Learning About and Matter- Solid, Liquid and Gas

We started out with a cup of ice, which is a solid and measured the temperature at 0 Celsius.

We left our cups out so the ice would melt and we could see the changes in temperature.

Watching the temperature rise on the themometer.

We enjoyed being scientific and learning about matter.

The final step was to heat up the water and watch it turn to steam or make a gas. Look carefully and you can observe the steam. The themometer read 150 F. at this point. We learned that changes in water is called a reversible change in matter because we could freeze the water back into a solid.

We joined Mrs. Bagwell's class to continue our study on matter. We had 20 different sacks which contained different kinds of matter. Our students sat on a chair and reached through the chair to put their hands inside a bag. Then they had to decide what was in the bag and put down some of the properties of the matter.

It was fun and very scientific.

Sometimes it was a little messy.

What do you think was in this bag?

Each bag had either a solid, a liquid or a gas.

All you could use was your sense of touch to determine the contents of the bag.

Thanks to Mrs. Bagwell's classmates for being our helpers.

Sharing and learning together.

We know that the properties of matter will decribe the matter such as hard, soft, smooth, bumpy or even squishy. It was an adventure to put your hand into the sack and guess.

Class Fun and Peanut Butter Playdough

On Friday students receive some free time if they get all their AR stories read for the week.

We have lots of different centers to choose from
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It is fun to learn, create and play.

These boys had the jacks out, but they weren't playing jacks. They had created their own game and it had to do with Star Wars.

Three friends playing with Legos.

These girls had all the rocks and the shells out and they were comparing them to the charts.

A big box of bugs can keep any kid happy.

Building with the Construction set is always a popular choice.

We had to say goodby to some classmates who left to join the new Second Grade classroom.

Two boys and three girls left that Friday. We will miss them!

We have been studying Matter- solid, liquid and gas. We experimented with peanut butter playdough. It make really crazy snakes.

Big ones and little ones.

and SCARY ones !!!!!

Here is another one or two.

After the snakes came the flat designs like this happy face.

This is two matching creations.

It was a sticky experience, but fun to take a bite of what you made.

We learned about the properties of matter. How would you decribe this example?

A solid can kees its own shape unless you change it, or EAT it.

We are all made of matter and we can create new matter like a dough handprint.

Perhaps a peanut butter pancake.

Maybe a face with a big nose.

Or a big eyed, lots of teeth flat guy.

When we thought about the properties of peanut butter dough we realized that it is a soft solid, that can spread, be molded and had a strange texture.

You can't see this well, but it is a perfect likeness of Shrek. We had lotss of fun experimenting with the peanut butter playdough. If you want to try it at home you mix a jar of peanut butter with one cup of dry powdered milk until it becomes smooth. You can add a little powdered sugar or honey for taste.

Learning, playing and eating your science experiment can be lots of fun.

This was a sticky experience, but we did learn and have lots of fun.

The Monsters Who Came to School

We read a funny story about a little monster who jumps on the school bus, comes to school and starts causing all kinds of trouble. He doesn't listen to the teacher and he pokes the kids and messes everything up. Finally, he learns his lesson and becomes a good student in class. Here are some of the monsters who came into our classroom.

Some were striped and some were plain.

One with lots of colors, one plain and one with poka-dots.

These three were trying to climb the walls.

These three were found hiding under the desks.

Here are two sticking out their tongues. Can you believe that?

Two very brightly dressed monsters which were easy to see.

A beautiful group of lady monsters hanging out together.

These two monsters scared me!

We had fun teaching our monsters how to behave at school. All of them left our classroom that day. Have you seen any of them lately?