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Introductory Video on the States of Matter

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Introductory Video on the States of Matter

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States of Matter - Solids, Liquids, Gases & Plasma - Chemistry

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activity completed during this unit

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Video can be used as in introduction to the states of matter for students.

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3 States of Matter for Kids (Solid, Liquid, Gas): Science for Children - FreeSchool

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Insert more detail to ensure that if another teacher were to take the class for me they could teach is fluidly without being confused or unsure of anything within the lesson. Ensure to use the Key Skills and Wellbeing Indicators throughout the learning intentions and success criteria to keep the lesson linked to them.

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Curriculum, learning and effective pedagogy.

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How I have used it in my teaching:
This reading discussed many many different ways and methods that have been used and tested over years to see what proved to be effective and less effective within the science classroom. I have taken many key points from this reading and used them throughout my teaching placement.
1. "Teachers should change from being primarily a transmitter of knowledge to being a facilitator and mediator of students' learning." I used this point for every science class I taught and it made me realise that my beliefs on what a teacher can be have changed (throughout interactive activities and tasks) a noisy classroom didn't necessarily indicate a lack of control but instead it meant students were discussing their learnings more and therefore improving and expanding their knowledge. I used this point throughout lessons as I allowed students to complete research and to ask more questions throughout classes rather than have them sit and listen to the teacher.
2. Another aspect I have taken from this reading is how to help students when conducting investigations. Some points that I have found to be significantly useful within my classes are: "the breaking down of an investigation into its particular phases and concentrating discussion on one aspect only." I found this really helped students to stay organised throughout and also broke down harder concepts into simpler ones that made it easier for them to process. "asking many cueing questions of students while they carried out investigations" I always try my best to repeatedly ask student questions that will get them thinking critically throughout and keep them asking themselves such questions. "Encouraging the explicit formation of linkages between students' prior knowledge and present situations" This idea proved massive benefit for my students as once they could link new information with facts they already knew they found it much easier to get a grasp of. Throughout investigations I would ask students what household items could we use instead of materials we have in the lab which would allow them to connect the experiment to their own daily lives.

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Summary

Introduction

This review was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to report on significant international and New Zealand research on effective pedagogy and the links between student learning, curricula, pedagogy and assessment in science education across the compulsory sector. The review seeks to answer the following question:

How does the national and international literature on science education inform our understanding about effective teaching practice/pedagogy on student achievement in science education for the diversity of students in New Zealand?

Chapter Two outlines the methodology and framework adopted in this review. It describes the review team and the collaborative process through which the review was developed and outlines the review's objectives, intended purpose and audience. Details about the literature searches and the analysis and writing process are described and the overall framework for the review is illustrated. The final section of Chapter Two presents a short analysis of the learning outcomes that are specified by Science in the New Zealand Curriculum.

The remainder of the review is structured into four parts. The structure and content of these parts are described below.

Part I: Background

(Chapters Three and Four)

Chapter Three, "New Zealand Student Achievement in Science - Evidence from National and International Studies" describes two nation-wide assessment projects which provide extensive data on New Zealand students' achievement in science during the review period 1991-2001: the National Education Monitoring Project (NEMP) and the Third International Mathematics and Science Studies (TIMSS). Chapter Three describes the assessment approaches used in both TIMSS and NEMP and then gives a detailed report on New Zealand students' TIMSS and NEMP achievement results in overall terms, and in relation to factors including: gender and ethnicity groupings; students' attitudes to science; home resources; home language; and other factors related to schooling and teaching. The detailed analyses of TIMSS and NEMP given in Chapter Three indicate some of the major issues apparent in New Zealand students' science achievement, and indicate areas which need investigation in order to develop more effective and equitable pedagogies to raise achievement and reduce disparity in New Zealand science education for all New Zealand students.

In Chapter Four, Bell provides an historical backdrop for research and curriculum developments in New Zealand science education during the review period. In this chapter, "The Learning in Science Projects and Associated Thesis Research", Bell describes five research projects at the University of Waikato conducted between 1979 and 1996. These projects were funded by the Department of Education and later the Ministry of Education. One of their major goals was to research, develop and evaluate effective pedagogies to improve learning in science in New Zealand classrooms. Chapter Four describes each of the Learning in Science (LISP) projects including the major research findings, and the uptake and impact (or lack of impact) of these findings on subsequent New Zealand science curriculum and classroom pedagogy.

