Activity 1 - Solid vs. Liquid:
- fill clear bowl/cup/glass about 3/4 full of water
- have student drop 1-3 ice cubes into water
- investigate...
- What happens to the ice cubes?
- How would you describe what the ice cubes are doing?
- Do they sink or float?
- Which is a solid/liquid, the water or ice?
- What happens when you try to push the ice cubes to the bottom?
- What would happen if we left the ice cubes (solid) in the container for a long time?
- What would happen if we put this container in the freezer?
- investigate further... (Add other objects to bowl/cup/glass and see what happens. ex. rock, small twig, leaf)
- sort all items (physically or verbally) into categories based on "solid"/"liquid", "float"/"sink", etc.
- Note... Water is an exception due to the fact it becomes less dense when it turns to a solid.
Activity 2 - Solid to Liquid to Gas:
- Either start with just ice cubes, or ice cubes in water, and put into a pot on the stove top.
- With adult assistance for younger students, turn the stove top on and observe what happens as the contents of the pot heat up. (Bring to boil to show water turning into steam, "gas".)
- investigate...
- What changes do you see happening?
- When did you start to see steam (water vapor, gas)?
- How would you describe the movement of the water (liquid) as it heated up?
- How would you describe the movement of the steam (gas) as it moved out of the pot?
- What would happen if we shut the stove top off and let the liquid cool?
- What would happen if we put the pot of liquid in the freezer?
Web Resources:
- BrainPOP Jr., "Sink or Float" http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/forces/sinkorfloat/draganddrop/
- BrainPOP Jr. "Liquid to Solid Sequence Game" http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/matter/changingstatesofmatter/sequenceorder/
- BrainPOP Jr. "Solid, Liquid, Gas Matching Game" http://www.brainpopjr.com/science/matter/solidsliquidsandgases/matching/
- Solid, Liquid, Gas Particles (Note: water is an exception with a solid state that expands...) http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/states_of_matter/
- Solid, Liquid, Gas Sorting Game http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/gases.html
- Scholastic Study Jams: Solids, Liquids, and Gases http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/studyjams/matter_states/
Extensions:
- Molecule Models - Make H20 models using Styrofoam balls (two hydrogen atoms to every one oxygen atom). Demonstrate how the atoms would spread apart as they get colder, therefore becoming less dense than liquid version of the same molecules. The molecules take up more space in their frozen (solid) version.
- Activity idea... Fill two plastic water bottles with water. Put the lid on one, but not on the other. Place both in the freezer for 24 hours. Remove and note differences of the two bottles.
- Big Idea: When water changes from a liquid to a solid, it expands, therefore becoming less dense than its liquid form.
- Cold vs. Warm Water - Fill two separate containers, one with warm/hot water and the other with cold. Using a dropper or small container, pour a small amount of colored cool water into each container. Observe/discuss what happens. Try this activity again with two containers of cold water and two different temperature colored water.
(The blue "cold" current sinks to the bottom, then gradually mixes into the body of water.)
- Big Idea: Cold water currents move slower than warm water currents.
- Further Big Idea: Pond/Lake turnover* doesn't happen quickly.
The Jan./Feb. issue of New Hampshire Wildlife Journal has some great articles on ice fishing that would support this lesson.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link for more info. on this magazine:
Deletehttp://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wildlife_Journal/WJ_mag.htm
(There is a link to read one of the stories from the current issue. It just happens to be about ice fishing ;-)
As a preview to this lesson, I had my daughter fill the ice cube tray with water, then take it out of the freezer to see the water had turned to ice. Something so simple, but she was amazed!
ReplyDeleteWhile doing parts of this activity with my daughter, I was amazed with how much background knowledge she already had! She knew words like "liquid", "melting", and "floating". I also loved her response when I asked her where the ice cube went when it melted. She said that "it disappeared". What a great teachable moment! I had her get another ice cube out of the freezer and put it in a bowl all by itself. While we were doing other activities, we checked in with the melting ice cube. She was able to see firsthand that the ice cube didn't disappear, it melted and turned into water.
ReplyDeleteAnother fun addition to this lesson happened when my daughter wanted to mix the red (hot) and blue (cold) water. I let her play with the pipet, pour things, etc. and she self-discovered how to make purple! It was just awesome to see her excitement. (I know others that have done similar activities, and it seems like a great addition to the "Preschool Petri Dish" :)
As a follow up to Activity 1, my 3 year old daughter and I made a poster of all the observations she made during the activity. I found this a great way to reinforce all of the vocabulary and plan on doing it again when we complete Activity 2.
ReplyDeleteTo start, I wrote on the poster "water = solid or liquid / ice = solid or liquid." Then, I asked her to circle the correct response. Next, I wrote sentences leaving blanks for all of the key words (for example: "When water ________ it becomes ice." and
"Ice ________ on water because it is less dense than water." and
"When ice ________ it changes back into water.") and she was asked to fill in the blanks.
She and I were both impressed with all she had learned. When I asked her if she'd like to do more "experiments" like this in the future she said, "YES, PLEASE!" It's a beautiful thing to see your child excited about learning.
I just found a way to improve on the warm current/cold current part of this lesson... Make colored water with food coloring (perhaps red for "warm"), then freeze the colored water into cubes. When you put these frozen, colored cubes into the bowl of water it is much easier to see that the cold currents sink. When you do this, put the cubes to one side of the bowl. (Taken from Usborne's Weather and Climate Change)
ReplyDelete