Five boxes name the signs of a chemical change on this 3-page 5th grade sheet: color change, gas produced, new smell, light or heat given off, and a solid forming in a liquid. Students write each of eight example cards into the box it fits, such as a penny turning green, rotten eggs smelling and milk curdling with lemon juice. Part 2 is a single question about why bubbles in boiling water are not a chemical change. Page 3 is the answer key.
“Name the signs that show a new substance has formed in a chemical change.”
Item 1 matches eight examples to five signs, and item 2 tests the idea that bubbles alone are not proof of a new substance.
Eight cards (a penny turning green, baking soda and vinegar fizzing, rotten eggs smelling, a campfire, a glow stick lighting up, a banana turning brown, milk curdling with lemon juice and a cake rising as it bakes) go into five labeled boxes.
One written question beside a photo of a pot of boiling water. Water bubbles when it boils, so is that a chemical change? Six lines for the explanation.
Each card listed under its sign, and a model answer that the bubbles in boiling water are water vapor, the same substance as the liquid.
Name the clue first
Read each card aloud and ask students to say the clue before they write. Rotten eggs smelling is the quickest card, so start there.
Argue the overlaps
A few cards could fit a second box. A campfire gives off light and heat, but it also changes color and makes gas. Ask which sign is clearest and accept a reasoned second answer.
Boiling water follow-up
Pair item 2 with a kettle demo or a short video. Students see steam leave the water and can say it is still water.
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