These two chapters provide a background for the literature reviewed in chapters Five to Nine. A diagrammatic overview at the end of Part I serves as a point of reference for the remaining review chapters. The overview is intended to assist readers who are unfamiliar with recent science education literature to identify the significance of trends and developments in research, curriculum development, and policy; and some of the relationships between research, policy, practice and student outcomes in New Zealand science education.

Part II: Evidence from Classroom research in Science Education

(Chapters Five, Six and Seven)

Chapter Five, "Pedagogy to Support the Achievement of `Content' Learning Outcomes" introduces recent international and New Zealand classroom research that has sought to evaluate the conceptual learning outcomes that are actually achieved by students when various pedagogies are used. Many classroom studies reported during the review period 1991-2001 provide evidence for teaching approaches that can lead to enhanced student science learning, engagement and achievement. Chapter Five reviews international and New Zealand research relating to: pedagogical approaches intended to enhance students' metacognitive and higher-order thinking skills; pedagogical approaches based on the role of models, modelling, metaphor and analogies in science; and the role of group work discussions in the science classroom. Chapter Five also explores three internationally significant longitudinal research projects that have sought to combine aspects of these various pedagogies into learning programmes.

Chapter Six, "Learning to `do' science" investigates pedagogies to support students' engagement and learning through practical work and science investigations. Three different pedagogical approaches are described and compared. These are "recipe" practical work, "open" investigations and "fair testing" approaches. In this chapter some of the evidence from the classroom based research points to non-achievement of intended outcomes, in particular when either "recipe" practical work or "fair testing" is the predominant pedagogy employed. However the chapter also discusses ways in which the possible or intended outcomes of practical work could be better achieved with some modification to existing practice.

Chapter Seven, "Literacy and Science Learning", reviews classroom-based research where the focus has been on improving the communication of science ideas. Data reported in Chapter Three raise issues concerning the relationship between "reading literacy" and achievement in science. Similarly LISP findings reported in Chapter Four raise issues concerning the role of language in the communication of science ideas. The issues raised are relevant to all students at some points in their learning, but pose particular challenges for students who are not learning science in the language that they speak in other settings, or who have poorly developed reading literacy skills for their age. Classroom-based research that informs the issues raised is outlined, and the features of pedagogy that have been demonstrated to improve communication during science learning are identified.

Part III: The Integration of Science Pedagogy with Rich Student Experiences

(Chapters Eight and Nine)

Chapter Three indicates that New Zealand students exhibit a wide spread in science achievement, and this spread has been linked to factors including ethnicity, home language, socio-economic status, and home and family resources. There are many possible reasons for the achievement gap that some pupils experience in science classrooms. Factors of significance appear to include: students not learning in their first language; barriers to full engagement where the culture of school is different from the culture of the student's social and family groups; and a lack of rich background experiences on which new learning builds. Chapter Eight, "New Approaches To Science Education In The New Zealand Cultural Context", addresses new dimensions of the challenge to help all students engage and achieve in science in New Zealand's increasingly multicultural classrooms. The use of narrative pedagogy introduces a future-focused element to the discussion, although some evidence of effectiveness from classroom-based studies is reported. Chapter Eight notes significant gaps in the research base concerning the success of bicultural and/or multicultural approaches to learning science in New Zealand classrooms and suggests some areas for policy debate.

Research findings reviewed in Chapters Four to Eight indicate the importance of teaching science in real contexts in order to engage students' interest, to increase relevancy of science to students' lives, and to help students develop better understandings in science and about science. Chapter Nine, "Curriculum Integration And Experiences Beyond The Classroom To Enhance Science Learning", further investigates the idea of science learning in real contexts, reviewing research in the areas of: curriculum integration; environmental education and science education; and out-of-school experiences. While specific Ministry of Education policy statements exist in each of these areas, we have found relatively little New Zealand classroom (or "beyond-the-classroom") research that investigates the implementation and effect of these policies on New Zealand students' science learning in practice. This chapter reviews available New Zealand research and international research in these areas to provide indications about the kinds of policies and practices that may enable the incorporation of integrated and/or out-of-class experiences to promote effective and engaging science learning for a wide range of students.

