Solids, liquids, and gases - Additional activities
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Main Image
Subjects
Try out some additional activities that explore solids, liquids and gases!
What You Need
Demonstration
- Ice-filled balloon (place a water filled balloon in the freezer the night before the presentation)
- Water-filled balloon,
- Air-filled balloon
Craft
- Printouts - one per child
- Glue
- Pompoms in different sizes - 10-15 per child (pompoms can be replaced with beads, cereal pieces, etc.)
Safety Notes
Ensure you are familiar with Let's Talk Science's precautions with respect to safe outreach to youth.
What To Do
Demonstration
Note: Prepare ice-filled balloon in advance.
- Talk to students about differences between solids, liquids, and gases.
- Show students the ice-filled balloon and explain the properties of solids hard, impenetrable, molecules close together
- Show students the water-filled balloon and explain the properties of liquids (i.e. fluid, penetrable, takes the shape of the container, etc.)
- Fill the third balloon with air. Show students the balloon and explain the properties of gases including that they're hard to visualize.
- Pass around the balloons and let the students feel the difference between the different states of matter.
Craft
- Pass out photocopied handouts.
- Tell students that the pompoms represent the molecules in solids, liquids, and gases and remind students that the molecules are closest together in solids, and farthest apart in gases.
- Pass out glue sticks and pompoms and let students create their solids, liquids, and gases.
Discovery
Resources
Solids, Liquids, and gases - States of Matter Printout (bilingual)