How can you tell they’ve got it: Separating Mixtures?

If they’ve got it, you’ll see things like: Choose the correct separation method for a given mixture (sieving for large particles, filtering for small, evaporating for dissolved); Describe a multi-step separation plan for a complex mixture like sand, salt, and water; Explain why each method works based on the properties of the materials. Or just try it together: If your child has a mixture of sand, salt, and water, can they figure out a step-by-step plan to separate all three using a sieve, filter, and evaporation?

Science Matter & Materials Ages 9–10

Separating Mixtures

Your child can plan how to separate a mix of sand, salt, and water. A filter takes out the sand. Drying off the water then leaves the salt behind.

In curriculum terms

Use knowledge of solids, liquids, and gases to decide how mixtures might be separated through filtering, sieving, and evaporating

Ages are typical, not deadlines — follow your child’s pace. How to help at home →

How to tell they’ve got it

Tick these off as you see them — no test required.

Choose the correct separation method for a given mixture (sieving for large particles, filtering for small, evaporating for dissolved)
Describe a multi-step separation plan for a complex mixture like sand, salt, and water
Explain why each method works based on the properties of the materials

🖨 Print this page to keep the checklist — it prints beautifully.

Try this together

If your child has a mixture of sand, salt, and water, can they figure out a step-by-step plan to separate all three using a sieve, filter, and evaporation?

Where this sits on the map

Stuck here? Check the skills it builds on first. Confident? Here’s what it unlocks.

Builds on

Changes & Separation Vocabularyages 7–9Separating mixtures by filtering, sieving, and evaporating requires all three separation process terms

Solids, Liquids & Gasesages 8–9Must know solids/liquids/gases to decide appropriate separation techniques

Dissolving & Solutionsages 9–10Must understand dissolving and solutions before choosing separation methods

Separating Mixturesthis skill · ages 9–10

Unlocks

Separating Mixturesages 11–13KS3 advanced separation techniques (distillation, chromatography) extend KS2 filtering and evaporating

solid = must come firstdashed = helps

Curriculum alignment

Where this fits in the official school curriculum — our best automated guess, not yet checked by a person.

Show candidate curriculum codes · 2 VIC

Australian Curriculum v9 candidate

This skill sits outside the F–6 Australian Curriculum — no candidate code matched (v0.1).

Victorian Curriculum 2.0 codes & levels only

VC2S6U03low confidenceScience · Levels 5 and 6 · Science Understanding strand

VC2TDE6D03low confidenceDesign and Technologies · Levels 5 and 6 · Creating Designed Solutions strand

These are candidate alignments generated by semantic matching — machine-suggested and unreviewed (v0.1), not official or verified mappings. For official curriculum content see australiancurriculum.edu.au, curriculum.nsw.edu.au and f10.vcaa.vic.edu.au. Don’t rely on them for registration or compliance purposes.

Nearby on the map

Advanced Material Propertiesages 9–11 Dissolving & Solutionsages 9–10 Irreversible Changesages 9–11 Material Properties Vocabularyages 9–11

All Matter & Materials skills →