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NSW Curriculum
NSW Education Standards Authority

7–10Science 7–10 Syllabus

Record of changes
Implementation from 2026
Expand for detailed implementation advice

Content

Stage 4

Solutions and mixtures

Working scientifically

In this focus area, students develop skills in planning and conducting investigations, as well as identifying problem-solving strategies and proposing solutions to problems. Additional Working scientifically outcomes and skills may be integrated with this content.

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Properties of matter
  • Identify the 3 main states of matter and how they are represented in the movement of water on earth

  • Conduct an investigation to measure and graph the temperature of water to identify the changes of state as heated over time

  • Represent changes in the state of matter in terms of particle arrangement and movement

  • Compare the properties of matter in different states, including the relative strength of attractive forces between solid, liquid and gas particles, to explain differences in the behaviours of the 3 states of matter

Properties of water
  • Investigate the other physical properties of water, such as density, buoyancy and surface tension

  • Conduct a practical investigation and select appropriate equipment to measure the density of water and other substances, and record the results in a table to compare the calculated density with SI data

Solutions
  • Investigate what substances dissolve in water and discuss findings using key terms, including soluble, insoluble, solubility, solute, solvent and solution

  • Conduct and document a practical investigation to measure solubility of different solutes in water, and present data using tables and relevant graphs

  • Qualitatively investigate the effect of temperature on solubility

  • Describe how solutions can be modelled using particle theory

  • Compare the properties of dilute, concentrated, saturated and supersaturated solutions

Separating mixtures
  • Distinguish between atoms, mixtures and compounds and explain their properties using particle theory

  • Classify matter as pure substances, including elements and compounds, and impure substances, including mixtures based on their particle composition

  • Explain how the physical properties of substances are used to separate mixtures

  • Conduct a series of practical investigations to explore common techniques to separate mixtures

  • Investigate techniques used by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander Peoples to separate mixtures

  • Investigate an industrial separation technique

Solutions and mixtures in context
  • Model how a body of water can become polluted, and plan and conduct a practical investigation that attempts to remove the pollutants

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