Part IV: Summary and Policy Implications

(Chapter Ten)

Finally, Chapter Ten "Summary, Synthesis and Implications" synthesises the outcomes of all the review chapters and provides a number of recommendations for future policy directions in New Zealand science education.

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This review was commissioned by the Ministry of Education to report on significant international and New Zealand research on effective pedagogy and the links between student learning, curricula, pedagogy and assessment in science education across the compulsory sector.

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How I have used it in my teaching:
I first read this article before I began to teach this specific learning outcome as it gives a really great insight into the background and early ideas of matter.
It allowed for me to provide short, interesting stories to my students throughout classes that keep them that bit more engaged and interested in the lesson as it steers away from "strict learning".
This short reading is a great way to help students and even teachers to see the development of science through the centuries and allows students to open themselves up to the idea of how scientists work.

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Atomic Theory and Structure

by Anthony Carpi, Ph.D.

Early humans easily distinguished between materials that were used for making clothes, those that could be shaped into tools, or those that were good to eat. Then they gave these things the names, such as "fur," "stone," or "rabbit." However, these people did not have our current understanding of the substances that made up those objects. Empedocles, a Greek philosopher and scientist who lived on the south coast of Sicily between 492 BCE and 432 BCE, proposed one of the first theories that attempted to describe the things around us. Empedocles argued that all matter was composed of four elements: fire, air, water, and earth. The ratio of these four elements affected the properties of the matter. Stone was thought to contain a high amount of earth, while a rabbit was thought to have a higher ratio of both water and fire, thus making it soft and giving it life.

Empedocles's theory was quite popular, but it had a number of problems. For example, regardless of how many times you break a stone in half, the pieces never resemble any of the core elements of fire, air, water, or earth. Despite these problems, Empedocles's theory was an important development in scientific thinking because it was among the first to suggest that some substances that looked like pure materials, like stone, were actually made up of a combination of different "elements."

The atom is proposed

A few decades after Empedocles, Democritus (460 BCE - 370 BCE), who was also Greek, developed a new theory of matter that attempted to overcome the problems of his predecessor. Democritus's ideas were based on reasoning rather than science, and drew on the teachings of two Greek philosophers who came before him: Leucippus and Anaxagoras. Democritus knew that if you took a stone and cut it in half, each half had the same properties as the original stone. He reasoned that if you continued to cut the stone into smaller and smaller pieces, at some point you would reach a piece so tiny that it could no longer be divided. Democritus called these infinitesimally small pieces of matter atomos, meaning 'indivisible'. He suggested that atomos were eternal and could not be destroyed. Democritus theorized that atomos were specific to the material that they made up, meaning that the atomos of stone were unique to stone and different from the atomos of other materials, such as fur. This was a remarkable theory that attempted to explain the whole physical world in terms of a small number of ideas.

Ultimately, though, Aristotle and Plato, two of the best-known philosophers of Ancient Greece, rejected the theories of Democritus. Aristotle accepted the theory of Empedocles, adding his own (incorrect) idea that the four core elements could be transformed into one another. Because of Aristotle's great influence, Democritus's theory would have to wait almost 2,000 years before being rediscovered.

In the 17 th and 18 th centuries CE, several key events helped revive the theory that matter was made of small, indivisible particles. In 1643, Evangelista Torricelli, an Italian mathematician and pupil of Galileo, showed that air had weight and was capable of pushing down on a column of liquid mercury (thus inventing the barometer). This was a startling finding. If air - this substance that we could not see, feel, or smell - had weight, it must be made of something physical. But how could something have a physical presence, yet not respond to human touch or sight? Daniel Bernoulli, a Swiss mathematician, proposed an answer. He developed a theory that air and other gases consist of tiny particles that are too small to be seen, and are loosely packed in an empty volume of space. The particles could not be felt because unlike a solid stone wall that does not move, the tiny particles move aside when a human hand or body moves through them. Bernoulli reasoned that if these particles were not in constant motion, they would settle to the ground like dust particles; therefore, he pictured air and other gases as loose collections of tiny billiard-ball-like particles that are continuously moving around and bouncing off one another.

