ACTIVITY 1: Which is matter, which is not?
Objectives: After performing this activity, you should be able to:
1. Describe the common properties of matter; and
2. Distinguish matter from non-matter;
Materials needed per group:
1 teaspoon of salt (or sugar) in vial
½ cup of tap water
1 piece of stone or small rock
1 piece of plastic balloon made up of plastic bag
1 piece of ball pen
1 piece of platform balance or weighing scale
2 pieces of plastic containers
Procedure:
1. Among the materials displayed in front of you, which do you think is classified as
matter? Put a check under the appropriate column in Table 1. You may make a table
similar to the one below. With your group mates, discuss the reason to explain your
answer for each sample. Write your answer in the last column.
Table 1. Identifying which is matter
Sample Is the sample matter? Reason/s for your Answer
YES NO NOT SURE
salt (or sugar)
Water
Stone
Air inside the plastic balloon
Ball pen
Smoke
Heat
Light
2. If your group cannot agree on a common answer, you may put a check
mark under “not sure” and write all the reasons given by the members
of your group.
Q1. What similarities do you observe among the first five given samples?
Write these common characteristics.
Q2. Does each sample have a measurable mass? Prove your answer by
demonstrating how you measure the mass of each sample. Record the mass
you got for each sample.
Q3. Do you think that each sample occupies space? Write the reason (s) for
your answer.
Q4. How about smoke? Does it have a mass? Does it occupy space? Explain
your answer.
Q5. Do you think that heat and light have mass? Do they occupy space?
Explain your answer.
Reference: Philippines, University of the Philippines National Institute
for Science and Mathematics Education Development (UP NISMED)
and Department of Education (2013). Science, Learner’s Material.
Quezon City: UP NISMED.
Activity 2: What is matter made of?
Objective:
After performing this activity, you should be able to infer that matter is made up
of numerous tiny particles.
Materials needed per group:
Food coloring solution in vial
¼ cup of water
4 pieces of vials with 5 mL and 10 mL mark
1 piece of dropper
Procedure:
1. Label the vials as A, B, C and D using the provided masking tape.
2. Pour 10 mL of tap water into vial A and 5 mL of tap water into vials B, C, and D.
The vials have 2 line markings: the 5 mL and the 10 mL mark. The lower line
marking is the 5 mL mark while the higher one is the 10 mL mark.
10mL mark
5mL mark
3. Add a drop of the food coloring solution in vial A. Swirl the vial.
Q1. What is the color of the food coloring solution used? What is the color of the
resulting solution?
4. Transfer 5 mL of the resulting solution in vial A into vial B. 5. Transfer 5 mL of
the resulting solution in vial B into vial C. 6. Transfer 5 mL of the resulting solution
in vial C into vial D.
Q2. What can you observe about the color of the solutions in vials B, C and D?
Based on your observation, is the food coloring still present in the solution
contained in vial D? Explain your answer.
Q3. With your groupmates, discuss and give your reasons behind the observation
in Q2.
Reference: Arun, S. (2007). Living Science Chemistry 9. Ratna Sagar P. Ltd
Activity 3. What is between the particles of matter?
Objective:
After performing this activity, you should be able to infer that there is an empty
space in between the particles of matter.
Materials needed per group:
¼ cup of refined sugar 1 cup of tap water
1 piece of cylindrical glass bottle (or 50 mL graduated cylinder)
1 piece of measuring spoon (1/4 teaspoon capacity)
1 piece of dropper
1 piece of plastic spatula
1 piece of 2.5 mL or 3 mL plastic syringe without the needle
Procedure:
Part A: Sugar granules in water
1. Fill the cylindrical glass bottle with water up to the 10 mL mark. The bottle has 2
line markings: the 10 mL and the 16 mL mark. The lower line marking is the 10 mL
mark while the higher one is the 16 mL mark.
16mL mark
10mL mark
2. Add five ¼ teaspoon of sugar in the bottle. Use a spatula to remove any excess
sugar from the measuring spoon.
excess sugar
Measuring spoon
3. Mix thoroughly until all the sugar dissolves.
Q1. Assuming that the volumes are additive, what should be the total volume
of the solution? (Note that ¼ tsp is equivalent to 1.2 mL)
Q2. Is the volume of the resulting sugar mixture equal, more than or less than the
sum of the volumes of the unmixed sugar and water?
