Teacher’s Guide

Grade 3: States of Matter

TEKS 3.5 Matter and Energy The student knows that matter has
measureable physical properties and those properties determine how
matter is classified, changed and used. The student is expected to:

B) describe and classify samples of matter as solids, liquids, and

gases and demonstrate that solids have a definite shape and that
liquids and gases take the shape of their container;
C) predict, observe, and record changes in the state of matter caused
by heating or cooling

Background Information: Students have experience observing and

classifying matter as solid or liquid based on observable properties such
as shape, but this is the first year they are required to describe and
classify gases. In this unit, students learn that solids, liquids, and gases
have some shared and some unique physical properties that can be used
to determine the state of matter of a substance, which is also a physical
property of matter. Students will recognize that solids have definite
shapes, while liquids and gases take the shape of their containers. They
will also learn that volume is the amount of space matter takes up and that
solids and liquids have a definite volume while gases do not. Gases
spread out to fill the entire container.

In this unit, students are introduced to the tiny particles that make up all
matter. They are able to view models of the arrangement of these
particles in solids, liquids, and gases to help them see that the difference
in the arrangement of these particles determines a substance’s state.
These models help students to explore and visualize what causes a
substance to change state when heat energy is either added or removed.
This better prepares students to understand and to be able to predict
changes in state. Students should have many opportunities to observe
and record changes in the state of matter. This should include freezing,
melting and the change of liquid water to water vapor in steam and
through evaporation, caused by heating and cooling (the addition or
removal of heat energy). This is a great opportunity to integrate physical
science and earth science as they occur in the water cycle.

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 Prerequisite Knowledge: Prior to this year, students have observed,
recorded and classified matter based on physical properties, including
whether the material is a solid or a liquid. Students have observed and
explored how materials can be changed by adding or removing heat
energy from substances, and are able to predict changes in materials
caused by heating and cooling, such as ice melting and water freezing or
evaporating. Students are able to demonstrate that things can be done to
materials to change their physical properties such as cutting, folding,
sanding, and melting. This is the first year students are required to collect
and record data using metric units and to differentiate between observed
and measured data. This is also the first year they are required to use
tools to measure in metric units such as Celsius thermometers, metric
rulers, graduated cylinders and beakers, and pan balances.

Common Misconceptions: Students often think that substances only

exist in one state, or that changing a substance’s state by melting or
freezing makes it a different substance. This is why it is important to show
students examples of changing states, such as ice melting into water and
then refreezing to form ice once again. Water and ice are made of the
same substance but are in different states. Another misconception many
students have is that all solids have a rigid shape that does not change
when moved from one place to another. It is important for students to
understand that some solids are more flexible than others, and it’s
possible for them to flex or give but still retain their shape. Solids, not
matter how flexible, do not require a container to give them shape.

Some students will have a problem comprehending conservation of mass,

meaning that the total mass of matter does not change when matter
undergoes a physical change. For example, when you chop up a solid into
smaller pieces, its total mass does not change, or when water freezes to
form ice, the total mass remains the same. Students will need many
opportunities to explore this using pan balances in order to comprehend it.

Students may also have problems understanding that the volume of a

liquid does not change when it is poured from one container to another.
They will need to experience this using different liquids and graduated
cylinders, beakers and measuring cups used to measure the volume of
liquids.

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 Please do not refer to states of matter as “the” states of matter. Matter exists
in more than three states which students will learn later on.

Essential Questions:

1) What are three states in which matter can exist?

Solid, liquid, and gas

2) What is mass, what does it measure and how is it measured?

Mass is the amount of matter in an object or substance. It is

measured in units called grams using a pan balance that compares
objects or substances to other objects of known mass.

3) What is volume, what does it measure and how is it measured?

Volume is a measurement of the amount of space a substance or

an object takes up. Liquid volume is measured in units called
milliliters or liters using tools such as graduated cylinders,
graduated beakers and measuring cups. Solid volume is measured
in cubic centimeters using a metric ruler or in milliliters by placing
the solid in a graduated cylinder with water to see how much water
it displaces.

4) How can you tell the difference between a solid, a liquid, and a gas?

Solids have a definite shape, meaning they do not need a container

to give them shape. Solids retain their own shape. Solids also
have a definite volume, meaning they take up the same amount of
space no matter where or into what container they are placed.

Liquids do not have a definite shape. They take the shape of the
container in which they are placed. However, like solids, liquids
have a definite volume. This means they take up the same amount
of space in any container in which they are placed.

Gases, like liquids, have no definite shape but take the shape of
their container. Unlike liquids and solids, gases do not have a
definite volume but spread out to fill the entire container in which
they are placed.

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 5) What is the name of the process where a liquid changes to a solid?

The process where a liquid changes to a solid is called freezing.

Freezing is caused by cooling, or removing heat energy from a
substance.

6) What is the name of the process where a solid changes to a liquid?

The process where a solid changes to a liquid is called melting.

Melting is caused by adding heat energy to a substance.

7) What does temperature measure, and how is it measured?

In science, temperature is measured with a thermometer in units

called degrees Celsius. The lines on the thermometer and the level
of the liquid inside tell us how hot the substance is and whether the
temperature is increasing, decreasing or is unchanged. When heat
energy is added, the temperature increases. When heat energy is
removed, the temperature decreases.

Notes:

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