Law of Conservation of Mass

Mercury calx

Many scientists were busy studying the natural world at this time. Shortly after Bernoulli proposed his theory, the Englishman Joseph Priestley began to experiment with red mercury calx in 1773. Mercury calx, a red solid stone, had been known and coveted for thousands of years because when it is heated, it appears to turn into mercury, a silver liquid metal. Priestley had observed that it does not just turn into mercury; it actually breaks down into two substances when it is heated, liquid mercury and a strange gas. Priestley carefully collected this gas in glass jars and studied it. After many long days and nights in the laboratory, Priestley said of the strange gas, "What surprised me more than I can well express was that a candle burned in this air with a remarkably vigorous flame." Not only did flames burn strongly in this gas, but a mouse placed in a sealed container of this gas lived for a longer period of time than a mouse placed in a sealed container of ordinary air. Priestley's discovery revealed that substances could combine together or break apart to form new substances with different properties. For example, a colorless, odorless gas could combine with mercury, a silver metal, to form mercury calx, a red mineral.

Priestley called the gas he discovered dephlogisticated air, but this name would not stick. In 1778, Antoine Lavoisier, a French scientist, conducted many experiments with dephlogisticated air and theorized that the gas made some substances acidic. He renamed Priestley's gas oxygen, from the Greek words that loosely translate as 'acid maker'. While Lavoisier's theory about oxygen and acids proved incorrect, his name stuck. Lavoisier knew from other scientists before him that acids react with some metals to release another strange and highly flammable gas called phlogiston. Lavoisier mixed the two gases, phlogiston and the newly renamed oxygen, in a closed glass container and inserted a match. He saw that phlogiston immediately burned in the presence of oxygen, and afterwards he observed droplets of water on the glass container. After careful testing, Lavoisier realized that the water was formed by the reaction of phlogiston and oxygen, and so he renamed phlogiston hydrogen, from the Greek words for 'water maker'.

Lavoisier also burned other substances such as phosphorus and sulfur in air, and showed that they combined with air to make new materials. These new materials weighed more than the original substances, and Lavoisier showed that the weight gained by the new materials was lost from the air in which the substances were burned. From these observations, Lavoisier established the Law of Conservation of Mass, which says that mass is not lost or gained during a chemical reaction.

Comprehension Checkpoint

Elements are used up when they fuel chemical reactions, so resulting substances have less mass.

Modern atomic theory

An eighteenth-century chemistry bench

Priestley, Lavoisier, and others had laid the foundations of the field of chemistry. Their experiments showed that some substances could combine with others to form new materials, other substances could be broken apart to form simpler ones, and a few key "elements" could not be broken down any further. But what could explain this complex set of observations? John Dalton, an exceptional British teacher and scientist, put together the pieces and developed the first modern atomic theory in 1803. To learn more about Priestley's and Lavoisier's experiments and how they formed the basis of Dalton's theories, try the interactive experiment Dalton's Playhouse, linked to below.

Dalton made it a regular habit to track and record the weather in his hometown of Manchester, England. Through his observations of morning fog and other weather patterns, Dalton realized that water could exist as a gas that mixed with air and occupied the same space as air. Solids could not occupy the same space as each other; for example, ice could not mix with air. So what could allow water to sometimes behave as a solid and sometimes as a gas? Dalton realized that all matter must be composed of tiny particles. In the gas state, those particles floated freely around and could mix with other gases, as Bernoulli had proposed. But Dalton extended this idea to apply to all matter - gases, solids, and liquids. Dalton first proposed part of his atomic theory in 1803 and later refined these concepts in his classic 1808 paper A New System of Chemical Philosophy (which you can access through a link under the Resources tab).

Dalton's elements

Dalton's theory had four main concepts:

Comprehension Checkpoint

An element is made up of

Some of the details of Dalton's atomic theory require more explanation.

Elements: As early as 1660, Robert Boyle recognized that the Greek definition of element (earth, fire, air, and water) was not correct. Boyle proposed a new definition of an element as a fundamental substance, and we now define elements as fundamental substances that cannot be broken down further by chemical means. Elements are the building blocks of the universe. They are pure substances that form the basis of all of the materials around us. Some elements can be seen in pure form, such as mercury in a thermometer; some we see mainly in chemical combination with others, such as oxygen and hydrogen in water. We now know of approximately 116 different elements. Each of the elements is given a name and a one- or two-letter abbreviation. Often this abbreviation is simply the first letter of the element; for example, hydrogen is abbreviated as H, and oxygen as O. Sometimes an element is given a two-letter abbreviation; for example, helium is He. When writing the abbreviation for an element, the first letter is always capitalized and the second letter (if there is one) is always lowercase.

