What's the MATTER? An Interdisciplinary Investigation about the States and Traits of Matter

Third grade students delved into another Physical Science discovery this Spring by exploring the traits and states of matter.

To kick off this unit, students began by observing three balloons.  Each balloon was filled with a substance that represented one of the three states of matter.

Three balloons:  The balloon on the left (pink) is filled with a gas, the balloon
in the middle (orange) is filled with a liquid, and the balloon on the right (white)
is filled with a solid.

Students observed each of the balloons and noted the traits each balloon had.  Students noted that the "white balloon" was not really a balloon at all.  I explained to the students that what had happened to that balloon was that while the balloon was in the freezer changing the state of matter of the water inside from a liquid to a solid, the balloon actually ruptured.  I explained that this happened because when a liquid freezes, it expands, or gets bigger, and that the balloon ruptured because the solid inside had gotten too big for the latex of the balloon to contain it.  I also explained to them that sometimes, some materials do not expand as easily when they are cold and that latex is one of them.  This is why the balloon would not get as big in the cold of the freezer as it would in the warmth of the classroom.  I told the students that I covered the solid that had taken the form of the balloon with the white so that they could have at least the visual of a balloon.

By discussing what we knew (prior knowledge) about each state of matter, students predicted what would happen when each balloon was popped and what shape the matter inside each balloon would take once the balloon was popped.  

Students predicted that they would not be able to see the gas.  Students predicted that the liquid would go everywhere inside the tray, and students predicted that they solid would stay the same.

Here is what happened:

The gas was invisible and could not be seen.  Students noted
that it went everywhere in the room.

The water filled the tray.  It took on shape of the tray
 instead of the shape of the balloon.

The solid stayed the same shape even when the balloon was
removed.

 After reading more about the states of matter students worked in P.R.I.D.E. groups to categorize which state a predetermined set of matter cards would be classified into.

Jayda, Lavon and Khadijah partner to categorize matter into the three states.

The next day, students created living models of the three states of matter so that we could demonstrate what happened to the molecules within each state or matter.  To do this, clear plastic trash bags and balloons were used.

Karissa, Marion, and Marcus pose as states of matter molecules.  Can you guess
which one is a solid, liquid and a gas?

Once the students were ready in their "costumes", they came into the classroom to model their molecule costumes.  Each student took a turn jumping around so that their classmates could see how the molecules (balloons) in their matter moved about.  Based on this observation, the observers in the class decided which molecule was a solid, which was a gas, and which was a liquid and then justified their opinion based on what they had learned thus far in this unit.

Marion represented a Liquid molecule.  His molecules moved about but stayed
close together.  Marcus represented gas.  His atoms moved about freely and did
not need to touch each other.  Karissa represented a solid.  Her molecules did not
move at all.

After this demonstration, students worked independently to complete an interactive notebook entry about the traits of matter.  A solid has a definite volume and a definite shape.  A liquid has a definite volume but its shape changes depending on the shape of the container.  A gas has no definite shape and no definite volume.

Darren displays his science sort interactive notebook
entry which explains the traits of the states of matter.

Next, we began to explore the gas state of matter a little bit more in depth.  We did this because it is such a difficult concept for students to understand because it is something we cannot see.  Students conducted to experiments specifically tailored to observing gas.

The first was an experiment called "Matter is a'Poppin'".  During this experiment, we used three different types of soda (Sprite, Fanta Orange, and Coke), balloons, and Pop Rocks candy.

The materials needed for the Matter is a'Poppin' science experiment.

Each student was given a clip board and a data sheet to record the steps of the scientific process for this experiment.  Students recorded the materials, and the procedure.  The procedure for this experiment, Pop Rocks would be placed inside the balloons.  Then, once the caps of the sodas were removed,  the balloons would be placed over the openings of each bottle. Finally, the Pop Rocks would be emptied from the balloons into the sodas.  Students would observe for a reaction to occur.

Pop Rocks have been placed in the balloons.  They are shaken down
into the "bulb" part of the balloon.  The opening of the balloon is placed over the
mouth of each bottle.  

Students then made hypotheses on their data sheets about what they predicted what would happen during the experiment.  Once they had their hypotheses recorded, we were ready to begin the experiment...

Pop Rocks have been shaken down into the sodas.  Students are observing
reactions.

Almost immediately, students notice the balloons expanding (getting bigger).  Students are seeing fizzing.  We discuss what that fizzing is and note that it is occurring because of a gas.  We are all wondering why some of the the balloons are getting bigger than others.

Now, we don't see any more fizz in the bottles.  We notice that the Fanta and Coke
balloons got much bigger than the Sprite.  We wonder why.

After the experiment is over, we have a discussion about possible reasons why the Fanta and Coke balloons got bigger than the Sprite balloon.  One reason we noted is that the Fanta bottle had more liquid volume than the Sprite and Coke bottles (20 oz bottle compared to 16 oz bottles).  Could it be that with more liquid there could have been more gas produced?  We also noted that the Fanta and the Coke both were colored beverages but the Sprite was a clear beverage.  Could it be that the Sprite produces less gas because it contains less chemicals to begin with?  We were left with many questions.

Following this experiment, students wrote lab reports to convey their learning.  Here are some pictures of their finished reports.

Marcus, RayVon, TaMya, and Kaylin's lab reports.

Da'Marieon's written lab report.

Da'Marieon's written lab report.

The second science experiment we did was a Gas Rocket.  To do this we needed a 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke and a roll of Mentos.  The entire package of Mentos was dropped into the 2-liter bottle of Diet Coke as third graders stood around to observe the reaction...the following took place:

The Mentos created a reaction inside the bottle that caused
gas to be formed.  The gas molecules moved out of their
container through the opening taking soda with them (fizz).

To conclude our study of the states of matter, we made root beer floats. 

Ymmmmm!  What a great way to study
the states of matter!

 Each component of the root beer float represented one of the states of matter.  The ice cream was a solid.  The root beer was a liquid.  But where was the gas?  You guessed it!  When the root beer was added to the ice cream, we saw the gas bubbles of the fizzing pop!

Here are three third graders reaction to having a root beer float as part of science class!

D'Aijah...I think she likes it...

Ra;Jhay...I think she likes it...

Looks like it's unanimous!  Abubakr likes it, too!

Life Cycle of a Citizen: A Study of Economics

During the third and fourth quarter, third grade students spent time learning about the role of economics in citizenship.  To learn more about  this, students listen to several children's books and then participated in interactive activities to enhance their understanding of economic concepts.  One such children's book was Saturday Sancocho by Leyla Torres.

In this lesson, students listen to a story and answer questions about a family in Central or South America that barters to get the ingredients for chicken sancocho, a kind of stew. The students complete sentences that record the various trades carried out by the family to obtain all of the ingredients for the sancocho.

They participate in a trading activity where they barter with each other to get the ingredients needed to make chicken sancocho and learn about the difficulties associated with barter. They use money in a second round of the trading activity to learn about money’s advantages over barter.

James and Angel practice bartering and trading for ingredients to make sancocho.

During this interdisciplinary unit, students also enjoyed listening to podcasts of the novel Lemonade Wars by Jaqueline Davies.  Listening to podcasts was chosen for this novel so that students could

 work on their listening comprehension skills.  Students were given a series of questions to complete as they listened to each chapter.  This novel was a perfect choice to read as we explored economics because it detailed the story of  Fourth-grader Evan Treski and is sister Jessie as they endeavored to become lemonade stand entrepreneurs.  Evan is people-smart. He’s good at talking with people, even grownups. His younger sister, Jessie, on the other hand, is math-smart, but not especially good with people. So when the siblings’ lemonade stand war begins, there really is no telling who will win—or even if their fight will ever end. Brimming with savvy marketing tips for making money at any business, definitions of business terms, charts, diagrams, and even math problems, this fresh, funny, emotionally charged novel subtly explores how arguments can escalate beyond anyone’s intent.

In order for students to further grasp the concepts of economic principals, students were also able to play Money Metropolis, a free online game.  Money Metropolis is an educational game hosted on Practical Money Skills. In the game students choose savings goals then navigate their way through a virtual town to earn money toward those goals. Some of the earning opportunities are more lucrative than others. And some earning opportunities are easier than others. As you might expect, the easier tasks are not as lucrative. Along the way they are presented with some opportunities to spend the money that they've earned, but spending at those opportunities sets students back on their progress toward their goals.

