Chelle's Corner

Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) is a great way to help students write scientific explanations. In these warm ups, students apply the process of CER to their knowledge of physical states. There are three different CER problems, which include a data table, Venn diagram, and a paragraph.

In this activity, students will be sort cards into items that reflect light and items that refract light. Before class, cut out each card and rubber band them together. I print the cards on card stock and use them over and over. I often use this activity as a warm up or review at the beginning of class. I keep several answer keys, so students that finish quickly become expert checkers. With the help of student checkers, this activity can easily be finished in five minutes for the whole group. I

In this lesson, students will observe a Power Point that includes facts about solids, liquids, and gases (including a model of the molecules, a fact about the molecules, a fact about the shape, a fact about the volume, and examples of each state. Then, students complete a study guid and open ended questions about the states of matter.

In this activity, students will create a tri fold about three physical states of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). Students will include a fact about the shape, volume, particles, two examples, and a model of the particles. When students have completed the tri fold, they will use the rubric to grade themselves.

In this activity, students will match the name of the scientific tool, the use of the scientific tool, and a picture of the scientific tool. This is a great review for commonly used tools in a science lab.

In this activity, students will select two science tools. For each tool, they will test the following physical properties: state, mass, volume, solubility, relative density, magnetism, and conductivity. Then, students will focus on three physical properties and create an essay. The essay will tell the reader how to test that physical property and how their two items compared.

As a final project, students will create wanted posters to demonstrate their knowledge of the physical states and the boiling, melting, and freezing points. For each wanted poster, students will include a real life example, what physical states are involved, what happens to the heat, the temperature, and what happens to the molecules. Then, students will grade their posters based on the grading rubric provided.

In this activity, students fill out a graphic organizer about the different physical properties of two tools. The physical properties include: state, solubility, relative density, volume, mass, conductivity, and magnetism. Then, students create an essay comparing the physical properties of the tools. They go into detail about how to test three of the physical properties of their choice.

This powerpoint could be used as a whole group lesson or independently. First students predict what tools they could use in the science lab. Then, they check with the powerpoint. The picture appears first (so students can try to identify the tool), then the use of the tool comes next. I often have students predict how we will use the tool in my science class.