Investigate Non-reversible Changes

In this worksheet, students will investigate when the changes we make to materials result in the formation of a new material and how to identify some common materials around us which are the products of non-reversible changes.

Key stage: KS 2

Year: Year 5 Science worksheets

Curriculum topic: Properties and Changes of Materials

Curriculum subtopic: Non-reversible Changes

Difficulty level:

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Worksheet Overview

Melting and freezing are reversible changes.

This means that if we undo the change, we can get back the materials we started with.

A good example of this is ice and water.

melting ice

Ice melts into water, but we can turn it back into ice by putting it into the freezer, where it will freeze.

Remember that in science, material means any solid, liquid or gas that you can detect using your senses!

Non-reversible changes result in a new and different material.

A birthday cake is a good example of a new material. We mix together eggs, butter, flour and sugar, add heat and enjoy!

stirring cake mixture

But... we cannot reverse the changes. 'Cake' cannot be changed back into the ingredients that we started with. We wouldn't want to anyway!

Birthday cake

Many non-reversible changes are caused by heating.

cake with candles

So, let's find out about non-reversible changes.

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