While students were busy reading and learning these important social studies topics, third graders were busy applying what they were learning to real life.  In our classroom, students acted as producers by planting tomato, bell pepper, and marigold seeds and grew them in classroom greenhouses.  Having learned about thermal energy, students were aware that these greenhouses created a perfect environment for our plants to grow and thrive.

Darren, Kaylin, and Angel work together to plant seeds.

Classroom greenhouses provide thermal energy for plants to grow.

Students observed the plants grow over the course of the next couple of months...

Finally, it was time to transplant the seedlings into pots.

Cayla displays her re-potted plant.

Darren and Ray'Von and transplant seedlings.

In the larger pots, students were able to watch the plants continue to grow and strengthen...

  

While reading Lemonade Wars, student's learned about how to determine prices for the good that they want to sell.  They also learned that donating profits to a charity is something that some business people do.  The third graders in room 177 agreed to hold a plant sale where each plant would be sold for $0.50 each.  The proceeds from this sale would be donated to Alex's Lemonade Stand (for Childhood Cancer) Foundation,

On May 16th, students from Horizon Science Academy Dayton Elementary gathered at school for a spring planting event.  Students worked together to plant a school garden.  On this day, the third graders also held their plant sale.

Angel, Jayda, Cayla, and Diamond (not pictured) sold plants at the plant sale.

When selling plants, the customers who purchase the product are the consumers.

Diamond helps a customer at the plant sale.

While the plant sale was going on, students also helped beautify the school grounds...

Mr. Mims guides the students with planting day lilies.

Jayda, Cayla, Angel and others help to plant the caterpillar garden.

The third grade was able to raise a total of $25.00 to donate to Alex's Lemonade Stand.  Through this project that was funded by a Kids in Need Foundation Grant that was awarded to Ms. Amstutz, students were able to experience first hand, the role of producers and consumers in a society and experience what it is like to work to manage a business.  Students understood how much time it took to develop a product and they understood that sometimes, you have so spend money to be able to make money.

Just What is P.R.I.D.E.?

Have you been wondering what those letters in the acronym P.R.I.D.E. stand for?

Third grade students at HSA-DE have been learning what it means to show Horizon Pride since the very first day of third grade. Students were familiar with the idea of Horizon Pride from previous years at HSA-DE, but this year, they truly learned the meaning of P.R.I.D.E.


On the first day of third grade, students learned that having good character means that we should do all of the things that we need to do to show our Horizon P.R.I.D.E. They learned that the

• P means, "I should be proud and feel good about myself every day." 
• R means,  "I need to be responsible and do my part." 
• I stands for independent and means, "I should be able to work on my own."
• D is for dedicated which means, "I don’t let anything stand in my way."
• E stands for educated because "I know that my mind is important and I should nurture it." 

Students learned that they can show P.R.I.D.E. in everything they do at school and at home!

Throughout the year we have focused on ways we show that we are proud.  We show that we are proud by doing our classwork and homework neatly and when we complete an assignment, we put our names on it so that we take ownership of our work...anything with our name on it is a representation of ourselves.  We behave in ways that give others our best representation of ourselves...we are proud of our identity.

We show that we are responsible when we turn in our assignments on time.  We show that we are responsible when we come to school on time.  By following the classroom rules and procedures, we also show that we are responsible.  Being role model students (having all necessary supplies, wearing our uniform, following building and classroom rules) and role model citizens, we are responsible to each other.

We have discussed that to be independent means not only to work on our own but to also follow procedures without reminders.  As we are maturing in the school building, we are becoming role models for younger students.  We should no longer have to rely on reminders to obey rules; rather, we should independently remember them.  We discussed knowing to do some things without being told.  Finally, we discussed their desire to be treated less like a "little kid" and more like one of the older students in the building and how their demonstration of  independent behaviors will lead to that outcome.

During this year, we have routinely discussed how being a dedicated student will set themselves up for success.  They have had constant reminders that if they work hard today, in the future they will have to work less hard.  By being dedicated to their job as a student, they will develop good habits that will help them get into a good university or college.  Having high expectations/ goals and the dedication necessary to reach them will lead to higher achievement and higher outcomes.

Finally, we discussed that by being proud, responsible, independent, and dedicated, they will be more successful at being educated.  The first four letters of our P.R.I.D.E. acronym are key components to the fifth.  Each one goes hand in hand and leads to positive academic results.

