be |
|---|---|
| "Because it's hard" | Not the test. A sponge is soft and a solid |
| "Because you can pour it" | Not the test. Sand pours and is a solid |
| "Because you can't see it" | Not the test. Some gases can be seen; some liquids are clear |
Say: "All three were reasonable. None of them is the definition. That is what a definition is for."
Hand out worksheet.html.
IV. EVALUATING LEARNING
A. Assessment · 4 minutes
Exit ticket, three lines:
- Write the two questions, in order.
- A jar of salt is poured into a bowl. What state is it, and which question decided?
- Two balloons balance. One is blown up. Which way does it tip, and what does that tell you?
| Item | A good answer | What a wrong answer tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Shape, then space | The order matters less than having both; one question only means the liquid row is unavailable |
| 2 | Solid — each grain keeps its own shape | Liquid means §C2 was watched but not taken |
| 3 | Down; air has mass | It stays level is the answer to work on. It means a gas is still being treated as nothing |
Item 3 is the one that reads. Items 1 and 2 are on the wall chart by Friday.
B. Teacher Reflection
- What was the vote before and after §C2? A class that did not move has either had this before or was not listening; find out which.
- Did anybody notice that a single grain was the move that settled it? That is generalisation, and it is the transferable skill in this lesson.
- How many predicted the balloon would stay level? Whatever the number, do not treat it as an error — until this week, nothing in their experience said air weighs anything.
C. Enrichment and Remediation
| Who | What |
|---|---|
| Still sorting by hardness | worksheet-remediation.html tasks 1–2 — pour it, watch it, and only then name it |
| Ready to move on | Ask about foam, jelly and toothpaste. There is no clean answer, and finding out why is better than a fourth correct classification |
| Not yet accepting that air is matter | Activity 3 in offline-activities.md — the upturned glass that will not let water in |
Anticipated Misconceptions
| # | The misconception | Where it shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sand is a liquid because it pours | §C2, game Round 2 | Look at one grain, not the pile. Pouring is not one of the two questions |
| 2 | Air is not matter — it weighs nothing | §C3, exit ticket 3 | Balance two balloons and blow one up. If there is no stick, do the upturned-glass activity instead |
| 3 | A gas has no volume at all | Worksheet A | It has no definite volume. It has whatever volume its container gives it, which is a different statement |
| 4 | A liquid has no definite volume, because it changes shape | Worksheet A row 2 | Pour a cup into a bowl and back. Shape changed; amount did not. Do it, do not say it |
| 5 | Solid means hard | §C1, game Round 2 | A sponge, a rubber band and cotton wool are all solids. Hardness is a physical property, not a state |
| 6 | Steam and the white cloud are the same thing | Game Round 2 | The visible white is tiny liquid droplets; the gas itself is invisible. Say so — a learner who spots this is right and should be told |
| 7 | Boiled-away water is destroyed | §D, and again in Quarter 4 | It became a gas and went into the room. Same matter. This is the water cycle arriving twenty-five weeks early |
If There Is No Electricity
Nothing here needs it. A stone, a bottle, a balloon, a jar of sand and three containers are the whole apparatus, and §III says everything the slides carry.
If there is no balloon: a plastic bag, closed by twisting, does the balance demonstration and the upturned-glass activity equally well and is easier to find.
Part of the E-turo MATATAG artifact set. Companion files:
syllabus.md · lesson-plan-ilaw.md ·
assessment.md · offline-activities.md