Reversible or Irreversible Change?

A supporting sort for a chemical-changes unit. Students sort eight changes - melting, freezing, burning, stretching a rubber band, tearing a photo, shattering glass, dissolving sugar, frying an egg - by whether they can be undone. It reinforces the chemical-vs-physical work while carefully making an important point: reversibility is not the same as chemical vs. physical. Tearing paper and shattering glass cannot be undone, yet they are physical changes.

What's Included

• 1 student page: 8 illustrated cards (reversible / irreversible) plus a Sum It Up fill-in with word bank
• 1 teacher key page with the answer and a one-line reason for every card, plus a Big Idea box
• Letter-size PDF, no prep

How It Helps You Teach

• Adds a commonly taught "changes" concept without teaching the misconception that irreversible always means chemical
• Built-in counterexamples (torn paper, shattered glass) show reversibility is its own property
• Big Idea box points students back to the real test - did a new substance form?

Pair It With

Designed to support the Chemical or Physical? sort and the Reading in Science: Chemical Changes. Check out our library for the full Chemical Changes set.

Perfect for 6th grade physical science, a science sort or station activity, and a chemical vs. physical change review. Topics include: reversible and irreversible changes, physical vs. chemical change, and properties of matter.

Supports TEKS 6.6E (chemical vs. physical change). This is a supporting activity, not a stand-alone 6.6E standard. Part of the Daily Science series by Workybooks.