Students were told that if even one of the letters or key components  that comes before the E was missing, that they would be less successful at obtaining a HIGHER ACHIEVING education.

In order to keep the focus on P.R.I.D.E., students were required to write this acronym on the heading of their assignments each day, along with their name and date.  This was to help them always remember to take pride in what they were getting ready to do.

Students were randomly divided into P.R.I.D.E. groups at the beginning of the year.  Each student was assigned a number and a letter.  Numbers corresponded to their locker number and text book numbers.  Letters corresponded to which P.R.I.D.E. group they were in.

Each day of the week was assigned a P.R.I.D.E. letter.  Monday was the letter P.  Tuesday was R.  Wednesday was I.  Thursday was D.  And, Friday was E.  On each day of the week, the corresponding group was the highlighted group of the day.  That group would get special privileges.  For example, they would be called to line up first and they would be first to be dismissed to lockers.  They might also be first to get to pick from the recess cart.

Whenever we did science labs or group work in social studies, reading, or math, students worked in collaborative P.R.I.D.E. groups with other students who shared the same letter.

As part of our positive behavior plan, students would earn points based on their behavior, attendance, and academics each day.  We call these "P.R.I.D.E. Points".  Students have an opportunity to earn up to 10 points per day.

And, as always, at the end of each month, the entire school celebrated good behavior  (and for third grade, academic standing) with a school-wide P.R.I.D.E. party.  At these P.R.I.D.E. parties, students would participate in fun events, earn treats such as pizza and juice, and often get to spend P.R.I.D.E. points at a special P.R.I.D.E. store.
Third grade students really seemed to benefit from full implementation and education of the P.R.I.D.E. system this year. It is my hope that they will continue to demonstrate the characteristics of P.R.I.D.E. for years to come.

This is How We OAA

Third grade students at Horizon Science Acadamy-Dayton Elementary took the Ohio Achievement Assessment--Reading today, April 29, 2015.  Students arrived today greeted by Ms. Amstutz who had written an important message on the board for her students.  The message read:

I Believe in YOU!

Students were treated to a hot breakfast prepared by Ms. Amstutz and cooked at school.  The breakfast consisted of a turkey-sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast casserole and milk.   Many students loved it so much they asked for the recipe.  If you would like to make it at home, it is easy to make.  You can find the recipe here.

Showing support for our Third Graders, Ms. Lierly, our school principal and Ms. Billingsley, our school dean helped to serve breakfast to the students.

Marion is ready to eat breakfast!

Ms. Lierly serves up a special breakfast to TaMya and Alivia.

Once they were served, students had some time to eat and enjoy each other's company in the classroom.  They had time to calm their nerves and start their day off in a positive way.

So, Why the Special Breakfast?  

Did you know breakfast improves academic performance and diet?

Breakfast helps improve mental performance and concentration during morning activities. Children who skip breakfast will be more sluggish, less attentive, and have less energy to carry out their morning tasks. Teachers observe that children who come to school hungry experience more learning difficulties compared to well-nourished children. Studies show that breakfast eaters perform much better in their school work and show extra energy in sports and other physical activities. Besides assuring optimal development and growth, positive effects on alertness, attention, performance on standardized achievement tests, and other skills important for academic success are enhanced for those who eat breakfast on a daily basis.

Marcus enjoys his healthy breakfast.

Students who eat a low-glycemic (low sugar), balanced breakfast may have better concentration and more positive reactions to difficult tasks than students who eat a carbohydrate-laden breakfast. According to research published in “Physiology and Behavior," students given a low-glycemic breakfast were able to sustain attention longer than children given a high-glycemic breakfast. Children following the low-glycemic breakfast plan also had improved memory and fewer signs of frustration when working on school tasks.

Diamond and Marion spending time together before the OAA.

Testing...it is not our favorite thing...but...

Let's face it, our kiddos are over-tested.  Right now, it is the "sign of our times".  We do what we have to do because we "have to".  Ms. Amstutz does her best to not make it any worse.  In order to help the students be "test-ready" what does she do?  She keeps things normal.  Ms. Amstutz does not spend much time at all doing "test-prep".  She believes that good teaching will lead to good results.  Ms Amstutz does not believe that she is teaching for the purpose of getting students to pass a test.  She believes that she is teaching students to become readers who find meaning and purpose in what they read.  She believes that when reading becomes easier for her students, they will like to read.

