Google Expeditions Lesson Plan: Iceland

LESSON TITLE: Filming the states of matter

In this lesson, students travel to Iceland as filmmakers. They explore parts of the
country to choose locations for a short educational film, helping students revise
their knowledge of the states of matter.

LESSON BACKGROUND

Year(s): Key Stage 3, Years 7–9

Subject(s): Chemistry

Objectives:
Students will:
 Be able to describe the 3 states of matter
 Be able to describe changes of state
 Choose appropriate locations to exemplify their descriptions of states of
matter and changes of state.

Standards:
National curriculum / Key Stage 3 / Years 7–9 / Chemistry
Students should be taught about:
 The properties of the different states of matter (solid, liquid and gas) in
terms of the particle model, including gas pressure
 Changes of state in terms of the particle model.

National curriculum / Key Stage 3 / Years 7–9 / Mathematics

Students should be taught to:
 Use the properties of faces, surfaces, edges and vertices of cubes, cuboids,
prisms, cylinders, pyramids, cones and spheres to solve problems in 3D.

Main question:
How can we explain the properties of the 3 states of matter?

Guiding questions:
1. What are the 3 states of matter?
2. What are the properties of the 3 states of matter?
3. What are changes of state?
4. How are particles arranged in the 3 states of matter?
5. How do particles move in the 3 states of matter?
6. What happens to the arrangement and motion of particles as matter
changes state?
Vocabulary: particle, states of matter, change of state, melting, evaporating,
condensing, freezing, prism

Grouping: Whole class

EXPEDITION PREP

Selected expedition: Iceland

Selected scenes and points of interest:

 Svartifoss waterfall: Harnessing the Hydro; Hexagonal Columns
 Jökulsárlón Ice Lagoon: Below Sea Level
 The Blue Lagoon Thermal Resort: Geothermal water; Svartsengi Power
Station

Additional resources:
 Paper or projectable copies of the two tables below (without the italicised
answers).

BEFORE THE EXPEDITION

Student activity: Students review their knowledge of the states of matter and
changes of state, and show how the particle model can be used to explain states
of matter.

Divide the class into groups of 3–5 students. Explain that they are filmmakers who
have been commissioned to make a short film for school students to help them
revise the states of matter. They will be going to Iceland to choose locations with
exciting natural examples of solids, liquids and gases. They need to prepare for
their visit by reviewing their knowledge of the 3 states of matter.

Ask the students the following discussion questions:

 What are the 3 states of matter?
Solid, liquid, gas.
 What are the properties of a substance in its 3 different states?
Solid: fixed shape, does not flow, cannot be compressed.
Liquid: takes shape of bottom of container, flows, cannot be compressed.
Gas: spreads out to take shape of container, flows, can be compressed.
 What are melting, freezing, evaporating and condensing all examples of?
Changes of state.
 How are particles arranged, and how do they move, in the 3 states of
matter?
Solid: regular pattern, touch each other, vibrate on the spot.
Liquid: no regular pattern, touch each other, move around each other.
 Gas: no regular pattern, far apart, move in all directions.

DURING THE EXPEDITION

Student activity: Students create a table listing what each scene shows about the
states of matter and changes of state.

Tell students that they will now visit Iceland to find locations for their short film.

Write the following discussion questions on the board and explain to the students
that they will create a table that answers these questions for each point of
interest that they visit:

1. What does this scene show about the properties of solids, liquids and/or
gases?
2. What does this scene show about changes of state?

Note: Answers are given in italics in this table – distribute tables without the
answers and allow the students to fill out as much as they can before providing
direction.

