Exploring States of Matter

            Students in grades K-2 explored the states of matter: solids, liquids, and gases, with our student teacher, Taylor. Students began with solids. They worked in groups and were each given a “mystery object” in a paper bag. Without looking and just using just their hands, students had to feel their object and use descriptive words to describe what their object felt like. Students used words such as smooth, hard, rough, circular, etc. Students then learned that all of their objects were solids and that solids are objects that have their own shape and can be held in your hand. Then students had to go around the room and find 5 different solids to share with the class and be able to tell us why their objects were solids.

            We then moved on to liquids. Students were assigned a partner and a station that had a container filled with a specific liquid. The different liquids they would work with included: fabric softener, laundry detergent, plain water, colored water, corn syrup, cooking oil, and hand soap. Working with their partners, students had to determine what properties their liquid had. The properties were discussed before the activity began and included: colored, transparent, viscous, translucent, bubbly, or foamy. Students had to make sure they understood especially what viscous was, what the different between transparent and translucent was, and how to tell if something is bubbly or foamy. After we reviewed these terms, students had 2 minutes to visit each liquid station.

            To learn about gases, students first discussed what they thought a gas was. Can you hold it? Can you see it? Examples of gases? Then they watch the teacher blow up a balloon using a plastic bottle, vinegar and baking soda. It was really cool! Then students were able to explore gases on their own. With a partner, students were given a bowl of water, a plastic cup, and a paper towel. First students had to predict what they thought would happen if they put a paper towel at the bottom of the plastic cup and then place the cup straight down into the water. Would the paper towel be wet or dry? Students made their predictions and then worked with their partner to do the experiment. A few paper towels dropped so the experiment had to be done a couple times until students got their paper towels to stay. Students soon discovered that the paper towel stays dry because water cannot get into the cup because there is air in the cup. That’s how we know there is gas!

            After learning about each state individually, students then worked with materials such as flour, kidney beans, cornmeal, and rice to determine if these materials were solids or liquids. Using funnels, spoons, cups, and blocks, students filled out a worksheet in order to make a guess as to whether their material was a solid or a liquid. Many of the materials act as liquids but all of them are in fact just very small solids!

            In the final class, students experimented with changing states of matter. Students first discussed what atoms are and learned that atoms are very small particles that make up everything! Students were assigned to be either a solid atom, a liquid atom, or a gas atom and had to act as that atom along to music. The solids stood very close together and wiggled, the liquid atoms danced and shook each other’s hands, and the gas atoms danced far apart but did not touch. Then the music got faster and some students were hit with a red strip of paper representing heat and changed states. Then the music got slow and some students were hit with a blue strip representing cooling and changed states. After each round of music, students discussed what the red or blue strips represented and how they changed if they were a solid, liquid, or gas.   

            This class was really fun and engaging and students really enjoyed themselves!

Weight & Volume

            Our student teacher, Taylor, taught students in grades K-1 a math class on weight and volume. Students began with weight. During the first class, students were given two objects and holding one in each hand, had to tell the class which one felt heavier or lighter. As the class progressed, students began exploring weight using arm balances. Students were given several different objects and were directed to put specific objects on the balance to determine which one is heavier. Students quickly realized that one side of the balance goes down when it has a heavier object in the pan. Students were able to continue their exploration of weight in weight centers during contract time. They were given a deck of cards and had to determine how many of a certain material (chips, weights, pebbles, cubes, blocks) would weigh the same as the deck of cards and balance the scale.

            Then we moved on to volume. Volume was a bit trickier but students quickly learned. The first day we learned about volume, Taylor asked students what they thought volume was and students gave responses such as loud or quiet, the volume on a TV or radio, etc. Then we did fun hands on activity where students worked with a partner to see how many spoonfuls of sand would fill a cup. The next class, Taylor asked students what they thought volume was now that they did the sand activity and students gave various responses such as volume is how much sand fills a cup or how much fits in the cup. In the next volume class, students were shown 4 cups, all the same size, but with different amounts of water in them. Taylor asked questions such as which cup has the most amount of water? Which cup has the least amount of water? Students wrote their responses on a white board. Then students were shown 4 very different sized containers, each with a cup of water and asked students the same questions. Students gave various responses. At the end of the lesson, Taylor revealed that all 4 different sized containers had the same amount of water. Students were shocked! The students’ definitions for volume grew. The final lesson on volume, students watched a youtube video of a young man reading the story “Mr. Archimedes Bath” by Pamela Allen. Archimedes was a mathematician who discovered that when he takes a bath, the water level rises and that must mean he has volume. We then performed Archimedes experiment using a doll and a rectangular container as the “bath.” Students watched as the water level rose when the doll was placed in the bath.

            Students were very intrigued about what they learned in our weight and volume class and certainly were engaged in all of the fun, hands on activities!

Book Club: Fever, 1793

            Over the last five weeks, our student teacher, Taylor, has been conducting a book club with five students. The students read the novel, Fever, 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson. This story takes place in Philadelphia in the summer of 1793 and follows the yellow fever epidemic. Throughout the book, we follow the character Matilda Cook, a young teenage girl who has to grow up quickly. Mattie lives with her mother and grandfather in a coffeehouse that her mother runs. When a close friend suddenly dies of the fever, Matilda must find a way to keep herself and her family alive. This story is very intense and a bit graphic in some parts but the students were mature and seemed to really enjoy the story.

            The book was split into five different reading sections. After reading a section, students would gather and participate in a literature circle. Students were assigned a role on the first week and the roles would rotate each week so each student could have a different job. The roles included: connector/investigator, discussion director, literacy luminary, vocabulary enricher, and illustrator. The connector/investigator had two jobs. The first was to make connections between what they read in that particular section and something they have experienced in the real world. As the investigator, students were to conduct further research on a part of the book whether it be background information on the setting, the author, the weather, etc. The discussion director was the leader of the conversation. They would begin the conversation by asking 3 discussion questions about anything related to the reading section, then an inferential question, a factual question, and an opinion question. Once students responded to the discussion questions, the discussion director would choose the next person to share their role. The literacy luminary’s job was to pick three parts they read in the reading section that they felt were important, interesting, funny, etc. and explain why they believed that part was important. The vocabulary enricher had to choose 6 words that they did not know and find the definitions and share with the group. The illustrator had to draw a picture that had something to do with the reading section and share. After each person shared their role, two responses were allowed in order for the lesson to be completed in 30 minutes.

            Also at the beginning of the book club, Taylor and the students came up with five expectations for a successful literature circle. The expectations were as follows: 1) only one person may talk at a time; 2) listen respectfully to peers; 3) be prepared; 4) only positive comments; 5) everyone participates. At the beginning of each meeting, we would review these expectations. In order to follow the expectation of only one person talks at a time, we had a small stuffed moose and only the person holding the moose was allowed to talk. Students were successful at respecting each other, making positive comments, and participating. Being prepared meant students needed to have read the section, completed their role, and brought their materials to the discussion. Students really enjoyed the book and the literature circles.