Separating mixtures booklet
Separating mixtures booklet
- Unit 1: Living things
- Unit 2: Sound
- Unit 3: Materials in my world
- Unit 4: The Earth
- Unit 5: Humans
- Unit 6: Forces
This Topic is About...
- I will learn about mixtures and how to separate them.
- I will observe the properties of materials in mixtures.
- I will choose the right equipment to separate mixtures.
- I will draw clear diagrams.
You’re going to be a science explorer!
Key Words
- equipment
- magnet
- magnetic
- mixture
- non-magnetic
- separate
- sieve
Tap to Learn the Meanings!
- equipment: Tools or objects needed to do a task.
- magnet: An object that can attract some metals.
- magnetic: Able to be attracted by a magnet.
- mixture: Two or more things mixed together but not chemically joined.
- non-magnetic: Not attracted by a magnet.
- separate: To divide or pull things apart.
- sieve: A tool with holes used to separate big particles from small ones.
Great job learning science words about separating materials!
Using equipment
When two or more materials are mixed together it is called a mixture.
Some mixtures can be separated by hand, but this is very slow. The equipment shown in the picture is used to separate soil from old plant roots. It has many small holes which let the soil fall through while the larger roots stay behind. This type of equipment is called a sieve.
Using the right equipment makes separating mixtures much faster.
This magnet is separating a mixture of different metals. When materials are mixed together, the properties of each material do not change. Some of the metal in this mixture is magnetic and some is non-magnetic.
FUN QUESTIONS
1. What is a mixture?
Show answer
2. What word can we use for things like sieves, magnets, and other objects that help us to do things?
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3. How does a sieve work?
Show answer
This girl is separating different types of plastic by hand. In some countries, children do this to make enough money to buy food.
Let’s Investigate!
Topic: Using a sieve
You will need: a mixture of salt and beans, a sieve, a plate
What to do:
- Marcus has mixed up the beans and the salt. Think: how can he separate them?
- Pour the mixture of beans and salt into a sieve.
- Hold the sieve above a plate.
- Shake the sieve gently.
- The small salt grains fall through the holes into the plate.
- The large beans stay in the sieve.
- Draw and label a diagram showing the mixture and how you used the sieve.
Questions to consider:
- Why does the sieve allow salt to pass through but not beans?
- What other mixtures could be separated using a sieve?
- What kind of science enquiry was this?
Tap to See Example Answers
- Why sieving works: Salt grains are much smaller than beans, so they fall through the sieve holes.
- Beans stay behind: Beans are too large to pass through the sieve.
- Other mixtures: sand and pebbles, flour and pasta shapes, soil and stones.
- Type of enquiry: This was a practical classification and separating materials enquiry.
Great work! You explored how scientists separate mixtures based on particle size.
Let’s Investigate!
Topic: An amazing mixture
You will need: a mixture of sand, rice and paperclips, and some equipment to choose from (sieve, magnet, spoon, funnel, plate, cup, measuring cylinder)
Investigation steps:
- Look at the mixture of sand, rice and paperclips.
- Choose equipment that will help you separate each material.
- Think carefully: which tool works for which part of the mixture?
- Use a magnet to remove the paperclips from the mixture.
- Use a sieve to separate the rice from the sand.
- Use a smaller sieve if needed to separate fine grains.
- Draw and label diagrams that show each step of your separation.
Questions to consider:
- Which tool was the most useful? Why?
- How does a magnet help you separate paperclips?
- Why does the sieve keep rice in the sieve but let sand fall through?
- What kind of science enquiry was this?
Tap to See Example Answers
- Best tool for paperclips: The magnet, because metal paperclips are attracted to it.
- Best tool for separating rice and sand: A sieve. Rice is larger than sand, so it stays in the sieve.
- Why sieving works: The sieve holes let small particles (sand) fall through while keeping bigger particles (rice).
- Scientific enquiry type: This was a practical separating materials enquiry and also classifying based on properties.
Well done! You investigated how to separate mixtures using tools chosen for their properties.
How am I doing?
Look at a friend’s diagrams. Have they labelled their tools clearly? Could they add something to improve their diagram?