Matter Matters! An introduction to the three phases of matter. Students will conduct physical and...

Matter Matters!An introduction to the three phases of matter.

Students will conduct physical and virtualExperiments to investigate the properties of

Solids, liquids and gases.

Copyright 2011 New Dimension Media

General Summary:

•Concept: Phases of Matter | Recommended for Grades 3-5•Common Core State Standards: Reading Standards for Informational Text K-5, Key Ideas and Details 3: Explain events, procedures, ideas or concepts in a historical, scientific or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.•Illinois Learning Standard for Science: 12.C.2b Describe and explain the properties of solids, liquids and gases.

Teacher Tips:By the time students have reached their elementary years, they have had extensive experience with the three primary phases of matter. Bikes, baseballs, televisions, desks and chairs are solid objects, for instance, and your students have most likely had the opportunity to manipulate those in course of play or school. Students have manipulated liquids while swimming or pouring themselves a glass of juice, and students have manipulated gases by inflating balloons, struggling to walk on a windy day or blowing glitter off their art projects and all over your immaculate classroom floor.

The bottom line is this: Students have an immense wealth of content knowledge about matter already. That prior knowledge just needs to be connected to the concepts and vocabulary of the phases of matter. Students must make the short but essential transition from “juice goes in the glass” to “liquids take on the shape of their container."


Lesson Focus:

These experiments offer an opportunity for students to engage directly in their learning process, and as fun as it can be, it is important to remember that comprehension of the phases of matter provides a foundation for more complex concepts.

Students will be expected to break down matter into parts in later years, and eventually explain the function, behavior and properties of molecules and atoms in chemistry, physics, biology and the higher-order scientific disciplines. As you might imagine, the Common Core State Standards and individual state learning standards require a thorough grounding in the phases of matter.


Enduring Understandings

•Matter can exist in three phases: solid, liquid and gas. Each of the phases of matter have defining characteristics.

Essential Questions

•What are the three phases of matter?•What are the properties of each phase of matter?•How does matter change from one phase to another?


The first experiment is designed to engage students in analysis and allow them to investigate different phases of matter, and then later connect their descriptions and impressions to the concepts and vocabulary required by the lesson objectives.

For this experiment, you will need zip-top plastic bags filled with different substances representing the three phases of matter. Each substance should be able to fit in a clear plastic or glass cup. Here are some suggestions of what you could put in the plastic bags:

•Solids: wooden blocks, rocks, marbles, ball bearings, etc.•Liquids: water, oil, honey, non-toxic glue (Elmer’s), syrup, etc.•Gas: classroom air would be fine, but if you have access to helium or more exotic and/or colored gases, that would be fantastic!

Each plastic bag is its own station. Students should rotate from station to station in an orderly fashion with a specific time limit for each. Students should journal their observations of each substance.

Students will probably come up with descriptive statements like “marbles are round and hard”, or “honey is squishy” or “the bag is the only thing keeping the air inside." After the students have had a chance to express their experiential results, begin connecting/translating their descriptions to the academic concepts required by the lesson. For instance:

•Marbles are round and hard. Solids have a definite shape.•Honey is squishy. Liquids do not have a definite shape.•The bag is the only thing keeping the air inside. Gases do not have a definite shape.

You can follow up the concept of definite/indefinite shape with the concept of definite/indefinite volume. Pour the contents of each bag into the clear plastic or glass cups. Students will be able to see clear boundaries between the solids and liquids and the surrounding air, demonstrating that solids and liquids have definite volume, while gases do not have a definite volume.

Teacher Tips: Experiment 1


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Experiment 1: Mystery Bags

Visit each station for approximately 3 minutes and create a journal entry for each station recording your observations.

You'll need:

Station 1 Station 2 Station 3

Teacher Tips: Video 1

The following video will reiterate the characteristics of the phases of matter in the first two segments. (The entire video is six minutes long.)

Students complete an accompanying graphic organizer while viewing the film.

Conclusions you want students to understand after viewing the film:

•Solids have definite shapes and volumes.•Liquids have no definite shape but a definite volume.•Gases have no definite shape and no definite volume.•All phases of matter take up space.

In the third segment, the video will introduce the effects of energy on matter, and how energy makes the molecules in matter behave differently.

Students may not understand immediately why the behavior of molecules has consequences for the characteristics of matter. Using an analogy can be helpful when teaching this concept. You can use the analogy below or create an analogy of your own to drive home the deep learning related to the affect energy can have on molecules.

Students are like molecules:•When students are reading or working quietly, they are still, and the class remains in a relatively consistent shape and space, like a solid.•When students are walking in line to the library or gym, they take up the same amount of space, but the shape of the class line changes to go around corners or up stairs.•When students are on recess, the shape of the class changes as kids run around, and the kids will take up the whole playground or gym, whatever space is available.



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Now check out this video to learn more about the phases of matter!

Great job with your experiment!


Teacher Notes About Copyright

Throughout this lesson you might have noticed the 2011 Copyright New Dimension Media tag. The meaning of this tag is important for you to understand in terms of your use in upholding copyright law.

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Matter Matters! An introduction to the three phases of matter. Students will conduct physical and...

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