Questions | Beyond Multiple Choice

Q.

At the end of the class, Laura and Mary argued:

Laura: “Some of the sugar left the water because when you mix sugar in water a chemical reaction causes some of the sugar to evaporate. This is why you cannot see the sugar after you mix it in the water: It isn’t there.”

Mary: “Because matter cannot be created or destroyed, the weight of the glass before and after mixing does not change. You cannot see the sugar after you mix it in the water because the sugar broke up in tiny pieces that you cannot see.”

Compare the two arguments and explain why one is stronger and why the other one is weaker.

Audiences:

K-12

Topics:

Chemistry, Scientific Argumentation

Background Information

To be used with other sugar items as part of a complete testlet for middle school argumentation. This question follows Sugar 5.

Associated Publications

No Associated Publications

Question Instructions

We recommend that you administer these questions as homework and preface the question with these instructions for students:

"For the following question, please respond to the best of your knowledge and using only the information in the question and what you know. Please do not refer to any outside sources (textbooks, notes, internet, etc.). Any reasonable attempt to answer the question will be awarded full credit."

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