Throughout the year, there are MANY things we have done to work on our reading skills and strategies.  As the OAA was approaching, in order to review some of what we had learned, Ms. Amstutz did an author study with her class as part as the Right to Read Month (in March).  Students were read Alexander and the Terrible Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.  Students practices reading skills and grammar concepts with that book.

One skill practiced was Cause and Effect.  Students worked in P.R.I.D.E. groups  (to learn more about P.R.I.D.E. groups, click the hyperlink here) to sort a group of events that occurred in the story.  They had to organize them into two colums:  Cause (why something happens) and Effect (what happens).

Shy'Diamond, Sharnetta, Karissa, and Dymond work on their sort.

Darren, Angel, James, Cayla, and Abubakr with their completed sort.

Karissa's individual Cause/Effect organizer.

Students also worked on story sequencing.  This involved putting a series of events in the order in which they occurred.  This helps students work on retelling a story by its important events.

The ability to sequence events in a text is a key comprehension strategy, especially for narrative texts. Finding meaning in a text depends on the ability to understand and place the details, the sequence of events, within some larger context—the beginning, middle, and end of a story.  

As part of this author study, students also worked on practicing identification of root and base words, prefixes and suffixes using words that were found in the story.  Finally, the culminating project was for students to write their own narrative about a day in their life.  However, instead of writing about a bad day, students wrote stories about their "....Wonderful, Awesome, So Good, Best Day Ever!"

Alexander Lapbook, finished product, inside.

Once all of the components were completed, students assembled the parts into a special Alexander lapbook to display.

Alexander Lapbook...finished product, outside cover.

So, as you can see, we have kept busy with normal instruction as much as possible.  All year, students were given reading comprehension passages (close reads) that had multiple choice and extended response questions.  These passages always pertained to whatever we were currently learning in class at that time.  Only for a few days right before the OAA in the Fall and the OAA in the Spring were students given "practice tests" and no more than one hour a day was spent off our usual instruction.

Ms. Amstutz believes in educating her students in the same way she would want her own children educated.  She would like her students to go to school to be enriched and educated to be successful in life, not taught how to take a test.

Ms. Amstutz DOES Believe...

Just as Ms. Amstutz wrote on the board for her students, she REALLY DOES believe in her students.  I do believe in their growth and achievement this year.  Regardless of how the test results turn out, the students have ACHIEVED.  Ms. Amstutz does believe, however, that the students did well.  Many students have had to overcome and struggle through academic obstacles this year.  Others have had to overcome and struggles through personal obstacles this year. Ms. Amstutz DOES believe, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that no matter what, each and every one of her students has achieved great things this year.  And, Ms. Amstutz DOES believe that her students are MUCH MORE THAN A TEST.

A letter shared on Facebook by a fellow teacher about her
views on student testing.

Exploring Forms of Energy: Heat and Sound

As part of our "Dynamics" Interdisciplinary Unit, Third Graders explored forms of energy.  We began by observing the painting New York Movie by Edward Hopper.

Students were asked the question "What are the dynamics (the forces or properties that stimulate growth, development, or change within a system or process) present in this painting?"  As we discussed the painting students generated a list of ideas or dynamics including:

• Lights in the theater
•  story in the movie
• feeling of the usher (character),
• Economics- people paying for the movie and she works for the movie theater

As we explored forms of energy, we attempted to answer the following essential questions:

1. How does applying energy transform an object?
2. How can we see that energy transfers from one thing to another?

We began our exploration by discussing heat.  We learned what heat is and that it is a source of energy.  We then explored how heat effects matter.  To do this we conducted an experiment called Can Crush Saga.

Can Crush Saga

During our Can Crush Saga Experiment we aimed to prove that hot matter expands and when that matter cools, it contracts. This is a problem in nature that experts like engineers, have to control.  To solve this problem, engineers will add Thermal Expansion Joints to the bridge.

Thermal Expansion Joints on a bridge/roadway.

To test this, we first filled an emptied soda can ¼ full with water .  Then we put can with water on a pan on the hot plate until water boils (less than 5 minutes).

