5th grade students that are studying matter will be focusing in this lesson on the smallest unit of matter - the atom.
Students will use small marshmallows to construct a model of an atom.

The goal of this module is that 5th graders will not simply memorize the definition of matter and know what makes up matter, but they will understand this conceptually and deeply. They will explore how matter takes up space and has mass, that the amount of mass doesn't change when matter undergoes phase change, and that matter can be subdivided into particles too small to see.This module was developed by Karin Kaerwer as part of a Virginia Commonwealth University STEM initiative sponsored by the Virginia Department of Education.

This can be an introductory lesson for a 5th grade Science unit on matter. Students will read (or listen to) the mentor text, Ice Boy, by David Ezra Stein. Throughout the book, students will stop at designated points to visualize what is going on in the book based on the author's words.