American Chemical Society
Exploring Moisture on the Outside of a Cold Cup
As a stand-alone or as part of the intended unit, this is a valid investigation of what causes condensation to occur. By limiting the amount of air around a cold cup of water and comparing it to one out in the open, they find that the...
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Models of the Water Cycle
Students describe and review the stages in the water cycle. In groups, they build their own models of the water cycle and demonstrate where the water goes in a closed system. They answer discussion questions after the experiment to end...
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Cloud in a bag
Students relate the states of matter and clouds. In this environment lesson, students create a chart of information they know about clouds. Students put an ice cube in a bag and tape to a window. Students watch for condensation....
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Learning About Matter And Energy
Students learn about matter and energy. In this science lesson plan, students gain an understanding of the properties of matter and energy as they discover that some things float, some things dissolve in water and discuss that energy can...
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Water Cycle
Ninth graders explore ways water moves through various reservoirs on Earth, examine how human activities change water cycle, investigate substances present in water that indicate human activity, and discuss how understanding water cycle...
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Chemical and Physical Changes Lab
In this chemical and physical change worksheet, students conduct a variety of experiments with unknown solutions and make observations. Students determine if the properties of the solutions have changed and if there is a chemical or...
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Water Cycle
Third graders define and discuss evaporation, precipitation, condensation, and collection, color web pages to illustrate Water Cycle book, listen to stories about Water Cycle, play trivia game to demonstrate knowledge of what they...
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Physical Changes and States of Matter
Fourth graders study evaporation and condensation as parts of the water cycle. First they determine the similarities and differences between a cup of water and an ice cube before measuring the volume of ice before melting it, and...
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Experimenting with Physical Changes
Fourth graders explore physical changes. They discuss that physical change is a change in size, shape, or state of matter of a substance. Students explore what change takes place when two substances can dissolve each other. They observe...
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States of Matter
Students explore the states of water. In this physical science lesson, students use ice and dry ice to observe the changes in the state of matter. Students record the results.
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Discovering Physical Changes
Fourth graders determine what is meant by a physical change, and they demonstrate how they can make physical changes. They complete activities at stations that entail changes in color, size, texture, hardness, or state of matter. Using...
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What's Happening in My World?
Students look for examples of chemical and physical changes in the world around them and complete "What's Happening in My World" worksheet.
Chicago Botanic Garden
Climate and Forest Ecosystem Services
Forests, through sequestration, capture excess carbon dioxide in our atmosphere and store it, aiding in climate change. The third installment in a four-part series on how climate impacts forests explores carbon sequestration. Classes...
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States of Water
Students investigate the 3 states of matter. In this physical science "matter" lesson, students observe and participate in a number of demonstrations involving melting and freezing water. Students observe the effect heat has on changing...
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States of Matter and Chemical/Physical Changes Stations
Students break into four groups, starting at different stations. Each station should take about 10 minutes depending on prior knowledge of the topic. They then rotate when everyone is finished to the next station and discuss answers of...
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Changing States: Does it Matter
Students participate in experiments to visualize the differences between chemical and physical changes. They attempt to detect the five characteristics of a chemical change.
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Temperature Change and the States of Matter
Tenth graders observe the processes of evaporation, condensation, melting, freezing, boiling, and sublimation. They do a quantitative investigation of the freezing of water, to explore explanations that involve particles.
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Physical and Chemical Changes
Students observe examples of physical changes that can take place between the three states of matter and develop common sense and intuition in distinguishing between chemical and physical changes. They observe diagrams on the board from...
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The Nature of Chemical Change: Acting Out an Example
Students identify the signs that a chemical reaction took place. In this chemistry lesson, students role play the movement of different molecules of matter. They classify matter according to their properties.
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Three States of Matter
Third graders investigate the three states of matter and the properties of materials as they undergo physical changes. They identify examples of each type of matter, role-play atoms in solids, liquids, and gases, and conduct an...
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Changes of State
In this states of matter worksheet, students are given 5 diagrams showing particles of matter and students predict the temperatures of each and the reasoning for their prediction given 5 different temperature to choose from. Students...
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Hot and Cold Colors
Young scholars examine how temperature effects changes in materials. In this physical science lesson, students use food coloring and cups of water of varying temperatures to observe the effects temperature has on matter. Young scholars...
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Stream Ecology In Wisconsin and Puerto Rico
Students identify the different types of water and explain in what proportions they exist on Earth. They identify and correctly label the parts of the water cycle and how these parts interact with each other. Students identify the...
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Physical and Chemical Properties of Matter
Students identify the physical and chemical properties of matter. They review the types of matter. Students list the four states of matter (Solid, Liquid, Gas and Plasma). They recognize and describe the different types of matter.