Next, we filled a bowl with ice water. 

We waited for the water to boil.

After water boils, we used tongs to flip the can over into the ice water.

After a few minutes we observed areas in the can where the can had crushed in on itself.

Spoon Wars

After proving that hot matter expands and when that matter cools, it contracts, third graders went on to explore how heat moves.  We discussed how some materials act as insulators and hold heat in place and other materials act as conductors and allow heat to move.  To investigate this concept, we conducted an experiment called Spoon Wars.

For this experiment, we used bowls, spoons, water and butter.  We placed two bowls in the middle of a table as the students gathered around in a group.  In one bowl, a metal spoon was placed and in the other a plastic spoon was placed with the handles facing downwards and he circle part should be sticking up out of the bowl.   Each spoon had a small square of butter in each spoon. Hot water was poured into the bowl so that only the handles should got wet. Students watched to see what happened...on which spoon did the butter melt first/most?  Which spoon is a conductor?  Which spoon is an insulator?

A plastic spoon and a metal spoon with butter on them.
On which spoon will the butter melt first when hot
water is poured in the bowl?  Which spoon is a
conductor and which spoon is an insulator?

After a few minutes, the butter on the plastic
spoon was melting where the spoon hovered
over the water.

After a few minutes, the butter on the metal
spoon seemed to be melting farther up on the spoon.
Some drops of butter melted into the bowl.

After thirty minutes, the butter on the plastic spoon had cooled.
A little bit of butter had dripped into the bowl.

After thirty minutes, the butter on the metal spoon had started
to slide down the spoon.  There were many drops of butter in the
bowl.  The butter on the spoon was still melted.

Students determined that metal was a better conductor of heat than plastic.  We discussed how certain things in our homes are coated in plastic to protect us from heat...electrical cords, for example.

Keeping Chilly Warm

As a performance assessment for our study of heat energy, students were given the task of designing a setting for a penguin named Chilly. They were asked to keep Chilly the Penguin warm by including in his setting sources of heat and insulators.. After designing his setting, students must write about the insulators and sources of heat they used. Here are several student examples.

Cayla's Chilly setting.

Cayla's explanation of how she
kept Chilly warm.

Ray'von's Chilly setting

Ray'von's explanation.

Abubakr's Chilly setting.

Abubakr's explanation.

Sound Art

After concluding our study of heat energy, students also explored light and sound energy.  In order to help student understand the concepts of pitch and volume,  a technology lesson was conducted so that students could understand the difference between the two concepts.

First, students listened to YouTube videos of low pitch and high pitch sounds.

HIGH PITCH:

LOW PITCH:

While these video clips played, Ms. Amstutz adjusted the volume dial on the speaker.  Students were then able to understand the difference between a low pitch at a high volume and a low pitch at a low volume.  They also hear a high pitch at a high volume and a high pitch at a high volume.

Students then completed an interactive notebook entry for what the visual appearance of high and low pitch sound energy waves and high and low volume sound energy waves looked like.

Afterwards, students had a turn at seeing what the sound wave for their own voice looked like.  Using a voice memo App on an iPhone, a recording of each student saying their name was taken.  Then, the whole class participated in an experiment.  We recorded ourselves saying "Third Grade" three different ways:  1) whispering, 2) speaking at a normal volume, and 3) shouting.  As the voice memo App recorded our voices, we were able to see a visual display our our sound wave.  Students were able to see that when they spoke loudly, the amplitude of the wave increased.

Here are two examples of the original recordings.  Can you guess which student spoke with a louder volume?

After this, Ms. Amstutz, worked behind the scenes taking a screen shot of each sound energy wave. Each image then had the colors inverted so that what was black was now white and what was once white was now black. The new images looked like this:

Aaron's inverted sound energy image.

Cayla's inverted sound energy image.

Following this, each student's inverted image was placed in a PowerPoint slide where it was replicated a total of four times each to create a piece of "pop art".  Each voice clip pop art  had the student's name placed it using word art. Students then used their choice of media to add color to their pop art.  This was a perfect way of integrating the science of SOUND, visual arts, and technology!  Here are some of our finished pieces:

"Third Grade" in a whisper, a spoken voice, and a shout.  Notice the increase
in wave amplitude as our volume increases.