Your students can complete a fun investigation while you assess all three strands of the Australian Curriculum Science with this resource.

The investigation involves students creating ice cream using ice in a bag. The mixture of ingredients changes state from a liquid to solid ice cream. The students will test whether adding salt to the ice makes a difference to the temperature.

Adding salt to the ice should lower the temperature and form solid ice cream more efficiently. This is because when you add salt to ice, it causes some of the ice to melt by lowering the freezing point. Melting requires energy (in the form of heat), which is taken from the surrounding environment. As a result, the temperature of the mixture drops, making the ice and salt mixture colder than plain ice.

To help with differentiation, the worksheets include a duplicate page with a data table template included and a duplicate page with graphing axes and labels. When you have decided which versions of the worksheet to give to which students, you can print the number of copies that you need, gather the equipment and begin the investigation. A comprehensive assessment rubric is also included.

Note that the milk and cream in the ingredients can be replaced with 1 cup of plant-based milk for those with dietary restrictions.

This resource is part of our Chemical Sciences Year 5 UNIT PLAN.