University of Waikato
Looking at Water - Solid, Liquid, or Gas
Here's a tip: only one substance is commonly found as a solid, liquid, and gas. Learners use that knowledge as they investigate the properties of water in each state. They interact with water in each of its three phases and record what...
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Icefish Blood Adaptations: Antifreeze Proteins
Ever wonder how fish survive in freezing cold water—especially Antarctic waters? Some fish have an adaptation that lowers the freezing point of their life fluids. Learners model these adaptations in two lab explorations. The first...
Discovery Education
It's Melting!
It's a race to the finish! Which ice cube will melt the fastest? Scholars discover the effect thermal energy has on melting ice. They experiment with melting ice cubes on different materials and learn that even at a consistent...
Discovery Education
Cool It!
Adjust the melting time of ice without varying the temperature! Learners experiment with different materials to decide how the materials affect the rate an ice cube melts. They then connect their findings to the conductivity of each...
Kenan Fellows
How Much Heat Can a Phase Change Produce?
Scholars learn about heat release in phase changes. They perform calculations as they compare and contrast a science fiction passage and a home heating application.
National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network
Nanotechnology Invention and Design: Phase Changes, Energy, and Crystals
What does it take to be considered a smart material? Learners investigate the properties of Nitinol, a smart material, through a hands-on lab activity. They examine the crystal lattice structure and the conditions required for Nitinol to...
Concord Consortium
Phase Change
Energize your phase change lesson plans! Add a short but focused interactive into the mix and watch as pupils experience how states of matter react to changes in kinetic energy. The resource tracks the kinetic energy of a cold solid...
Concord Consortium
Seeing Specific Heat and Latent Heat
What happens inside a melting solid? Prospective physical chemists observe a solid-to-liquid phase change at the molecular level using an inspired interactive. Pupils add heat to a close system, then monitor changes in kinetic and...
Concord Consortium
Intermolecular Attractions and States of Matter
Need a solid resource for teaching about states of matter? Science scholars go with the flow in a simple interactive that shows how intermolecular attractions determine a substance's phase. Pupils take control of the level of attraction...
Concord Consortium
Specific Heat and Latent Heat in Condensation
There's more to melting than meets the eye! Junior physical chemists investigate the differences between specific and latent heats as a substance undergoes a phase change. Users remove heat from the system and observe changes in kinetic...
CK-12 Foundation
Broken-Line Graphs: Heating Curve of Water
Examine the unique graphs coined broken-line graphs. Using the phase change of water for data, learners answer questions related to the temperature and energy at different times in the cycle of the phase change. Questions focus on the...
Columbus City Schools
What’s Up with Matter?
Take a "conservative" approach to planning your next unit on mass and matter! What better way to answer "But where did the gas go?" than with a lab designed to promote good report writing, research skills, and detailed observation. The...
Science Geek
Phase Changes
Examine the energy transfer of phase changes through diagrams. The second slide show in a series of seven presents the information related to energy and phase changes. It includes the effect of pressure on phase changes.
Urbana School District
Fluids
In 1879, Sir William Crookes discovered the fourth state of matter, plasma. The presentation covers states of matter, phase changes, density, pressure Pascal's Principle, buoyant force, Archimedes' Principle, Bernoulli's Principle,...
Urbana School District
Thermodynamics
Entropy, it isn't what it used to be. Presentation includes kinetic-molecular theory, heat and internal energy, thermal equilibrium, temperature scales, laws of thermodynamics, entropy, latent heat of fusion, specific heat, calorimetry,...
Science Geek
Thermochemical Calculations
Viewers learn where the heat goes when phase changes take place with a presentation that explains the latent heat of phase changes, or, more specifically, the molar heat of fusion, solidification, vaporization, and condensation. The show...
Science Geek
Basic Thermochemistry
Heat is more than just temperature, as viewers discover throughout a presentation about thermochemistry that emphasizes vocabulary. Definitions include joule, calorie, energy, enthalpy, calorimetry, exothermic and endothermic process,...
It's About Time
States of Matter: Solid, Liquid, and Gas
Solid, liquid, and gas: they all matter. Scholars create an animation of the various states of matter, experiment with the temperature of water as it changes states, and observe carbon dioxide as it changes states. The lesson also...
Department for Children, Schools and Families
Explaining Change Processes Using a Simple Particle Model of Matter
The more things change, the more they stay the same. This unit includes seven lessons starting with physical change and moving through to chemical change. Conservation of matter is explained clearly with multiple hands-on activities and...
Steinhardt Apps
Kinetic Molecular Theory
Building off young chemists' knowledge of the states of matter, kinetic molecular theory is the focus of the unit. Eight days of lessons including multiple demonstrations, one lab experiment, directed instruction, and worksheets,...
Science Friday
Sublime Sublimation
Dry ice isn't dehydrated water, and young scientists learn why in this fascinating presentation. After watching a video, they complete three different activities using dry ice. Upon completion, they discuss the scientific principle.
Yummy Math
Playing with my calculator on the 4th of July
This fun activity guides learners through an exploration of the effects of replacing f(x) with -f(x), f(x) + c, k f(x), and f(x + c). Using graphing calculators, students experiment with variations of the graph of y = x^2 to design a...
Curated OER
Water and Ice
Students will observe, measure and describe the phase changes of ice. In this science lesson plan, students observe ice as it changes phases. Qualaitative notations made by individual students will be shared and compared.
Curated OER
Typical Conceptual Questions for Physics I - Heat
This activity would make a nifty quiz on the laws of thermodynamics. Nine multiple choice questions assess high schoolers' understanding of energy transfer, specific heat capacity, phase change, fusion, and vaporization. It is short but...