Lesson 1: Thinking about How Things Change

2nd Grade Matter Unit Blueprint—Lesson 1: Thinking about How Things Change

Pacing Suggestions:

Day 1 –Procedure Step 1 on page 21 in TG
Day 2 –Procedure Steps 2 & 3 on page 21 in TG
Day 3 –Procedure Steps 4-8 on pages 22 & 23 and Final Activities Steps 1-4 on pages 23 & 24 in TG

Teacher Resources:

Tips

Essential & Unit Questions ¹

Benchmarks ²

Formative and Summative Assessments ³

Using Assessments to Monitor Student Learning

How can solids and liquids change?

4C(K-2)#2: Change is something that happens to many things.

Pre-unit assessment—What We Know about Solids, Liquids, and Change Chart (See Procedure Step 1 on page 21 in Teacher’s Guide.)
Change Cards & Looking at Changes Chart (See Procedure Steps 2 & 3 on page 21 in Teacher’s Guide.)
Changes All Around Us poem—read and discuss poem (See Final Activities Step 4 on page 24 in Teacher’s Guide.)

What We Know about Solids, Liquids, and Change Chart

See Assessment on page 25 in Teacher’s Guide

Change Cards

Are the students able to identify the solids and liquids in the pictures?
Are the students able to reasonably predict how the solids and liquids in the pictures will change?

Changes Poem (Discussion)

Are students able to identify and describe a change from the poem?

Why is it important to keep accurate records or notes about things that are observed?

What are some ways to describe objects?

Related to 1B(K-2)#3: Describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others.

4D(K-2)#1: Objects can be described in terms of the materials they are made of (clay, cloth, paper, etc.) and their physical properties (color, size, shape, weight, texture, flexibility, etc.).

Record Sheet 1-A, Questions 1 and 2 and class discussion of data (See Procedure Steps 4-8 on pages 22 & 23 in Teacher’s Guide.)

Click to view a sample of student work. (Acrobat PDF)

The lesson does not deliberately address benchmark 1B(K-2)#3. The teacher needs to help students make the connection between the importance of recording accurate observations & the ability to compare observations with others. This should be emphasized throughout the unit.

Record Sheet 1-A

Are the students able to accurately describe some physical properties of the water and tablet?
Are the students able to describe physical properties of the water/tablet that changed after the tablet was dropped in the water?

12D(K-2)#2: Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described.

Record Sheet 1-A, Question 3, class discussion/comparison of drawings, and self-reflection of drawing

The Teacher’s Guide does not specifically direct teachers to have students reflect on their drawings. However, this step is necessary for students to become aware of the details included in their drawings. Reflection could be as simple as students sharing with a partner what they did well and what they can improve or be more detailed having students use a “T Table” describing what they did well and what they can improve.

How can water be changed back and forth between a solid and a liquid?

4B(K-2)#2: Water can be a liquid or a solid and can be made to go back and forth from one form to the other. If water is turned into ice and then the ice is allowed to melt, the amount of water is the same as it was before freezing.

Student predictions about how the water will change when frozen in the ice cube trays (See Final Activities Step 2 on pages 23 & 24 in Teacher’s Guide.)

Criteria to consider while students generate predictions:

Do students know that water becomes a solid when it is placed in a cold environment such as a freezer?

For conceptual benchmarks.
Bolded Sections indicate portion of benchmark addressed.
Unless noted as a Summative Assessment, the assessments are formative and should be used to guide teaching and learning.