Q3. Think about sugar and water as made up of tiny particles. With your
groupmates, discuss and give reason(s) for the observations you made in Q2. You
may draw illustrations to further explain your reason(s).
Part B: Solid, liquid and gas in a syringe.
1. Pull the plunger of the syringe until it reaches the last measurement mark (2.5
mL or 3 mL mark) of the syringe.
2. Press your thumb on the tip of the barrel and use your other thumb to push
the plunger once.
Q4. Can you push the plunger all the way through the syringe while your thumb
presses on the tip of the plunger? Why or why not?
3. This time, push the plunger of the syringe all the way to the tip of the syringe.
Suck water from the cup or container up to the last measurement mark (2.5 or 3
mL mark) of the syringe. Cover tightly the tip of the barrel with your thumb and
push the plunger once.
Q5. Can you push the plunger all the way through the syringe while your thumb
presses on the tip of the plunger? Why or why not?
4. This time, remove the plunger from the barrel of the syringe and fill the
barrel with sugar. Cover tightly the tip of the barrel with your thumb and try
to push the sugar inside the barrel using the plunger of the syringe.
Q6. Can you push the plunger all the way through the syringe while your thumb
presses on the tip of the plunger? Why or why not?
Q7. Compare what you felt when you pushed the plunger of the syringe filled with
air, water and sugar? With your groupmates, discuss and give your reasons behind
your observation.
Reference: Philippines, University of the Philippines National
Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development
(UP NISMED) and Department of Education (2013). Science,
Learner’s Material. Quezon City: UP NISMED.
Activity 4. Are the particle of matter moving?
Objective:
After performing this activity, you should be able to infer that the
particles of matter always move.
Materials needed per group:
1 cup of tap water
1 piece of wide mouth PET bottle (can hold one cup of water)
½ cup of vinegar in small plastic container
1 drop of food coloring (any dark color)
1 dropper
Procedure:
Part A: Food coloring in water
1. Pour one cup of tap water into a transparent PET bottle.
2. Add one small drop of food coloring slowly along the side of the
transparent bottle.
Q1. Describe what you observe after adding the food coloring.
3. Set aside the bottle with food coloring without disturbing the
setup. Describe the appearance of the contents of the bottle after 5
min. Compare it with the appearance when you left the bottle
earlier.
Q2. What happens to the food coloring dropped in the bottle
containing water?
Q3. Think about the food coloring and water as made up of
particles. With your groupmates, discuss and give your reason(s) for
the observations you made in Q1. You may draw illustrations to
further explain your reason(s).
Part B: Smelling the fumes of vinegar.
1. Remove the cover of the container containing a vinegar solution
and place the container one yard (one arm length) away from you.
2. Allow it to stand for 5 minutes.
Q4. Can you smell the gaseous vinegar? With your group, provide a
possible explanation on why you can still smell the vinegar even if
the vinegar solution was placed 1 yard away from you.
Reference: Philippines, University of the Philippines National
Institute for Science and Mathematics Education Development
(UP NISMED) and Department of Education (2013). Science,
Learner’s Material. Quezon City: UP NISMED.
Activity 5. Are there attractive forces between the
particles of matter?
Objective:
After performing this activity, you should be able to infer that the
particles of matter interact with each other.
Materials needed per group:
1 cup of tap water
2 pieces of PET bottles
2 pieces of deformed paper clips
Procedure:
1. Into an empty PET bottle, drop a piece of paper clip.
Q1. How long does it take for the paper clip to reach the
bottom of the bottle?
2. Fill the PET bottle with water.
3. Drop a piece of paper clip into the bottle filled with water.
Q2. How long does it take for the paperclip to reach the bottom of
the bottle? Compare it with the observation in Q1.
5. Put the cover of the empty PET bottle and try to drop a piece
of paper clip.
Q3. Can the paper clip enter the bottle?
Q4. Using the observations in Q1, Q2 and Q3, compare the
attractive forces of particles in solid, liquid and gas.
Reference: Wiseman, Jr., F. L. (1979). An Experiment-
Oriented Approach to Teaching the Kinetic Molecular
Theory. Journal of Chemical Education, 233234.
