Physical vs. Chemical Change Sorting Activity

For this blog entry, I am updating an earlier post that I did over the summer.  I am also adding pictures from one of my classes that did this activity on Friday.

This following activity is one that I used last year for the first time and it worked really well. The kids were so engaged and felt really satisfied when they figured it out. They will be able to use their Foldable as a resource for this activity.

To prepare this lesson, I printed out the activity cards on pages 2 & 3, laminated them, and cut them apart. I placed each set of cards in a zip-top bag, one per group of 2 students.

On their desks, I have the students place the “Physical Change” card to their left and the “Chemical Change” card to their right. Now they have to sort each card into the correct column. You can do one together to demonstrate the procedures. The kids continue to sort the cards until they have all 15 lined up in the correct columns. When they are done, they raise their hand to call me over and see if their cards are in the right place.

I walk over and when they ask if they have it right, I smile and say “Nope”. (Usually there are at least a few in the wrong spot). So now they have to evaluate what they did and figure out what is in the right spot and what is not. I usually give the kids 2 or 3 tries without any hints from me. Then I give hints like “You have 3 in the wrong spot” or “Everything in your physical change column is correct so far.” (There may be 1 or 2 in the chemical change that need to be moved over.) Or “You have to switch one from each column”, but I won’t tell them which ones.

Once they have everything correct, I push/pile up the physical change card together and give them to one lab partner and tell them to write it in their lab journal. I push/pile up the chemical change cards together and give it to the other lab partner to write in his/her lab journal. Then I tell them to switch cards so they have everything written down in both journals. We keep it top-secret so their nosy neighbors don’t see their answers! =)

This year, I gave the students a certain amount of time (about 10 minutes) to work on their sorting before I gave them any clues. I pulled up the pdf on the SmartBoard that showed some of the cards they had.  One helping clue would be something like “Boiling water is a physical change” and I would circle it on the Smart Board so they can see it and have it as a reference.

I would drop clues slowly over the next few minutes.  After about 20 minutes, we went over each item and classified them as physical or chemical changes and made corrections to our categories.  What seemed like an “easy” activity was really challenging for them.  There were several misconceptions that kept holding on, even though we talked about boiling water and ice melting during our lessons on states of matter as being only physical changes, some kids still classified them as chemical changes.

I love seeing the lab partners talk about where each item goes and they get into some great discussions, they try to reason with their lab partner, they compromise, sometimes they argue, etc… To quote some of my students “This was so fun, and so frustrating!” The groups that placed their items correctly were really proud of their accomplishments.  And as we went over the answers, the kids would cheer when they got each one right, and talk to their partners about how they sorted it, what they weren’t sure of, etc. To wrap up the lesson, the students answered the analysis questions and wrote a conclusion.

Handout:

• Physical & Chemical Change Activity (pdf)

Changing Phases – Using a Venn Diagram

Smart Board Activity – Using a Venn Diagram to classify the states of matter and the changing phases.  The purpose of this activity was to visually represent how the states of matter and the phase changes are related to each other.

I pulled up the Venn diagram onto the Smart Board screen with the list of words and phrases listed on the right side.  This Venn diagram has circles/categories for solid, liquid, and gas. I reminded the students that wherever the circles overlap, it is something that both categories had to have in common, or it was a true statement for both. Where all 3 circles overlap, it is something that all 3 categories must have in common.

I divided the class into small groups.  I explained that each group would have a turn at the Smart Board, sending one person at a time as their representative. In their small groups, the students discussed amongst themselves what words or phrases they would like to place into the Venn diagram. They also had to decide who would go first, and so forth. I set this activity up to be a friendly competition to see which group can get the most items placed into the Venn diagram correctly.

Using the tri-fold brochure for their note taking, they took notes in blue or red colored pencil. They used the blue colored pencil for the phrases that were in blue and related to the properties for each state of matter,  red for the words that were in red and referred to each of the phase changes.  They only wrote down the answers if they were placed correctly into the Venn diagram, I didn’t want them working ahead.  This kept their focus on the board. If a student did place a word/phrase into the wrong spot, I moved it back to the list on the right.  The next team could either correctly place the word/phrase into the diagram or choose a new word/phrase.

From start to finish, this activity took about 25 minutes. Overall, the activity went really well and the students were engaged and enjoyed the friendly competition.

For HW, students will review the terminology related to phase changes, as well as read about hot water freezing faster than cold water.

Handouts:

pg. 53 – Phase Change Vocab

pg. 54 – BrainPOP: Phase Changes Activity

pg. 55 – Review: States & Phases Venn Diagram

pg. 56 – Read About it: BrainPOP – hot water freezes faster?

States of Matter

Today we talked about the phases of matter and I broke the lesson up into 4 different activities using a variety of strategies.

Part 1 – Brief introduction to set the stage

I told the students to place their hands on the table and close their eyes.  I then asked them “Is the table moving?” Variety of answers.  I told them that the table is made up of billions of atoms that are vibrating, we just can’t feel it.  Atoms do not stay still, I mentioned absolute zero and how scientists think that atoms would stop moving at this extremely cold temperature. Last I checked, we got really close but have not reached absolute zero yet.  

