Boost Inquiry Skills and Observe Physical Changes in Materials With a Hands-On Investigation

Introduce your students to the fascinating world of science inquiry, properties of materials and observing physical changes with this Science Investigation Resource from Teach Starter! 

This resource, designed for lower to middle elementary classrooms, helps students develop the inquiry skills of predicting, observing, and examining the results of an experiment, while also teaching them core material about the properties of materials and physical changes, including bending, twisting, stretching, crushing, or tearing various materials. 

Bend, Twist, Stretch, Crush, or Tear? Let’s Explore!

This inquiry-based, hands-on material exploration consists of a physical change task that encourages learners to explore the unique properties of materials and how they can bend, twist, stretch, crush, or tear. To complete this inquiry activity, students will:

• Predict what will happen to different materials when they are bent, twisted, stretched, crushed, or torn.
• Test each material to see how it responds to bending, twisting, stretching, crushing, and tearing.
• Observe and record their results during hands-on testing.
• Analyze and report on their findings.

The pack is designed to scaffold learning, featuring separate worksheets for the following steps of the scientific process: predicting, observing, and analysing results. 

What’s Included in This Science Inquiry Activity?

• Teacher Instruction Sheet: Provides step-by-step directions for setting up and guiding the investigation, including safety tips and discussion prompts.
• Prediction Worksheet: Students record whether they think each material is capable of bending, twisting, tearing, stretching, or crushing.
• Observation Worksheet: Students carefully test each material and record their observations.
• Learning Summary Worksheet: Students review their data, compare predictions to outcomes, and answer questions about their findings.

Download, Print and Prep for an Easy Science Inquiry Lesson

This printable Teach Starter Science Investigation Pack is ready to use straight from the printer. To kick off your next easy science inquiry lesson, simply print the worksheets, gather your student materials into zipper bags, and you’re ready to guide your students through an engaging exploration of the properties of materials.

This resource is available in both easy-to-use Google Slides format and printable PDF format. To obtain your copy, click the dropdown arrow on the download button to select the preferred file format.

This resource was created by Lindsey Phillips, a teacher in Michigan and Teach Starter Collaborator.

More Ways to Boost Science Inquiry Skills in the Classroom

Don’t stop there! You can extend your lessons on properties of matter and science inquiry with even more printable activities and worksheets from Teach Starter. We recommend checking these out before you go!

[resource:5178170] [resource:5178390] [resource:5178531]