What students learn in AC9S6U04
This unit helps students build a clear, usable understanding of Reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible.... The goal is not to memorise one answer pattern. Students should be able to explain the idea, recognise it in a new example and apply it in a short practice or worksheet task.
- Start with the main idea: compare reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible changes, including cooking and rusting that produce new substances.
- Use concrete examples, pictures, oral explanation and short written responses before moving to independent practice.
- discussing what makes a change reversible or irreversible, using everyday examples examining the substances produced in cooking and rusting and comparing them with the original substances
- Finish with mixed questions so students must choose the correct strategy rather than copy the last example.
Curriculum coverage and elaborations
The content description and elaborations below show the curriculum ideas taught in this unit. Items marked as teaching context support lesson planning but may not appear in the initial eight-question activity.
- Content description: compare reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible changes, including cooking and rusting that produce new substances
- E1: discussing what makes a change reversible or irreversible, using everyday examples
- E2: examining the substances produced in cooking and rusting and comparing them with the original substances
- E3: comparing how the amount of heat energy added affects whether a change in state or an irreversible change occurs
- E4: describing how dissolved substances are reclaimed from solutions
- E5: exploring how reversible changes can be used to recycle materials
- E6: investigating First Nations Australians’ knowledges of reversible processes such as the application of adhesives and of irreversible processes such as the use of fuels for torches (teaching context)
How to use this unit
Read the topic guide, use the teacher slide for instruction, then complete the Worksheet, Practice and Test. These three activities use the same eight-question unit bank.
Teacher resource
AC9S6U04 teacher slide
Use this one-page PDF to introduce the key idea, vocabulary and teaching sequence before students begin the activities.
Open teacher slide (PDF)Common mistakes to watch for
- Describing what is seen without connecting it to a question, pattern or prediction.
- Using everyday words only and missing simple scientific vocabulary.
- Changing more than one thing in an investigation, which makes the comparison unfair.
International curriculum mapping
This table gives closest-topic mapping for search and planning. The Australian Curriculum code is exact; overseas entries are broad equivalents because each jurisdiction structures outcomes differently.
| Region | Curriculum | Closest mapping |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | Australian Curriculum v9.0 | AC9S6U04 — compare reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible changes, including cooking and rusting that produce new substances |
| Victoria | Victorian Curriculum F-10 | Year 6 Science: closest match in Chemical sciences. Use this page as a VIC-aligned practice and worksheet reference. |
| NSW | NSW Curriculum | Stage 3 Science: closest content focus for Reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible... and related outcomes. |
| United States | Common Core / NGSS | Grade 6 NGSS science closest topic match for Reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible.... |
| England / UK | National Curriculum | Key Stage 2 / Year 6: closest programme-of-study match for Reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible.... |
| Canada | Provincial and territory curricula | Grade 6 closest topic match. Canada varies by province, so use this as a broad Ontario/BC-style learning outcome reference. |
| New Zealand | New Zealand Curriculum | Level 3 Science: closest achievement-objective topic for Reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible.... |
| India | NCERT / CBSE | Class 6 closest NCERT/CBSE topic match for Reversible changes, including dissolving and changes of state, and irreversible.... |