Three States of Matter

MATERIALS:

Alka-Seltzer, paper sack, examples of solids, liquids, and gasses (one object per child), balloons, baking soda, vinegar, empty soft drink bottle, clear glass, tablespoon, large mixing bowl, water, green food coloring, and cornstarch, measurement thermometer, Styrofoam cups, ice cubes, boiling water

SET:

Raise your right hand if you have had something to eat today.

Raise your left hand if you have had something to drink today. Stand beside your desk if you have been breathing today. Good! You have used all three forms of matter, a solid, a liquid, and a gas.

Matter can be put into 3 groups. Matter can be a solid, liquid, or gas. Let's look at an aquarium together. We can see all three forms of matter in the fish tank. The glass tank is solid matter. The water is liquid, and the air bubbles are gases. Name things you see that are solid, liquid, or gas. Most of the things you named are solids and liquids.

(Show ordinary solids that are found in your classroom. Examples books, paper, pencils, desks, chalkboards, etc.) Solids are particles of matter, which have closely packed particles called atoms. The atoms in solids vibrate against each other but they never change places. This is why the shape of solids remains the same. The shapes of solids do not change; however, you can change them. (Teacher could cut, wad, fold or tear paper to demonstrate change.)

Show several examples of liquids (pour). The atoms in liquids roll over each other. The atoms move more in liquids than in solids. Liquids therefore take the shape of their container. (Pour the same amount of liquid into different containers.)

The atoms in gases have the most movement. That is why they are harder to see. The atoms collide and spread out to fill the container. (Teacher blows up balloon, inflate a beach ball or blow into a plastic bag.)

ACTIVE PARTICIPATION: Let's become atoms in solids, liquids, and gases.

1. SOLIDS - Stand still by your chair. Place palms together and rub your hands back and forth.

2. LIQUIDS - Roll hands over each other.

3. GASES - (Let children walk around room bumping into each other and then spreading out in all directions.)

(Let the students make rough drawings of a solid (Book), liquid (Glass of water), and gas (Balloon). Draw circles to show how close atoms are in the different states of matter. In the solids they are close together. In liquids they are further apart and in gases they are even further apart. (Teacher should model this on the board.)

EXPERIMENT: The Balloon Blower-Upper

1. Blow up the balloon a few times, until the balloon becomes easy to inflate.

2. Put 1 tablespoon of baking soda into the balloon.

3. Put 3 tablespoons of white kitchen vinegar into the soda bottle.

4. Now, put the balloon on the soda bottle. Set upright.

5. Pick up the balloon so that the baking soda goes into the vinegar.

RESULTS:

The gas that was made when the baking soda and vinegar were mixed is called carbon dioxide. The shorthand way of writing "carbon dioxide" is CO2.

CLOSURE:

(See above experiment.) When two or more kinds of matter are mixed together, different matter may be formed. We also learned about solids, liquids, and gases. Tell your neighbor how these three forms of matter are alike. (Pause) Now tell your neighbor how these three forms of matter are different. (Pause, then summarize)

Assign students a topic, either solid, liquid, or gas. Write a paragraph describing what they have learned today.

Tennessee Science Curriculum Framework, http://www.utm.edu/departments/ed/cece/third/3D2.shtml