Keeping their eyes closed, I ask them if they feel the air molecules hitting them right now.  Gasses move very quickly and are bouncing around the room, hitting each other, bumping into the wall, off the ceiling, off the floor, kind of like a pinball machine.  I also ask them to take a deep breath – the air is filling up their lungs.  I also mention that they are breathing the same air that the ancient Greeks and Australopithecus did (they just studied early man in History class).  All the matter on Earth has always been here and is constantly recycled.  The oxygen you are breathing right now was once part of a water molecule, or part of an animal, etc… They think its cool and gross at the same time, of course!

Part 2: BrainPOP movie on States of Matter.

I show the movie and paused it when it zoomed into the glass of water and showed the water molecules.  I ask the kids, “What do you notice about how the atoms are arranged?” We discuss it and I have them draw the atoms, in a color of their choice,  into their notes in the liquids box. Continue the movie.

Paused the movie again when it zoomed into the gas atoms up close.  ”What do you notice about how these are arranged compared to the liquid?”  Using a different color, they draw the gas atoms into the gas box.  Continue the movie.

Paused again when it zoomed into the solid atoms up close. “What do you notice about how these are arranged compared to the liquid and gas?” They came up with great observations, such as many more atoms, close together, not a lot of empty space between each, and they were neater – arranged almost in a pattern. Using a third color, we drew in the atoms for the solid.  Played the rest of the movie.

Part 3 – Notes – Jigsaw/read aloud

I assigned a paragraph to each group and gave them about 3 minutes to complete their assigned section.  Once they were done, each person in group 1 read a sentence out loud to the rest of the class. Student 1 read the 1st sentence, student 2, the next, and the group continued until the whole paragraph was done.  I used 3-4 students per group for this activity.

The other groups/students listened and filled in their notes.  We then moved to group 2 for the second paragraph, and so forth.  This worked really well.  Some of the kids noticed that it was exactly the same as the movie, which it was, I made a transcript and cut out important words and placed them in the word bank.

Part 4 – Closure using the matrix

Using the BrainPOP graphic organizer, we reviewed the main concepts that we learned today, making sure to fill it in completely and correctly.

Homework: cut ‘n paste vocabulary to review terms we discussed today.

Resources:

BrainPOP Movie: States of Matter

pg. 50 – BrainPOP: States of Matter Notes

pg. 51 – BrainPOP – States of Matter Graphic Organizer

pg. 52 – States of Matter Vocab

Famous Scientist Wanted Poster – Research

I am so excited to use my wanted poster lesson with my 5th graders this year.  The last time I used this lesson was in the fall of 2003 when I taught 6th grade.  We are using two class periods for their research and I was able to schedule our time slots in the library.

In their tech classes, they are learning about how to use the library and subscription databases we have, as well as Microsoft Word.  Our Mac laptops were updated over the summer and now have  Office 2008.  One of the features that I really like in Word is the Notebook Layout.  This is such a great way for the students to organize their research information. The students are making 4 tabs: Basic Requirements, Choose 5 additional, Images, and Resources.  The research counts for half of their grade and they will be uploading their docs to a workspace on our server when they are done with their research, instead of printing it out.  The wanted poster will be the only sheet of paper that they are physically handing in.

For the wanted poster, they have to create one really strong sentence, almost like a slogan or catch phrase.  If someone were to look at their poster and not read anything else, they should be able to tell  someone why that scientist is famous or what their important contribution was.  They have to have their sentence approved before the end of their second day of research.  So far, some of the sentences have been really wordy or have not really pinpointed what that scientist accomplished.  For example, John Glenn was the oldest man to go into space.  Yes, but is that what he’s really famous for?  Dig deeper. Or “So and So won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1962.”  Well, for what?  What did he or she do that lead to the Nobel Prize? I really want them to zero in and focus on the important details, then add the rest.

My catch phrase this year is “Chew it up and spit it out”. In essence, get to the main idea.  For example, when they do vocab and give these long rambling definitions, I ask them (with a smile) –  ”Can you remember all that? Because I can’t.”  Process that information and put it into your own words so that you can remember it. So for their project, we are going to process all their information and make one strong sentence about their scientist.  Chew it up and spit it out.  The details will be added later and make up the rest of the poster.

• One version of the Famous Scientist Wanted Poster Project
• List of scientists

Penny Boat Challenge 2009

Penny Boat Challenge –  Top 5  for 2009.  Last year’s record was 441 pennies

1. CS – 463
2. HM – 337
3. MD – 319
4. OS – 214
5. AV – 202

The penny boat challenge takes place at the end of our density and buoyancy unit.  We spend one day going over the rules, brainstorming, building, and testing.  We test if their design will float and if its water proof using two very large stoppers as our testing load. We don’t use any pennies in the testing phase. 

If a student has a boat that does not float or remain water tight, they have the option of using a 2nd piece of foil on the day of the challenge.  If they use a second piece, their score will not count, but they still get to compete.

On the day of the challenge, we take pics of each student holding their boat before they compete.  Each competitor must have a spotter/counter.  Both the competitor and the spotter count together to verify the exact number of pennies that enter the boat.  The spotter also looks for signs of water entering the boat.  Once water enters the boat, the turn is over.

Once the boat enters the water, the boat can not be modified in any way. If the boat sinks and the pennies get wet, we carefully remove the boat and pennies, drain, and dry off the pennies. Pennies must be dry for the next person to use them.

The kids did really well this year and it was a fun and relaxing competition day. Luckily I had a ton of towels handy from the car wash last year! Thanks Mr. M.!!

Notebook:

pg. 48 – Penny Boat Challenge

pg. 49 – Analysis/Reflection: Penny Boat Challenge & Class Results