Sub Unit Activities Solid Liquid Gas

Sub-unit Activities, Inquiries, Questions, Data Analyses

Concepts:

  • Students should be able to understand the (chemical) changes a substance may experience; a solid to liquid, liquid to gas, gas to liquid etc.
  • Understanding where these changes occur (different environments).
  • Understanding why these changes occur (do the kids suggest heat, atoms?).
  • Understanding how they occur (“ “ heat, atoms? ).
  • What is a “chemical change”, what does it do?
  • Understanding how heat is involved (what does heat do? What is heat?).
  • Can we control these changes and alterations in matter/substances? (why or why not?)
  • Have the students relate these concepts to other materials; provide examples.

Activities:

  • Students can experiment and play with chocolate and any other materials that may work within these standards and guidelines.
  • Students can collaborate and work together to share discoveries, interests, curiosities and questions.
  • Students can research our standards, key terms, etc. using classroom computers, the library, home resources, magazines, other students, teachers and family.
  • Students can research other environments and work to determine if and where chemical changes such as these occur in those places; why or why not (hypothesize, predict, critical thinking).
  • Have students brainstorm (individually, paired, groups) what other household materials we could use to demonstrate the same concepts.

Questions/Problems that are aligned with each concept/activity:

  • Ask students what they already know about chemical changes, solids, liquids and gases. Have them work in teams to come up with as many ideas as possible.
  • Ask them where they can find examples or models of what they know; evidence.
  • What is heat? Where does it come from? How does it work? Why do we have heat? What else do we use it for?
  • What is involved in a chemical reaction? Can we see it? Can we imitate it or act it out?

Techniques to analyze date:

  • Students can create charts, tables, and graphs about evaluating materials that do and do not work with our materials (hot plate, and hot water)- example provided.
  • What can we change from solids to liquids, etc. Why is this? Can we change something about this situation to make it work?
  • Students can research and build their own experiments to share with the class and we can test them together to see if they change stages. This can develop into a science fair type activity.

Table:

materials being tested does it change from a solid to a liquid does it change from a liquid to a gas
chocolate yes yes
marshmellows yes no
Unless otherwise stated, the content of this page is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License