Atoms: A single unit of an element is called an atom. The atom is the most basic unit of matter, which makes up everything in the world around us. Each atom retains all of the chemical and physical properties of its parent element. At the end of the nineteenth century, scientists would show that atoms were actually made up of smaller, "subatomic" pieces, which smashed the billiard-ball concept of the atom (see our Atomic Theory I: The Early Days module).

Compounds: Most of the materials we come into contact with are compounds, substances formed by the chemical combination of two or more atoms of the elements. A single "particle" of a compound is called a molecule. Dalton incorrectly imagined that atoms "hooked" together to form molecules. However, Dalton correctly realized that compounds have precise formulas. Water, for example, is always made up of two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen. The chemical formula of a compound is written by listing the symbols of the elements together, without any spaces between them. If a molecule contains more than one atom of an element, a number is subscripted after the symbol to show the number of atoms of that element in the molecule. Thus the formula for water is H ₂O, never HO or H ₂O ₂.

Dalton incorrectly imagined that atoms "hooked" together to form molecules.

Comprehension Checkpoint

The formula for water can be written as either H ₂O or HO ₂.

Law of Definite Proportions

The idea that compounds have defined chemical formulas was first proposed in the late 1700s by the French chemist Joseph Proust. Proust performed a number of experiments and observed that no matter how he caused different elements to react with oxygen, they always reacted in defined proportions. For example, two parts of hydrogen always reacts with one part oxygen when forming water; one part mercury always reacts with one part oxygen when forming mercury calx. Dalton used Proust's Law of Definite Proportions in developing his atomic theory.

The law also applies to multiples of the fundamental proportion, for example:

In both of these examples, the ratio of hydrogen to oxygen to water is 2 to 1 to 1. When reactants are present in excess of the fundamental proportions, some reactants will remain unchanged after the chemical reaction has occurred.

The story of the development of modern atomic theory is one in which scientists built upon the work of others to produce a more accurate explanation of the world around them. This process is common in science, and even incorrect theories can contribute to important scientific discoveries. Dalton, Priestley, and others laid the foundation of atomic theory, and many of their hypotheses are still useful. However, in the decades after their work, other scientists would show that atoms are not solid billiard balls, but complex systems of particles. Thus, they would smash apart a bit of Dalton's atomic theory in an effort to build a more complete view of the world around us.

Summary

Tracking the development of our understanding of the atomic structure of matter, this module begins with the contributions of ancient Greeks, who proposed that matter is made up of small particles. The module then describes how Lavoisier's Law of Conservation of Mass and Proust's Law of Definite Proportions contributed to Dalton's modern atomic theory.

Anthony Carpi, Ph.D. "Early Ideas about Matter" Visionlearning Vol. CHE-1 (1), 2003.

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Early Ideas about Matter | Chemistry | Visionlearning

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Atomic Theory and Structure by Anthony Carpi, Ph.D. Early humans easily distinguished between materials that were used for making clothes, those that could be shaped into tools, or those that were good to eat. Then they gave these things the names, such as "fur," "stone," or "rabbit."

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Basic information on the States of matter

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Anything that has mass is made up of matter - an all-encompassing word for atoms and molecules that make up our physical world. We describe this matter as existing in states (sometimes referred to as phases). Most people are familiar with three states of matter - solids, liquids and gases - but there are two more that are less commonly known but just as important - plasmas and Bose-Einstein condensates.

It is important to understand the particle nature of matter. The particles that make up matter are not 'small bits of solid' or 'small drops of liquid' but atoms and molecules. The physical characteristics of those atoms and molecules decide its state.

Solid

Something is usually described as a solid if it can hold its own shape and is hard to compress (squash). The molecules in a solid are closely packed together - they have a high density.

Right now, you are probably sitting on a chair, using a mouse or a keyboard that is resting on a desk - all those things are solids.

Liquid

In liquids, the molecules have the ability to move around and slide past each other. A liquid will take on the shape of the container it is being held in. While a liquid is easier to compress than a solid, it is still quite difficult - imagine trying to compress water in a confined container!

Water is an example of a liquid, and so is milk, juice and the petrol you put in the car.

