Your students can have fun when learning about the motion and arrangement of particles in ice cubes with this activity.

A couple of days before the lesson, start making ice cubes with a gummy lolly stuck inside. The most effective way to do this is to half fill ice cube trays, freeze them overnight and then put a lolly into each one, top them up with water and freeze again. Then, challenge your students to get the lolly out as fast as they can!

You might like to provide various heat sources, such as a hairdryer, the radiator or the sunshine outside. Discuss any safety points relating to using these heat sources, for example not getting too close to the radiator.

You can print enough copies of this worksheet for each student in your class and have them complete it after releasing their lolly. It focuses on explaining the science behind the melting ice cube in terms of particle motion and arrangement.

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