Summary

In this activity, students will use their five senses to describe the physical properties of a variety of items. Students will also determine what state of matter the item is, and categorize it accordingly. Students will practice using vocabulary words as they record their observations in a data table.

Grade Level

Elementary School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the performance expectations in the following standards:

• 2-PS1-1: Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties.
• Scientific and Engineering Practices:
  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to

• Use the five senses in order to identify physical properties of an object.
• Identify the specific properties of each state of matter in order to compare and contrast objects based on observations.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of

• Matter
• Physical properties
• States of Matter
• Observations

Time

Teacher Preparation: 5 minutes

Lesson: 30-45 minutes

Materials

• Vocabulary cards (downloadable version provided)
• Variety of objects (see teacher notes)
• Parent letter

Safety

• No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

• This activity was designed for use with elementary grades K-2, as a culminating activity. It should be used in order to demonstrate that students have the ability to categorize items based on their physical properties.
• The teacher should review the following terms, and use the provided picture/vocabulary cards to explain terms (or another means of reviewing them). If using the vocabulary cards provided be sure to print them in color, fold and laminate:
  • Matter
  • Physical Properties
  • Solids
  • Liquids
  • Gases
  • Material
• Additional background information and definitions can be found at the chem4kids website.
• The teacher should collect items and also ask students to bring in a couple items (refer to parent letter provided).
• A few suggestions include:
  • Gas: an inflated balloon, humidifier
  • Solids: rocks, marbles, cups
  • Liquid: Vegetable oil, hair oil, bottles of water, food coloring
• Items should each be labeled with a number.
• The items could be distributed to groups of students (3-4 items per each group of 3-4) and then the items can rotate tables. The number of items would depend on what your students bring in.
• To combat the issue of having too many items for a specific category use the provided example parent letter and assign students to a particular state of matter.
• The teacher will advise students to use their 5 senses to identify physical properties of each substance and determine which state of matter category an object belongs in and why.
• Students will record their findings on the provided student handout.