Gas

In gases, the atoms are much more spread out than in solids or liquids, and the atoms collide randomly with one another. A gas will fill any container, but if the container is not sealed, the gas will escape. Gas can be compressed much more easily than a liquid or solid.

Right now, you are breathing in air - a mixture of gases containing many elements such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon.

Plasma

Plasma is very similar to gas, In fact, the easiest way to describe plasma is as a gas that can carry an electrical charge. Plasma is a form of matter that exists when atoms are in an excited state. They are so excited that they jump an energy level and, in doing so, give off light. Plasma particles are spread out and move around randomly, but unlike gas, they contain some free ions and electrons, which gives plasma its ability to conduct electricity.

On Earth, plasmas are commonly found in some kinds of fluorescent lights and neon signs. Another form of plasma on Earth happens during storms as lightning.

Auroras are another form of plasma, where atoms in the upper atmosphere are affected by particles coming in from outer space. The most common form of plasma is in the stars - our Sun exists in the plasma state. Overall, plasmas are the most common state of matter - they make up 99% of the visible universe.

Find out more about gases and plasmas in this article.

Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)

To understand a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC), you must first know a bit about temperature.

There is a temperature at which molecular motion (therefore everything) stops, this is called absolute zero (0K or around -273°C). Just a fraction above this temperature - and only for some elements - a BEC occurs. The atoms start behaving like little waves and start overlapping one another until they eventually act like one wave and essentially become a superatom. They are not bonded or mixed - they have become indistinguishable from one another, having the same qualities and existing in the same place.

Daniel Kleppner from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has a great description. He says the "particles have lost their identity - they all think they are everywhere". One atom can't tell itself from another.

Changing states

It is important to understand that matter exists in all states and that matter can also change states. It does this by either using or releasing energy, and it is usually associated with changes in temperature and pressure.

A simple example is water. If you have a block of ice, you have solid water. Add heat (a form of energy) and the ice melts into liquid water that you could drink (it has reached its melting point). Continue to apply heat, and the water will evaporate and turn into steam, which is water in a gaseous state (it has reached boiling point). This works backwards, too. Gas can cool down (by losing energy) and condense back into liquid water and cool down further into a solid. There is even a process called sublimation where a solid can turn straight into a gas when heat is applied.

Gas can also change state to a plasma or BEC:

In plasma TVs, little pockets of gas are excited with electricity disrupting the normal balance of atoms so there are lots of free ions and electrons, turning them into plasma, which creates a light.

If you super cool gas, you get a BEC superatom wave. Warm it up, and the wave will return to a gas.

Activity ideas

Useful link

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Anything that has mass is made up of matter - an all-encompassing word for atoms and molecules that make up our physical world. We describe this matter as existing in states (sometimes referred to as phases).

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Interactive Simulation allowed students to see changes of states happening

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PhET Interactive Simulations
University of Colorado Boulder
https://phet.colorado.edu

Topics

Description

Heat, cool and compress atoms and molecules and watch as they change between solid, liquid and gas phases.

Sample Learning Goals

Describe characteristics of three states of matter: solid, liquid and gas.

Predict how varying the temperature or pressure changes the behavior of particles.

Compare particles in the three different phases.

Explain freezing and melting with molecular level detail.

Recognize that different substances have different properties, including melting, freezing and boiling temperatures.

Version 1.0.3

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Interactive Simulations | States of Matter: Basics

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Heat, cool and compress atoms and molecules and watch as they change between solid, liquid and gas phases.

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This Pinterest link has lots of easy ideas to learn about the states of matter and the conservation of mass.

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Discover recipes, home ideas, style inspiration and other ideas to try.

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Science World: States of Matter included many different activity and task ideas for students to complete using on hand and simple equipment to show different properties of the states of matter and also phase changes of states.

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States of matter can be more than just your average solids, liquids and gases! When water turns into snow, is it still water? The answer is yes! Our world is filled with solids, liquids, gases and even other matter that can go from one state of matter to another without changing its chemical substance. In this […]

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Quizlet Flashcards on the states of matter to use as a form of assessment/revision.

