Author: labuser

Matter
(Properties and Changes)

Volume 1, Issue 1

October 11, 2005

Western Carolina University Pamela Gunter

Special points of interest:
New Science topic to be introduced
What is important about this topic?
Wish List for supplies
Special Guest Speaker
General Overview

Inside this issue:

Science Unit / (Basic Info)	2
Would You Like to Help?	2
Special Guest	2

New Science Unit to be Introduced!

Hi Families!
I would like to let you know about an upcoming science unit our students will be completing. We will begin learning about the states of matter, their properties, and how they change. Please feel free to talk to your child about this upcoming unit. A great website you might like to check out for more information is: http://www.chem4kids.com/files/matter_intro.html. This site has lots of great information that is printed in a kid friendly manner. You might also want to search States of Matter online to find more information. During this unit of study we will only be studying the three main states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases. We plan to have a large variety of activities for your child during this unit. We will be: working on experiments, having guest speakers, and doing many other activities inside of our classroom. Please feel free to stop by our classroom any day to see what we are doing. Our science time will be from 1-2pm each day. (continued on page 2– Science Unit)

Why is This Topic Important?

Many of you might ask why I am teaching a unit about matter. There are several reasons that this unit is important for your child. First of all properties of matter are important in everyday life. Everything in the world is made of some form of matter. This means we are surrounded by matter every day. We a need to know how to identify what type of matter something is so that it is possible for us to classify it. Matter, properties, and changes are also a major part of the 2nd grade North Carolina standard course of study. Furthermore, in successive grades, your child will be using the information to expand their knowledge of the subject.

Volume 1, Issue 1

Page #

Science Unit

This is a general overview of what we will be studying during this unit. You could have seen some of these things in earlier grades.
We will be studying 3 major states of matter:
Solids
Liquids
Gases
We will be discovering ways that these states can be changed: Generally you will need to warm or cool something to change the state it is in.
We will find out what makes each of these states different: What characteristics do each of these states have? Can we simply look at an object and tell which category it is in? We will be performing tests during class to determine this!
We will compare and contrast the 3 different states of matter. We will be using several graphs, experiments, and discussions to determine what is the same and what is different about each state of matter.
This is a very general overview of what we will be covering. If you would like more information please remember to visit our website and click on the Unit Plan link under teachers. The website address is : www.geocities.com/pg28779 Also please feel free to contact me at any time.

Here is a visual aid that might help you understand a little more about the 3 states of matter.
From:
http://chem4kids.com/files/matter_solid.html

Would You Like To Help?

We can always use extra help in our classroom. Even if you cannot offer your time we would appreciate items. If you would like to come and help with any of our activities during this unit or any other please feel free to send a note with your child or stop by and talk with me. If you are not able to help by offering your time, but still want to feel involved, the following is a wish list of items that would be helpful during this unit:
Various size containers (these will be returned to you)
Cornstarch
Spoons
Plastic bowls
Plastic cups
Cooking oil
Honey
Shampoo
Salt
Food Coloring
Thank you in advance for any help that you offer. It will be greatly appreciated by the students as well as me.

“We will be having a special guest come from Western Carolina University to speak with our class.”

Special Guest

During this unit we will be having a guest coming to our classroom from Western Carolina University. Her name is Ms. Patricia Bricker. She is a professor of elementary science at the university. She will be demonstrating a computer program used to graph temperature. We will use this program to find out how the temperature affects changes in the states of matter. Please remind your child of proper behavior when a guest is in our classroom. We will be reviewing this in class as well. If you would like to come and listen to Ms. Bricker please feel free. She will be here on Wednesday March 18, 2006 at 12:30 pm in the computer lab.

A picture of the way matter is sometimes shown by scientists.
From: http://chem4kids.com/files/matter_solid.html

Mrs. Pamela Gunter Classroom Teacher

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