Curriculum strand
Chemical Sciences Incursions
Materials, mixtures, states of matter and chemical change. Five incursions covering the Chemical Sciences strand of the Victorian Curriculum 2.0, from Foundation through to Year 6.
$490 + GST per program, flat. No per-student fees. Bookings have a 2-session minimum.
What the Chemical Sciences strand actually covers
Chemical Sciences is the strand about what things are made of and how they change. It starts with sorting and grouping materials by their properties and working out why one material suits a purpose better than another. It moves into separating mixtures, including pulling materials apart with a magnet, and finding out that some changes, such as baking soda and vinegar, cannot easily be reversed.
In the middle years students link a material's properties to its uses and weigh up the environmental and social implications of choosing it. They find everyday examples of change of state and handle substances that behave as both solid and liquid, such as semisolids and gels. By Year 5 and 6 they investigate states of matter with super-absorbent polymers and use precise vocabulary to compare physical change with chemical change.
This is the strand schools most often tell us they avoid, usually because of the consumables, the clean-up and the confidence required to run a reaction in front of thirty students. We bring every consumable, run the session and take the mess away with us.
The programs below span three year bands. Each program page lists the Victorian Curriculum 2.0 content descriptions the session addresses.
Curriculum coverage
The distinct Victorian Curriculum v2.0 content descriptions addressed across the programs on this page.
- VC2S2U05Use senses to observe and describe the properties of a range of liquids and solids, and compare them to identify an unknown substance
- VC2S2U04Identify that objects can be made of one or more materials and describe their observable properties including hardness, texture and flexibility
- VC2S4U05Classify materials by origin — animal, plant or mineral — and describe how processing changes their physical properties and possible uses
- VC2S4U04Classify solids, liquids and gases based on observable properties including shape, volume, viscosity and surface tension
- VC2S6U04Distinguish reversible from irreversible chemical changes using observable evidence including colour change, gas production and temperature change
5 programs in this group
Chemical Sciences
Materials & Mixing
Students identify mystery liquids, trigger a chemical reaction, transform a powder into instant snow, use a colour-change indicator, and separate iron filings from sand with a magnet.
Chemical Sciences
Wonderful World of Materials
Students sort and test everyday objects for magnetism, bounciness and waterproofing, discover that magnetic force passes through barriers, and build a simple machine from paddle pop sticks and elastic bands.
Chemical Sciences
Natural & Processed Materials
Students sort real specimens by origin, process gelatine into bioplastic, test elasticity and shape memory in nitinol wire, and examine absorbency under digital microscopes.
Chemical Sciences
States of Matter
Students identify mystery matter in sealed balloons, grow crystals, compare liquid viscosities, watch gallium melt at body temperature, and make their own polymer bouncy balls.
Chemical Sciences
Reactive Chemistry
Students investigate reversible and irreversible chemical change through real reactions: a polymer reversal, a sealed reaction bag and a teacher-led Elephant's Toothpaste demonstration.
Common questions
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Get a quote for Chemical Sciences incursions
Tell us your year levels and the term you're planning for. We'll confirm availability and send a quote — no per-student fees, no surprises.
Limited dates each term — one facilitator, one school per day.