Scene and point of What it shows about the What it shows about
interest states of matter changes of state
Jökulsárlón Ice
Solids (e.g. ice) have fixed The ice melts when it
Lagoon: Below Sea shapes is warm and freezes in
Level Liquids (e.g. water) flow winter

Svartifoss Waterfall: Liquids (e.g. water) flow

Harnessing the Hydro
Svartifoss Waterfall: Solids have a fixed shape
Hexagonal Columns
The Blue Lagoon Liquids can flow Water evaporates
Thermal Resort: Liquids take the shape of from the surface of
Geothermal Water their containers the liquid, forming
gas/steam
The Blue Lagoon Gases (e.g. steam) spread out Gases (e.g. steam)
Thermal Resort: Gases flow condense as they cool
Svartsengi Power
Station

Take the students to the scene: Jökulsárlón Ice Lagoon. Tell them to look at point
of interest: Below Sea Level, and ask them to imagine paddling a small boat
through the lake. What might the students films to show the properties of ice and
liquid water? Go on to ask them the discussion questions written on the board
and tell them to fill in the table.

Take the students to the scene: Svartifoss Waterfall. Tell them to look at points of
interest: Harnessing the Hydro and Hexagonal Columns. Ask the class to imagine
standing close to the water. What might they capture on camera? How should
they show the great height of the 20m-high hexagonal basalt columns? After
taking a couple of answers, ask the class the discussion questions written on the
board and tell them to fill in the table.

Take the students to the scene: The Blue Lagoon Thermal Resort. Tell them to
look at points of interest: Geothermal Water and Svartsengi Power Station. Ask
the class to imagine floating in the warm water and to think about how they could
use words and film to describe how it feels. How could they show the properties
of liquid water?

Go on to ask them to imagine standing on the rough black sand and looking out at
the power station. How could they film the movement of the steam? After some
discussion of this, ask the questions written on the board and remind them to fill
in their tables.

AFTER THE EXPEDITION

Student activity: Students work collaboratively in their groups to decide which

locations they will film in to illustrate the properties of solids, liquids and gases,
and to illustrate changes of state.

Explain to the students that they are now going to work in their groups to decide
which locations to film to illustrate the properties of solids, liquids and gases. They
must also choose locations and content to demonstrate changes of state.

Tell the class that to help make their decisions, they are going to discuss the
following questions in their groups:
1. Which location best illustrates the properties of this state? What will we
film here?
2. Which location best shows this change of state? What will we film here?

Distribute copies of the table below with the italicised answers removed.

State or change Best location What will be filmed

of state here
Solid Jökulsárlón Ice Lagoon Icebergs
Svartifoss Waterfall Basalt columns
Liquid Blue Lagoon Water
Svartifoss Waterfall Waterfall
Gas The Blue Lagoon Thermal Steam
Resort: Geothermal Water or
Svartsengi Power Station
 Melting Jökulsárlón Ice Lagoon Small piece of ice
melting
Evaporating The Blue Lagoon Thermal Steam above water
Resort: Geothermal Water
Condensing The Blue Lagoon Thermal Close up of water
Resort: Svartsengi Power Station formed from condensed
steam
Freezing Jökulsárlón Ice Lagoon Icebergs

To complete this part of the activity, ask students to draw particle models to
overlay for each scene. Encourage them to include instructions to an animator
about how to convey particle movement.

EXTENSION IDEAS

For a mathematics extension, tell the students that the filmmakers like their work
and have as a result commissioned a short mathematics film to revise geometry.

Explain that the film will focus on the hexagonal basalt columns seen in the scene:
Svartifoss Waterfall. As well as making the film, students should devise a series of
questions for viewers focusing on the mathematics learning objective:

“Students should use the properties of faces, surfaces, edges and vertices
of prisms to solve problems in 3D.”

Remind students that the waterfall height is 20m and show them the
measurement in the diagram below. Allow students time to work collaboratively
to make up a series of questions for viewers. Remind them also to supply answers
to their problems.

Suggested problems include:

 Estimate the height of the columns
 Calculate the area of the top face of a column
 Estimate the area of the rectangular faces of a column
 Estimate the total surface area of a column
 Estimate the volume of a column
 Calculate the angles of the vertices of a column