Matter and the properties students can see and feel are the focus of this three-page 2nd grade science worksheet. Students sort six objects from a word bank, including milk, a pencil, and helium in a balloon, into Solid, Liquid, and Gas columns. They then write two properties each for an apple, a teddy bear, and a rock. The answer key lists sample properties, such as red, smooth, and round for the apple. The sheet lines up with NGSS 2-PS1-1.
2-PS1-1
“Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.”
Section 1 classifies six materials as solid, liquid, or gas, and Section 2 asks for observable properties of the apple, the teddy bear, and the rock.
Students read that everything is made of matter, then sort Apple, Milk, Helium (in a balloon), Pencil, Juice, and Oxygen (air) into a three-column table. Each column takes two words.
A short note defines a property as something you observe with your senses, such as color, shape, size, or texture. Students write two properties under pictures of an apple, a teddy bear, and a rock.
Before a hands-on sort
Use Section 1 as a quick check before students handle real objects. Watch helium and oxygen, since students cannot see either gas.
Science center
Put a real apple, a soft toy, and a rock on the table. Students touch each one before they fill in Section 2.
Vocabulary review
Ask students to read their properties aloud. Write texture on the board and collect every feel word they use under it, such as smooth, soft, and rough.
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