Free Matter Science Reading Passage + Questions (Grades 3-5)

Free Matter science reading passage for grades 3-5. A liquid can change shape, a solid can bend, and a gas can be invisible. Matterling helps students use mass, volume, and other properties instead of relying on appearance when classifying matter and explaining state changes.

Download the free Matter reading resource

One reading passage in six numbered sections,12 questions and an aligned answer key. The 8-page PDF includes2 teacher-guide pages,2 reading pages,2 response pages and2 key pages. Print only the4 student pages for your class; keep the guide and key for teaching. No purchase, kit or student account is required for this printable or the free Adventure.

Meet Matterling, your science guide

Gemlings teach science through their personalities and home realms. Matterling guides learners in Matterport Depot. The opening teaching note, science clues and final encouragement help students know their guide before entering the subject Adventure.

Science ideas in this passage

1. What Matter Is
2. Solids & Their Properties
3. Liquids & Their Properties
4. Gases & Their Properties
5. Measuring & Comparing Matter
6. Changing State & Conserving Matter

Simple classroom use

Allow about 25-35 minutes. Introduce Matterling and preview the bold science words. Read the two-page passage independently, with a partner, or aloud with support. Students use numbered paragraphs to locate evidence, choose vocabulary in context and explain science ideas on the response pages. Discuss answers using the 18-point key; accept accurate equivalent explanations and use misconceptions to choose a paragraph to reread.

Use this for science-literacy practice, a reading center, a substitute lesson or preparation for the free Online Adventure. Intended for grades 3-5; younger or developing readers may benefit from adult read-aloud support. No validated Lexile or independent grade-level test is claimed.

A teaching point to discuss

Flexible does not mean liquid, and invisible does not mean absent. Evaporating water still exists as gas. Conservation claims need a clearly defined system, especially when matter can leave an open container.

Compare descriptions of an eraser, water in two containers, and air in a balloon. Ask students which properties identify the state and which measurements would support their claim. Keep mass units and volume units visible during discussion.

Train, watch the Gemling video, then take the Adventure

Start with this training resource. Next, open the subject Adventure page and watch Matterling's Gemling video to learn or refresh. Then enter the free Online Adventure assessment and apply the science to its six settings. Celebrate the completed mission and Grumbly victory. The free learning stands on its own.

Open the Matter video and free Adventure

More free Matter vocabulary worksheets and teacher guidance provide another way to practice before the Adventure.

Optional hands-on science field trip in your classroom

Dig Kits can extend the experience through Discover - Identify - Collect: uncover real specimens, identify them using observations and available specimen/trading cards, then organize a collection. Contents vary by product. Online completion does not reserve kits or record a physical discovery.

Teachers have alternative routes: purchase available Dig Kits directly, explore the Free Dig Kits classroom campaign, or ask their PTA/PTO whether it can fund a classroom purchase. PTA funding is not guaranteed or arranged by this resource. Signup does not award physical kits. Every $250 USD in qualifying paid campaign sales earns 25 Free Dig Kits. Redemption and organization and delivery verification are required; current fulfillment rules apply.

Explore Free Dig Kits for your classroom

More free science resources

Browse the free science resource library. Materials reading passage; Mixtures reading passage; Heat reading passage.

Get the free Matter PDF