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Too Small to See is a free printable Grade 5 science worksheet on modelling matter as particles too small to be seen, aligned to Common Core standard 5-PS1-1. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Too Small to See

5-PS1-1

NameDate

Circle the best answer.

1.What does a good model of matter have to do?
  • A.Be complicated
  • B.Look attractive
  • C.Explain the observations and predict new ones
2.Sugar water is left to evaporate. What is left behind, and why?
  • A.The sugar, because its particles stayed when the water left
  • B.New sugar made by the water
  • C.Nothing at all
3.A smell spreads across a room. What does a particle model say?
  • A.Particles from the source spread out through the air
  • B.The smell has no substance
  • C.Air carries nothing
4.Which observation is best explained by particles too small to see?
  • A.Water is wet
  • B.Ice is cold
  • C.A dissolved solid can be recovered by evaporating the liquid
5.How could you show the sugar is still there?
  • A.Taste it, or evaporate the water and weigh what is left
  • B.Stir it faster
  • C.Look harder
6.Why can a particle model be used if nobody can see the particles?
  • A.It explains and predicts what we can measure
  • B.It cannot be used
  • C.Models must be visible
7.Sugar stirred into water disappears from view. What has happened to it?
  • A.It has been destroyed
  • B.It has turned into water
  • C.It has broken into particles too small to see, spread through the water
8.A balloon is inflated. What model explains why it is heavier?
  • A.Air has no mass
  • B.Air is made of particles, and more have been put in
  • C.The rubber grew heavier

LessonPrint · 5-PS1-1 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Too Small to See

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.Explain the observations and predict new ones
  2. 2.The sugar, because its particles stayed when the water left
  3. 3.Particles from the source spread out through the air
  4. 4.A dissolved solid can be recovered by evaporating the liquid
  5. 5.Taste it, or evaporate the water and weigh what is left
  6. 6.It explains and predicts what we can measure
  7. 7.It has broken into particles too small to see, spread through the water
  8. 8.Air is made of particles, and more have been put in

More practice for 5-PS1-1

Model matter as particles far too small to see.

Teaching this next? Too Small to See is the 60-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to 5-PS1-1 of the Next Generation Science Standards.