Students are expected to conduct a descriptive investigation, meaning they should be able to record changes to physical properties of a variety of substances. Provide students with a selection of tools they might use to investigate changing physical properties. Some examples include scissors, paper, sandpaper, wood blocks, a hair dryer, crayons, ice, water, and access to a freezer. Ask students to make a plan to change the physical properties of the objects provided. Student plans should indicate that they understand changing physical properties might mean changing the size, shape, or temperature of an object. Student observations should indicate which object they are examining and describe the process they used to change its physical properties. For example, a student might say, "I changed the size of the wood block by sanding it and making it smaller." Students should understand that changing the physical properties of an object does not change the type of object. They should be able to say "When I freeze water, it is still water, just not a liquid."

The emphasis in student expectation 2.6.B is on how the observable physical properties of a substance change through the processes listed. Often the processes of melting and freezing are associated with the change in state of matter from solid to liquid and from liquid to solid. Grade 2 students should focus their observations on the changes they can see. In grade 3, students will describe explain why those changes are occuring by describing particle behavior in solids, liquids, and gasses.  In middle school, students will be introduced to the concept of atoms as the building blocks of matter.

One common misconception is that all physical changes are reversible changes. An example of a physical change that is irreversible is when a rock is broken into pieces.