Year 5 Science – Term 2 (WA Curriculum): States of Matter and Particle Motion

What this unit covers

In Term 2, Year 5 Science in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “States of Matter and Particle Motion”.

Students explore how the observable properties of solids, liquids and gases can be explained by the motion and arrangement of atoms and molecules.

Lesson sequence (8 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Investigating the Properties of Solids Around Us
2. Exploring How Liquids Behave and Flow
3. Discovering the Properties of Gases We Can't See
4. Classifying Materials as Solids, Liquids or Gases
5. Modelling How Particles Are Arranged in Different States
6. Investigating How Heat Changes Ice to Water
7. Exploring How Heat Turns Water into Steam
8. Comparing Particle Movement in All Three States of Matter

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 2

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 2 runs from Monday 20 April to Friday 3 July — 11 weeks for WA public schools. With 8 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.