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States of Matter resources (used the notes sheet to create notes for students to stick into their notebooks/write in)

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MI&T: Students must be curious to make discoveries about this unit. They must also gather data and results from investigations. Students need to think creatively and critically to design models of the atomic nature of matter.
WWO: Students need to work in groups to conduct investigations and create presentations throughout this unit. Students will have to develop good relationships with fellow students to complete this. They must cooperate and respect each other as well as learn with each other.
BC: Students use this key skill as they must use their imagination and learning to create models of particle arrangements as well as designing different demonstrations to explore changing of states etc.
MM: Students will use this key skill throughout this unit as they will have to make considered decisions on investigations and other learning tasks, as well as setting and achieving personal goals on assessments etc. Students must also be able to reflect on their own workings in investigations which is one of the LO for NoS.

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Provide more detail within the concepts/constructs section. Go into more detail as to what will be done each week to ensure a clearer path of the unit. Show more links to Key Skills and Wellbeing Indicators throughout to stay on topic.

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2. Science Collaborative Planning Document

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2. Science Collaborative Planning Document

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Changing States of Matter Background Information for Teachers

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Background of States of Matter

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This page provides information to support educators and families in teaching K-3 students about changing states of matter. It is designed to complement the Changing States of Matter topic page on BrainPOP Jr.

Remind your children that everything is made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and it is made up of tiny particles. Matter can come in different states, or forms, such as solids, liquids, and gases. Different types of energy, including heat, can change matter. Matter can change states through freezing, melting, evaporation, and condensation. We recommend reviewing the different kinds of matter by screening our Solids, Liquids, and Gases movie.

Review with your children that there are several different states, or forms, of matter. Solids have a definite shape and volume. The particles that make up a solid are closely packed together and do not have much space to move. Thus, solids keep their shape. Liquids flow and do not have a definite shape. Liquids take the shape of their containers. Pour a cup of water in different containers and have children observe how the shape changes. The particles that make up a liquid are farther apart than solids, and they can move around more readily. This allows liquids to flow and spread out. Gases also flow and do not have a definite shape. The particles that make up gases are farther apart than liquids, so gases can spread out in all directions to take the whole space of a container.

Different kinds of energy can cause matter to change states. Most children have experience with ice cream melting on a hot day or ice cubes melting in a glass. When a substance melts, it goes from a solid to a liquid. Heat causes the temperature of the substance to increase and particles to gain more energy. They are able to move faster and flow, causing a solid to change into a liquid.

Many children have poured liquid water into an ice cube tray and put it in the freezer to make ice, which is a solid. When a substance freezes, it loses heat and energy. Particles slow down and become more packed together. This causes liquids to change into solids. The freezing point of water is 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Different substances have different freezing points.

Adding heat to a substance can cause matter to change states. When a tea kettle full of liquid water is put on a stove, the temperature begins to rise. Particles gain more energy and are able to move and spread out more. When water boils, the liquid turns to a gas. This process is called evaporation. Your children may have observed that wet clothes will dry out if they are hung in a warm, sunny spot. The water in the clothes evaporates into the air.

Liquids can change into gases, but gases can also change into liquids. Many children have noticed droplets of water that collect on the side of a cup or glass. Water vapor is a gas in the air and when it comes in contact with the cool glass, the temperature decreases. The particles lose energy, turning the gas into a liquid. This process is called condensation.

Matter is all around us, in many different forms, and it can change. Encourage your children to observe their surroundings and ask questions. Have them make predictions and draw connections to prior knowledge to help them understand the world around them.

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Changing States of Matter Background Information for Teachers, Parents and Caregivers

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This page provides information to support educators and families in teaching K-3 students about changing states of matter. It is designed to complement the Changing States of Matter topic page on BrainPOP Jr. Remind your children that everything is made of matter. Matter is anything that takes up space and it is made up of tiny particles.

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CW1: as students will be investigating if mass is unchanged when chemical/physical change takes place (conservation of mass)
CW4: students will be able to classify solids, liquids and gases.
CW6: students will discover the properties of different materials.
NoS2:students will be able o questions appropriately for scientific investigation which will in turn add to their knowledge of how scientists work.
NoS3: students will be able to design, plan and conduct scientific investigations and also select suitable equipment and resources for such investigations, students will benefit from this as they will further develop into becoming young scientists.
NoS5: by the end of this unit students will be able to reflect and review on the skills and thinking that they have used while carrying out investigations, they should be able to use this knowledge in future investigations and research which will in turn aid them in developing their scientific knowledge and learning.