# The Ice Pop Mystery ![Figure 1: A sunny backyard scene showing a melting ice pop dripping onto a picnic table, with a water bottle nearby releasing a faint wisp of steam](https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/api/generate/60550f70-ab36-4216-ba97-7618d447c847/asset/462) Maya's ice pop dripped fast in the sun. "It's melting into a puddle!" she groaned. Her brother Sam grinned. "That's particles for you." "Particles?" "Tiny bits matter is made of. In your frozen ice pop, they're packed close, just vibrating in place. That's a solid." "So the puddle?" "Liquid. The particles got extra wiggly, spread apart, and now they slide past each other." Maya watched steam rise off her water bottle cap left in the sun. "And that?" "Gas. Particles fly apart in every direction, barely holding together." "So solid is squished, liquid is loose, gas is wild?" "Exactly. Solids stick tightest, gases barely stick at all." Maya smiled. "My ice pop just taught me science." ## Words to know - **particle**: A tiny piece of matter too small to see, that all matter is made of - **solid**: A state of matter where particles are packed close and vibrate in place - **liquid**: A state of matter where particles have space to slide past each other - **gas**: A state of matter where particles have lots of space and move freely in all directions - **attractive forces**: The pull between particles that holds them together, strongest in solids and weakest in gases Curriculum link: [Knowledge](https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36475), [Skills](https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36477), [Understanding](https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36476), [Knowledge](https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36479) [Listen to the narration](https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/api/generate/60550f70-ab36-4216-ba97-7618d447c847/asset/465) --- *AILI audio story · language en · model claude-sonnet-5 · generated 2026-09-17 · id 60550f70-ab36-4216-ba97-7618d447c847* ### Sources - node:n1: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36472) - node:n2: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36473) - node:n3: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36475) - node:n4: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36477) - node:n5: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36476) - node:n6: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36479) - node:n7: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36481) - node:n8: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36480) - node:n9: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36473) - node:n10: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36475) - node:n11: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36477) - node:n12: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36476) - node:n13: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36480) - node:n14: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. › How can states of matter and other physical properties be explained by using the particle model of matter? › Students investigate the particle model of matter in relation to the physical properties of solids, liquids, and gases. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36479) - pdf:p1: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Stepping Into Science Alberta | Matter - Grade 5 › p.1 (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/library/pdf/9862?page=1) - node:n15: Sciences › Science (K–6) › Grade 5 › Matter: Understandings of the physical world are deepened by investigating matter and energy. (https://goa-cc-uat-aili-app-001.azurewebsites.net/explore/node/36472)