In 6th grade science, students are asked to differentiate between physical changes and chemical changes in matter. This three-week unit is designed to give students numerous opportunities to learn this objective through hands-on activities and experiments. Along the way, students will create a booklet about their observations, data collected, and interpretations of each lesson. In the activity “Gooey Gak,” students will mix water, glue, and borax to create a new substance. In “Caramel” they will observe physical and chemical changes to sugar. For “Perfectly Pink’ students will mix ammonia, vinegar and Ex-Lax to observe color change as an indicator of a chemical change. And in “Baffled Baker” they will help solve a mystery in which a baker did not properly label his ingredients and students will be asked to use their knowledge of physical and chemical changes to help him identify his ingredients. For each activity, students will be required to give supporting evidence about how they knew a physical change or a chemical change occurred. Middle school students love to mix things together, and this is a great opportunity to explore their curiosities.