Year 5 Science | Properties and Changes of Materials | Lesson 2: What are Reversible Changes?
Can all material changes be undone? In this lesson, pupils investigate the concept of reversible change by exploring what happens when materials are mixed, dissolved, filtered, and evaporated. Building on learning from Lesson 1, children begin to understand how some changes can be reversed – and why others cannot.
Part of our Scintillating Science programme, this lesson includes a carousel of practical activities where pupils try out sieving, filtering, dissolving, and evaporation. A simple demonstration using seawater helps explain how salt can be recovered through evaporation, and pupils compare this to everyday processes such as melting and freezing.
In this lesson, pupils will:
- ♻️ Observe a demonstration of evaporation and salt recovery
- ♻️ Take part in a carousel of practical reversible changes
- ♻️ Record observations using key scientific vocabulary
- ♻️ Compare reversible and irreversible changes through discussion
Included in this lesson:
- ✔️ Interactive teaching slides and carousel activity setup
- ✔️ A detailed lesson plan with vocabulary and misconceptions
- ✔️ Differentiated worksheet and assessment questions
- ✔️ Optional extra investigation: Magic Glove irreversible change activity
A hands-on and memorable lesson that develops working scientifically skills and supports vocabulary-rich science learning.
