Texas Grab-and-Go Substitute Packet

Sorting Matter by Its Properties

Grade: 3 Subject: Science Time: ~45 min core + ~15 min extension Science

Overview

This is a self-contained, no-technology substitute packet for Grade 3. Working alone with a pencil, students learn that everything is made of matter and that we can describe and sort matter by its properties — things we can see, feel, or measure: mass, temperature, whether a magnet pulls it, whether it sinks or floats, and its state (solid, liquid, or gas). They read a short original passage, study a labeled property chart and an original data table of five objects, sort the objects by a property, justify a sort from the evidence, tell an observation from a good guess, and write a short evidence-based explanation. There are no lab materials and no hazards — it is a paper investigation.

At a glance

Grade: 3

Subject: Science

Time: about 45 minutes core plus a 15-minute optional extension

Materials: printed packet and a pencil (no calculator, computer, or lab materials)

Work mode: independent

Standards (provisional): 19 TAC Chapter 112 (Grade 3 Science, 2021 TEKS) — classifying matter by observable physical properties and comparing states of matter. Provisional — section and codes pending educator verification against the current official TAC source. Standards are paraphrased, not quoted; this packet does not claim formal alignment to the TEKS.

Accessible version of the student activity

The full student activity is reproduced below in plain, screen-reader-friendly HTML. It reflows on phones and at 200% zoom. Write your answers on the printed packet.

Start (5 minutes) — Notice & Wonder

You dump out a box with a rock, a spoon, a crayon, and a ball and want to sort them into groups. Write one way you could group them.
Look around the room, pick two things, and write one thing you wonder about how they are the same or different.

Build (5–10 minutes) — Read the science

Everything around you is made of matter. We describe matter by its properties — things you can see, feel, or measure:

Mass — how much stuff is in it; we weigh it on a balance (heavy or light).
Temperature — how hot or cold it is; we measure it with a thermometer.
Magnetic? — does a magnet pull it? We hold a magnet near it and watch.
Sink or float? — we drop it in water and look; does it go down or stay up?
State — is it a solid (keeps its shape), a liquid (pours and takes the cup's shape), or a gas (spreads out to fill space, like air)?

Word bank

matter: anything that takes up space, like a rock, water, or air.
property: something you can see, feel, or measure about matter.
mass: how much stuff is in an object; we find it by weighing.
magnetic: able to be pulled by a magnet.
solid: matter that keeps its own shape, like a block.
liquid: matter that pours and takes the shape of its cup, like water.
gas: matter that spreads out to fill space, like air.

Figure 1 description (text alternative for the SVG in the printed packet). A property chart with five labeled boxes in a row, each showing one property and how we observe or measure it. Mass: a balance scale — weigh it, heavy or light. Temperature: a thermometer — read it, hot or cold. Magnetic? a horseshoe magnet pulling a small object — a magnet pulls it. Sink or float? a cup of water with one shape floating up and one shape sunk down — drop it in water, down or up. State: a solid block, a liquid in a cup, and scattered dots for gas spreading out. In the printed packet this is a labeled line drawing that uses outlines and hatching and dot patterns (not colors), so it reads clearly in grayscale.

Look at Figure 1. Which tool do we use to find temperature? Write your answer.

Apply (20 minutes) — Use the data

A class tested five objects and wrote down what they saw.

Table 1. Five objects and what the class observed (original class data).
Object	Magnetic? (magnet pulls it)	Sink or float in water?	State
1. Steel paper clip	Yes	Sinks	Solid
2. Wood block	No	Floats	Solid
3. Penny (copper coin)	No	Sinks	Solid
4. Plastic cap	No	Floats	Solid
5. Cup of water	No	—	Liquid

Sort by magnetic: write the number of each object a magnet pulls, then tell how the table helped you know.
Sort by sink or float: write the numbers of the objects that float, and the numbers that sink.
Observation or good guess — write O (you see or measure it) or G (an idea you figure out):
- a) The wood block stayed on top of the water.
- b) The wood block would also float in a bigger tub.
- c) The magnet pulled the paper clip.
Tell them apart: the penny (3) and the plastic cap (4) are both non-magnetic solids. Which property in the table tells these two apart? Write it, and tell what each one does.

Explain (5–10 minutes) — Claim, Evidence, Reasoning

Question 8. Ana says the steel paper clip (1) is the only object in the table a magnet will pull. Is she right? Use Table 1 to explain your claim, your evidence, and your reasoning.

Sentence starters you may use: "My claim is…"; "My evidence from Table 1 is…"; "This shows that…"

Close (5 minutes) — ACE

Articulate: in your own words, what is a property of matter?
Connect: point to one row of Table 1 that floats; write its number and how you know.
Extend: name one thing at home and one property you could test on it.

Continue (optional, ~15 minutes) — Early finisher

Pick one property (magnetic, floats, or solid). Write the property you picked, then list three objects from your room or home that have that property, with a small picture next to each one.

Turn in

Hand in the whole packet with your name, class, and date, with questions 1–8 and the ACE box answered. Include the optional list if you did it.

G03_SCI_MatterProperties_01 — Sorting Matter by Its Properties Accessible landing page