February 2012
Second Grade
States of Matter
Objective: Students will be able to identify the different states of matter and compare and
contrast them.
Materials:
 Cups of 40 ml of vinegar – one per student
 Cheerios
 Glue
 Worksheets, stories, and exit tickets (one per student)
 Baking soda
 Empty water bottles (one per student)
 Balloons and funnels (one per student)
 Two rolls of paper towels
I will bring the cheerios, paper towels, baking soda, vinegar, empty water bottles,
worksheets, and exit tickets.
Resources: I got the original idea from a weather lesson plan I saw on pbs.org and the idea
for a worksheet that uses cheerios from pintrest.com. I found the story from a lesson plan
on http://blog.bestpractices4teaching.com. I planned the lesson myself as well as created
the worksheet, story, and exit ticket. The states of matter poems are from
http://mrsterhune.blogspot.com/2012/01/matter.html and some of the properties of the
states are from http://idahoptv.org/dialogue4kids/season7/matter/facts.cfm
Procedure:
I.
Hook – 5 minutes
A.
I will start by asking the students "what do you think will happen when I mix
a solid and a liquid together?”
II.
Discussion – 7 minutes
A.
I will move students to the carpet and give some background information on
the different states of matter using the charts I made that describe the different
properties of liquids, solids, and gases.
B.
After discussing, I will demonstrate what molecules look like in each state of
matter.
1.
Gas – I will ask three or four students to stand up and move to the
carpet area of the classroom where they will spread out. Then I will more
between the students. I will ask, “what state of matter does this look like?”
and after receiving responses, I will explain how this represents a gas
because the molecules are very spread out and can move easily.
2.
Liquid – I will ask another three or four students to stand up and
spread out around the carpet. I will move through the students. I will say “I
can still move around the other students, but not as easily as before since
they are closer together.” I will ask “what state of matter does this look like?”
and after receiving responses, I will explain how this represents a liquid
because the molecules are still free to move, but are closer together.
3.
Finally, I will ask the whole class to stand up and stand together as a
group in the carpet area of the room. I will try to move through the “solid”.
Then I will ask everyone to return to their seats. I will ask, “What state of
matter does this look like?” and after receiving responses, explain how this
represents a solid because the molecules are not free to move around.
C.
Afterwards students will return to their seats. I will go through the different
demonstrated states and ask what each state was. Then I will say “and now you are
going to show me what the different states look like.” I will pass out worksheets,
glue, and cheerios. Cheerios represent molecules in a state of matter and the
students will glue cheerios to the worksheets. I will circle the classroom to make
sure each student is staying focused. When students are done gluing, I will take
away the glue and excess cheerios and they will finish the rest of the worksheet.
III.
Activity – 15 minutes
A.
Before I hand out materials, I will ask students if they can name the different
steps of the scientific method. I will explain we are going to use the scientific method
and do an experiment to find out what a solid and a liquid make when combined. I
will ask “someone tell me a hypothesis for this experiment?”
B.
“Now that we have our hypothesis, we can begin our experiment.” I will
demonstrate putting the cup of vinegar in the water bottle, putting 1 tsp of baking
soda in the balloon using the funnel, putting the balloon on the water bottle and
carefully tipping the bottle upside down while holding the balloon on the bottle.
Then I will distribute water bottles, cups of vinegar, baking soda, funnels, and
balloons to each student. I will circle around the room taking away baking soda,
funnels, and empty vinegar cups and making sure students are focused and keeping
on task.
C.
After students have finished filling up balloons, I will ask what state of matter
the balloon is filled with. Then once everyone is finished, I collect water bottles and
cups and I will ask them to throw away their balloons.
IV.
Closing – 5 minutes
A.
After the activity, I will ask students why they think a solid (baking soda) and
a liquid (vinegar) made a gas.
B.
I will ask the students to repeat what the different states of matter are and to
tell me some of the properties of the different states. As a closing activity, I will hand
out a short story. I will say “And now we are going to make our own story using the
different states of matter.”
C.
I will pass out the exit tickets and circulate to make sure everyone is filling
them out. For the exit ticket, I will ask students to write down what state of matter
air is.
Assessment – I can assess the students’ level of comprehension based on questions they
may have, their answers to my questions, and the worksheets and exit tickets.
Name:
Date:
1. What are the three states of matter? _____________,
_____________, and ________________.
2. A __________________ usually cannot be seen or heard, but can
sometimes be smelled.
3. A __________________ feels hard when you touch it.
4. A __________________ has no definite shape because its particles
are not connected to each other.
5. A __________________ takes the shape of its container.
6. A __________________ cannot change shape.
Gas
Solid
Liquid
The charts will looks like this on large paper:
Properties of a Solid:
 A solid has a definite size and shape
 The molecules of a solid are tightly packed without much free space
 They do not move around
 Molecules are usually put together in a regular pattern
Properties of a Liquid:
 Liquids don't have a definite shape
 They take the shape of the container they are put in
 Molecules of a solid are spread out more than molecules in a solid
 Molecules have no specific pattern
 They move about and slide past each other
Properties of a Gas:
 Molecules in a gas are spread far apart
 Molecules have a lot of free space between them
 They move around freely
 A gas will spread out to fill the container it’s in
Name: