Fourth Grade/ Nile Yohay /Science

Unit: Science/Introduction to the States of Matter (Four Lessons)

1. Materials:

- Construction Paper

- Markers

- Slide show of examples of each state of matter

- Smart Board

- Dry erase board

- Dry erase markers

2. Pre-assessment

Over the previous month of school the class has been introduced to many aspects of earth science
that will adequately prepare for this transition into learning about the fundamental aspects of
matter. Most recently the students have learned that the earth is made up of rocks, water, plants,
etc. Thinking about what the world around them consists of is adequate preparation for a unit on
matter that takes the students deeper to the fundamentals of what much of the things they
perceive are made of. Though this unit/lesson may introduce two new types of graphic organizers,
the students have been exposed to using organizers to arrange and collect their notes throughout
the early school year. The students have been writing in their investigation journals during this
school year and I will be incorporating this practice into my unit.

3. Standards

Properties of Water Scope and Sequence Standards:

- Examine and describe the transformation of matter from one state to another, e.g., solid
water (ice) to liquid (water) to gas (water vapor)

- “Observe, describe, and explore the physical properties of water:

- • Color, texture, odor, sound/Changes in shape/Changes in the amount of space occupied
(compare using containers of different shapes and sizes)./Volume, mass (weight)
 Explore how different factors affect evaporation.

4. Objectives

- Students will access prior knowledge relating to matter-related vocabulary words by

organizing their thoughts on a graffiti wall graphic organizer.

- Students will interpret the graffiti walls of their classmates and hypothesize as to
why they answered the questions in the way that they did.

- Students will begin to understand the properties of the states of matter an

introductory level.

- Students will begin to investigate the physical makeup of objects in the classroom
and be able to classify their state of matter.

- Students will establish a science journal with three categories Investigations, Q&A,
and Vocabulary. In the Vocabulary portion of this journal, students will keep a list
and explanations of the important concepts and terms that they learned in each
lesson. In the Investigation part of this journal, students will keep a log of the
investigations that they make during experiments and allotted investigation time in
class. The final part of the journal will be a daily question and answer page when the
students are assessed on their ability to answer scientific questions related to how
matter works. The questions will be given to the students at the start of class.

5. Assessment

- Mid-Lesson

- I will be using an informal assessment to gain an understanding of the level of

knowledge that the students have on the matter-related vocabulary words that they
will write about on their graffiti wall. I will gauge prior knowledge by observing their
group work and ability to display facts that they know about each topic. I will give
 each student in their respective groups a different color marker so that I can have an
accurate understanding of that student’s contribution to the organizer.

- Mid Lesson

- To put the definitions that they have learned into context, I will perform an informal
assessment as I display a slide show of objects in the room of various states of
matter. The students will be able to move around and investigate these objects while
recording their findings in their investigation journals.

- End of Lesson

- At the end of the lesson the students will answer questions about aspects of matter
in the Q&A portions of their science journals. These journals are meant for
documentation and assessment of their understanding of the topic.

6. Differentiation

- Process: This lesson requires students to be placed in groups, each of which will
have varying ability levels. This setup is deliberate to put lower performing students
in position to learn from students with stronger skill sets in this area.

- After the lesson and before the start of their task I will talk to my study group
individually. I will use informal assessment about details in the lesson and their
understanding of the task to determine whether or not modifications ought to be
made to the given assignment. Typically if it appears that a study-group student is
struggling with ideas I instruct the additional teacher in the room to re-explain
individually. Specifically I would check to see if they understood what each concept
meant throughout the lesson.

7. Introduction/Motivation
- “Today we will be starting a new science unit. The theme of our unit is on the
different states of matter.”

- “I want you to open up your science journal and put today’s date at the top. The next
three pages will be labeled “Vocabulary”, “Investigations”, and “Q&A”. We will be
using this journal to organize the classes information for over the unit. At the end of
the unit you will use your journals to create a personalized concept map to show
your learning.”

- “At the end of this lesson you will answer these questions (Written on the board
prior to the lesson): ‘What are the three primary states of matter?’ and ‘Can you
provide at least one example of each?” “What is one question you would ask about
Gas?”

- “Now we are going to split into three groups. Each group will get a large piece of oak
tag. Each group will be responsible for completing a graffiti wall on the topic that
they are given. The four topics will be: ‘Solid’, ‘liquid’, and ‘Gas’. I want you to have
fun with this and write everything you know about the topic anywhere on the page.
You may even draw pictures. Each student may only use his or her own color and
each student must contribute.”

- (After the groups complete their graffiti wall I will have them switch organizers
with another group and analyze the findings of their classmates. They will switch
once again so that each group has seen each organizer)

- “Group 1 (still holding group three’s organizer), Can you tell me what you think about
what group three wrote about Gas?” What does the rest of the class think about
Gas? Did group 1 leave anything out? (With this information I will list the definitions,
examples, and aspects of Gas as the students say them)
 - “Group 2 (still holding group one’s organizer), Can you tell me what you think about
what group one wrote about liquids?” What does the rest of the class think about
liquids? Did group 2 leave anything out? (With this information I will list the
definitions, examples, and aspects of liquids as the students say them)

- “Group 3 (still holding group two organizer), Can you tell me what you think about
what group two wrote about solids?” What does the rest of the class think about
solids? Did group 3 leave anything out? (With this information I will list the
definitions, examples, and aspects of solids as the students say them)

8. Development Activities/Steps

- I will use the examples of each category listed during the students’ discussion to
formulate group definitions. The students will copy the class definitions of the three
topics into the vocabulary section of their notebooks.

- I will then set up a slide show of different objects (many in the classroom) to give the
students visual examples of each category (e.g. water (coming out of the sink),
tables, Smoke (Coming out of an exhaust pipe), Books, Plants, Bubbles from the fish
tank air filter, Milk, a Bubble etc.)

- I will then explain to the students that each of these concepts falls under the
umbrella of “Matter.” I will define matter as “All of the physical things that take up
space in the world. Anything that takes up space of any kind is made of matter.”

- After copying down my definition of matter I will allow the students to get out of
their seats and investigate the objects that they recognize in the classroom and take
notes in the investigation part of their notebook.
 - Bloom’s Taxonomy: The children are at the age where they are expected to begin
moving beyond mere repetition of ideas, but proving that they comprehend the
ideas and can apply concepts to better understand the world around them. Sharing
is appropriate for these questions as they individually get used to making inferences
and investigating.

9. Closure

-(After returning to their seats) “After investigating some of the examples of matter
in this classroom would somebody like to share an observation with the rest of the
class?”

“Who can tell me what a liquid is?”

“Who can tell me what a solid is?”

“Who can tell me what a Gas is?“

“Who can tell me what matter is?”

“Going forward we will learn more about these concepts. In our next lesson we will
even do an experiment where we will learn about how these concepts are related to
one another.”

10. Cultural Linguistic Diversity

- This class room features students from a variety of backgrounds, who all speak English
fluently. I have one student who is an English language learner, and while I he appears to be
proficient enough to not require language differentiation, I would be prepared to provide
additional instruction or explanation for this student if he should require. This would require
the teacher to informally check his level of understanding throughout the lesson.

11. Sources Cited: http://schools.nyc.gov/documents/stem/science/k8sciencess.pdf

12. Alternative Activities

- This particular lesson does not require independent work. The lesson does not
provide a scenario where a student would fall behind or finish far ahead of his
classmates. This is a group assignment and the expectation is that the students will
learn from each other’s prior knowledge on the topic as well as group conversation
and the teacher’s instruction.

13. Co-Teaching and Collaboration

- Along with myself, there will be one certified teacher in the classroom during my
lesson. Ms. Robinson, the science teacher, will walk around and observe the progress
of my study group students. If they appear lost or need additional instruction she has
agreed to provide it for them if I am out of position to immediately assist.
Science Unit: Lesson 2

Connection:

- Teacher will show students the relationship between Ice, Water, and Gas in an investigation
experiment of the physical changes of matter. Students will be introduced to new vocabulary and
concepts like “Molecules and Energy”.

Energy can change the state of matter. When we add or take away energy, the molecules behave
differently based on temperature and pressure. We usually heat matter up or freeze it to change its state.

Tell the students:

- “Today we are going to learn more about matter. In our last class we learned that there are three basic
states of matter- solids, liquids, and gases, but today we are going to learn about how matter changes from
one state to another”

“Even though we change the state of matter, it is still made up of the same stuff. Liquid water, solid ice,
and water vapor are all made up of the same molecules.

“What’s a molecule? Turn and talk to the person next to you and see what they know about what I might
mean when I say that they are made of the same molecules.”

(Students provide their answers and after a discussion I lead them to helping me write a definition on the
board. The students write the word “Molecule into the vocabulary section in their science journals.)

We are about to start a science experiment and investigation where we watch a piece of solid matter turn
from one stage of matter two a second stage of matter and then to a third stage of matter – both after
adding energy to it and speeding up the movement of the molecules. Energy is another great word. Turn
and talk to your partner about what I might mean when I say energy. How do you feel when you have lots
of energy?

(Students provide their answers and after a discussion I lead them to helping me write a definition on the
board. The students write the word “Energy” into the vocabulary section in their science journals.)

Molecules are the tiny things that matter is made of. They are so tiny and small that you cant really see
one with your own eyes, but everything that takes up space or that we can touch is made up of molecules.
Molecules act really crazy like us when they have a lot of energy and they are really still and slow when
they don’t. How do you act when you are very energetic? Do you move around really fast?

Teaching Point:
Strong scientists investigate what happens when energy is applied to matter and what the change means
about the relationship of one state of matter to the next.

Model:

(With safety as my primary concern, I will instruct the students to stand a certain distance back from the
experiment a precaution.)

:The teacher will have a hotplate set up in the classroom with a pan on top of it. The hotplate will off and
the teacher will place a few ice cubes in the center of the pan.:

“Ok students. What state of matter would you say that this piece of ice is? (Teacher makes sure that the
ice makes a ‘clanking’ noise as it drops into the pan’) What have we learned about the way solids look
and how they act? Can we make any comparisons between this solid and other solids that you have
observed?

:Teacher turns on the hotplate:

“When I turn on the hotplate what comes out of the bottom? That’s right its heat. Heat is energy. When
the Ice is a solid the molecules are really close and tight together and can’t move. It’s just like when it’s
really cold outside and you hold on to yourself really tight. But when its hot outside you feel comfortable
and free to move around.”

“Even though the piece of mater changes the molecules themselves do not disappear or change, they only
move differently- faster or slower. When you add energy to molecules they begin to speed up. They move
around really fast and are no longer tight together – no longer solid! What is it becoming? Liquid!”

Active Engagement:

“As this solid changes to a liquid or this ice changes to water I want you to write down your observations
in your science journal. You may talk to your neighbor about what you are thinking. I want you to focus
on what is happening in the pan. I also want you to observe what starts to happen to the liquid after it
appears to completely no longer be a solid.”

“What kind of observations are you making? What do you see? What are you curious about? Remember
that good beginning scientists use their curiosity to develop new questions”

“The Ice is now completely liquid but what is happening to the water? How is the energy being added to
the pan effecting the water? What kind of observations can you make about what you see?”

“So water is bubbling and there appears to be smoke rising from the pan. What do you think is
happening? Turn and talk to your classmate and discuss what you think is happening to the water”

“The water is changing from a liquid into a gas. The smoke that you see is water vapor, it is the gas
version of the water that we saw in the pan. The heat called the molecules to spread out and move farther
away from each other. If you increase the temperature of matter, you add energy. What state of matter do
you get if you add energy to a liquid? You get a gas, because the molecules are moving faster and getting
farther and farther away from each other. You can’t see them, but they still have the same molecules that
the water had. They are so spread out that they are invisible.”

Link:

In our next lesson we will expand on today’s investigation. We will pick up from where we left off in
analyzing gas as a state of matter. You will learn about the characteristics of mass and how all material
things have mass. We will also talk about different ways to prove that invisible gas has mass.

Assessments:

“I want you to turn to the question and answer page in your science journals and answer this week’s
questions.”

Do you think that it is possible for matter to be invisible? Why?

When the water had energy applied to it it began to bubble - what do you think might have been
happening?

Share:

After answering their assessment the students will return to their seats and have the option to share their
answers with the class. We will have a discussion about the answers and I will transition into further
setting up the following lesson.
Science Unit: Lesson 3

Connection:

Teacher will show students evidence that water vapor is matter and introduce the students to
new vocabulary words and concepts such as: Mass and Evaporation. We’ll learn that mass and is
present in all matter- including matter that we cannot see. You will also learn more about what
happens to water after it disappears.”

“At the end of this lesson you will be able to answer whether or not matter can be invisible and you will
be able to give examples to support your answer.”

Tell the students:

“Hello class, at the end of our last lesson we observed what happens when water when heat
energy is added to it. It begins to bubble up and smoke comes out of it until it slowly
disappears. Then we finished the class by answering whether or not we thought that matter
could be invisible. Who would like to share with the class how they answered that question?”

“Yes matter can indeed appear invisible to us because one of the states of matter is gas. Matt
takes the gas form when the molecules become so energized that they split so far apart that
they don’t even appear to take the form of a physical object anymore. When we watched the
liquid disappear from the pan during our last lesson we watched a process that is referred to as
‘Evaporation’. Turn and talk to your partner and tell them everything you know about
evaporation.”

“Who wants to volunteer to share what you and your classmate discussed about evaporation.”
:Teacher uses student’s answers as well as added information to develop a class definition of the
word ‘Evaporation’:

“Evaporation is when the molecules in a liquid become gas. As we learned before, these
molecules do not actually change, but rather they behave differently. When matter has a high
temperature the molecules have high energy and begin moving apart. If the energy is high
enough then the molecules move so far apart that they completely evaporate – they become
gas. ”

“I want you to add Evaporation into the vocabulary portions of your science journals. On the
same page I want you to add another word. There’s an interesting word hidden inside of
‘Evaporation’ that will help us better understand what happens to water when it becomes gas.
The word is ‘Vapor. We see vapor when we breathe on a cold day and we see it as the smoke
rises out of the heated water during the evaporation. It’s what gas looks like before the
molecules spread so far apart that they are no longer visible. “
Teaching Point:

Strong scientists can investigate the behavior of matter, make guesses on how they think it
behaves, and test whether or not it is true.

Model:

:Teacher sets up an experiment with a scale with a paper bag. Teacher also has a container with
baking soda in it as well as a bottle of vinegar:

“Now we are going to do an experiment so that we can investigate an interesting method of

proving that that some matter is invisible. Does every body know what a scale is? Turn and talk
to your classmates and find out what they know about scales.”

“Scales help us measure how much something weighs. (Teacher puts an object on the scale to
show the students how it works) Any object with mass also has weight. Mass is a word that
means the amount molecules matter has in it. If two objects are the same size what do you
think is a good way to figure out which one has more mass?”

:Students say that you can weigh them or teacher leads them to this answer:

“What weighs more – a full container of milk or an empty container of milk? Why? Because
even though we can’t see it just by looking at it, and even though both objects appear to be the
same shape and size, the heavier one is the one with more stuff in it. The heavier one is the one
with more mass or a higher amount of molecules. Class I want you to add the word ‘Mass’ to
the vocabulary section of your science journal for this class.”

“ So we just learned that Mass is the measurement of how much matter is in an object. We also
learned that two objects can be the same size on the outside but have more mass or more
matter on the inside. And as we talked about before, all mass or matter has weight.”
“While they seem similar, Mass and Weight are not the same. Yes you can often get an idea of
how much mass is in an object by weighing it, but if we were in different places like under water
or on the moon, our weight would be different even if we had the same amount of mass. This is
why scientists like us use different words to describe how much something weighs as opposed
to how much mass something has.”
Actiive Engagement:

“We already learned that we can change matter from one state to another using energy. Even though we
can’t always see gas, how many of you think it is possible to prove it is there? Do you think we can show
that a gas has mass? If we can put a solid on a scale and measure it, do you think we can do the same
thing with a gas? Let’s see. I want you to take notes on this investigation in your science journals so
really pay attention.”

“Here we have a scale. Each of the paper bags is full of regular air- a gas. What would happen if we put
a solid in one of the bags? And what would happen if we poured liquid into one of these bags? Ok so let’s
see if we can put vapor inside.”

:Teacher pours vinegar into the container of baking soda and the baking soda and vinegar begin to have a
gaseous reaction:

“This is a chemical reaction that causes a type of gas to bubble out of the mixture of vinegar and baking
soda. Adding baking soda to vinegar is like adding energy. When we add energy to a liquid, what state of
matter do we get? Gas! The level of the vinegar is going down while the gas is bubbling out of the top.
Let’s try a cool experiment. What if we made this chemical reaction happen again but instead of letting
the bubbles settle back down, we poured the invisible gas into the paper bag on the scale? What do you
think would happen”

:The teacher repeats the formula and tilts the container into the paper bag, but not far enough so that the
vinegar pours out. The scale moves down as the gas from the chemical reaction takes up seemingly
invisible space in the bag: Students should see that the bag gets heavier, showing that the gas has
mass even though we can’t see it.

Link:

Anything with mass has weight, and we know gas has mass because we just proved it. We know
air has mass because we can feel it when the wind blows. We can feel it take up room in our
chest when we hold our breath because the air we breathe is type of gas.

“In our next class we will be analyzing and investigating different levels of mass in matter and
we will observe as they change.”

Assessments:

“Students I want you to turn to the question and answer section in your science journals and

answer this question: ‘Can matter or mass appear invisible? Can you provide any examples?”
Share:

The students will return to their seats and will be given the opportunity to share their answers

to the remainder of the class.

Science Unit: Lesson 4

Connection:

-Teacher will show students evidence that physical actions can change the properties of
materials, and introduce the students to new vocabulary words and concepts such as: density
and volume. Students will learn that all matter has density, and that density can change when
matter changes state. Students will also learn how density relates to an object’s volume.

“At the end of this lesson you will be able to describe how matter can change from one state to
another, and discuss the relationship between density and volume using the experiment you
conducted to support your answer.”

Tell the students:

“Did you know that two objects that are the same size can have two different weights?” Give
each pair students two different objects that are roughly the same size but one is much heavier
(marshmallow/rock, etc).

“Turn and talk with your partner about why you think one object is heavier. Use what you
learned in our other lessons about molecules to help you.”

“What you just discussed with your partner, and the reason that two objects can be the same
size but have different weights, is called density.” Teacher takes what the students discussed
with their partners to have a class discussion and come up with a class definition of density-
how tightly packed the molecules are in a space.

“I want you to add density into the vocabulary sections of your science journals. We are also
going to add another vocabulary word- volume. The two objects in front of you have the same
volume, but different densities. What do you think volume means?” Create a class definition of
volume and have students add it to their notebooks.

“We already learned that the state of matter can change when we add or take away energy.
Remember that heat is a form of energy, and the molecules speed up when we add more heat.
Who remembers what happens when we add heat to a solid?”
“Yes, the solid will turn into a liquid because the molecules will move faster. Molecules that
move faster will spread apart. The reason they are moving faster is because they have more
energy. Can anyone tell me what happens when we add energy to a liquid? The molecules in
the liquid will move even faster. Soon they will turn into a gas and spread so far apart that we
won’t be able to see them anymore. Today you will be able to change a state of matter to
another state.”

Teaching Point:

Strong scientists can investigate the behavior of matter, make guesses on how they think it
behaves, and test whether or not it is true.

Active Engagement:

Teacher conducts an experiment which cream (liquid) changes to butter (solid). Teacher as well
as each student has their own container with a lid filled with cream.

“Now we are going to do an experiment to test whether or not we can change a state of matter
with physical actions. In front of you, you have a container full of matter. What state of matter
is in your container?”

“Right, it is a liquid. Is there anything you could do to the liquid to change it to another state?
Turn and talk with a partner. Hypothesize how you might be able to change the liquid in front of
you into another state- a solid or a gas.”

“You all realized that we need to add or take away energy- usually heat in order to change the
state of matter. Did anyone come up with any ideas of how we can add or take away heat? Use
your container in front of you and take a minute think of what you might be able to do.”

See if anyone comes up with the idea to shake the liquid.

Give students time to try and turn their liquids into solids. “While you are working to change
the liquid to a solid, take notes in your science notebooks about what you think is happening.
Make guesses on what you think is happening to the density of the cream as you are shaking.”

“The cream is going through a physical change when you were shaking it. The tiny fat molecules
have trouble sticking together when the cream is a liquid. When you start to really shake it, you
add energy, and the molecules smash together and stick together in bigger and bigger clumps of
fat. As they get bigger, they have a harder time moving around in the container, and past each
other like they did when they were a liquid. You can feel that transformation as the liquid gets
thicker and thicker. This physical change can always be reversed- we can always melt the butter
to turn it into a liquid again.”
When students have finished conducting their experiment, ask them which substance they think
is more dense- the butter or the cream? Have them draw a picture in their notebook of the
molecules in the butter and the cream, applying what they learned about density. “If we had a
full container of butter and another full container of cream, which do you think would be
heavier?”

“Because the butter is heavier, it is also more dense. They both take up the same volume, but
the butter has more molecules closer together. Liquids are less dense than solids. That is why it
is easy to push our hands through liquids- the molecules move into extra space. We can’t do
this with solids- the molecules are packed tightly and have nowhere to go.”

“We just learned that density is how many molecules are in an object compared to its size, or
volume. We learned that two objects can have the same volume, but have different densities,
which means one of the objects will weigh more. We can change an objects state of matter by
adding or taking away energy, which will also change its volume and density.”

Model:

“We have learned a lot about matter in the last few lessons. We have learned about the three
states of matter, how we can change them from one state to another, and many new vocabulary
words to categorize and describe each state.”

“Now I want you each to create a concept map analyzing and comparing the three states of
matter. You can use your science textbooks and your science notebooks while you work. Pay
attention to the new vocabulary words you added, the science experiments you observed and
completed, and the notes, diagrams, and drawings that you did. You can also provide examples
on your maps. You learned a lot, so try to remember as much as you can.”

The teacher will model quickly how to make a concept map and then give each student time to
work on their own individual maps.

Link:
We learned that all matter is made up of molecules, and that those molecules can behave in
different ways. The ways the molecules behave determines the objects state of matter.
We proved that we can change an object’s state of matter with our physical actions. We also
learned today that along with changing an object’s state of matter, we can also change an
object’s density and volume by adding energy.

In our next class ???

Assessments:
Teacher will collect concept maps to assess student’s understanding of the states of matter and
the concepts of evaporation, mass, density, volume, solid, liquid and gas.
Share:
The students will return to their seats and be given the opportunity to share their concept maps
with the class. They can each share one thing about matter that they learned about matter
throughout the unit.