2nd Grade Matter Unit Blueprint—Helpful Teacher Tips

Lesson 1

Record Sheet 1-A

Have students make their drawing of the cup of water and tablet in it (#3 on sheet) immediately. The change occurs relatively fast. The drawing is much more meaningful if it illustrates the change as it is occurring.

Change Cards

Use cards 1-5 only. The remaining cards illustrate types of changes that are not addressed in the unit.

Lesson 2

The Melting Race

• Suggestion: Fill both ice cube trays with water. Use one tray for Day 1. Use the second tray for the actual race on Day 2.
• Use the teacher-generated The Melting Race sheet in place of the one in the Teacher’s Guide. The teacher-generated sheet requires students to think of a plan and put it in writing. It also eliminates the need to construct a clock. Finally, the sheet contains a self-assessment section.
• The bags have a tendency to split. Be prepared to use extra bags and also advise students to be gentle with the bags.
• Suggestion: Place one ice cube out on the counter and time how long it takes to melt. The ice cube can be set aside to melt while the students are conducting their own experiments. It can serve as a control. Students can compare their melting rates to the ice cube on the counter that had nothing done to it.
• At the close of the lesson, the teacher is instructed to pour the water from the bags into Petri dishes. According to the Teacher’s Guide, only two students should place lids on their Petri dishes (see bullet #5 on page 39). Since the students are going to make written observations and drawings of covered and uncovered Petri dishes at the beginning of Lesson 3, it is suggested that half the students cover their dishes and half do not. Thus, students can be partnered together during Lesson 3 and have two different dishes (lid and non-lid) to observe.

Lesson 2.1

Measured Water Freezing and Melting (lesson added/not included in teacher’s guide)

Part 1: As a class demonstration, fill a 50 mL graduated cylinder, which has been added to the kit, with about 40 mL of water. Colored water makes it easier to see the water line. A bottle of food coloring has been added to the kit. Have students use the My Observation Sheet for recording their observations of the graduated cylinder. Divide the blank top section into three parts. Label each part “Before Freezing,” “Frozen,” and “After Melting.” Have students make their first drawing of the graduated cylinder with the water level identified. Since there is only one graduated cylinder for students to observe, a sample drawing on the board by the teacher is advised. Students can use the drawing as a basis for their own. This also provides an opportunity to model quality science drawings.

Part 2: Remove graduated cylinder from the freezer. Do it at a time where students can observe and draw the cylinder containing frozen water. Again, it’s helpful if the teacher makes a drawing on the board. Once the ice is melted, the students should observe the water level and make a final drawing. Students should observe that the water level returns to its original point.

Lesson 3

Petri Dish & Water Experiment:

• Run the My Observation sheet and the What Did I Learn sheet back-to-back.
• Draw a line down the middle of the My Observation Sheet, which is available on page 198 in Teacher’s Guide. Use one half to draw and describe the uncovered Petri dish filled with water. Use the other half to draw and describe the covered Petri dish filled with water. (These directions are not contained in the Teacher’s Guide. Since the activity addresses a benchmark, students should  record their observations rather than simply discuss them.)
• Have students record their own observations (do not do as a class). Have students record their own thoughts about what “big ideas” they learned from the experiment on the I Learned sheet.

The majority of Lesson 3 addresses gases. The concept of a gas and where water goes are beyond the benchmarks for this grade level. They are addressed in the fourth grade Matter unit.

Mid-Summative Assessment

Have students work on the assessment independently.

Questions 1 & 2 assess students’ knowledge of the following benchmark: Water left in an open container disappears, but water in a closed container does not disappear.

Question 3 assesses student’s knowledge of the bolded part of the following benchmark: 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.

The second part of Question 3 requires students to use evidence to support their answer. It aligns with the following benchmark: Ask “How do you know?” in appropriate situations and attempt reasonable answers when others ask them the same question.

Record-keeping suggestion: If you record students’ work in a grade book, Questions 1, 2, and the first part of Question 3 could each represent one point. They are critical questions because they address content-based benchmarks. The second part of Question 3 should be recorded separately in the grade book because it addresses a process benchmark. If a student answered all questions correctly, it could be notated in the grade book as:

Lesson 4

Have students use the My Observation Sheet for recording their observations. Divide the blank top section into three parts. Label each part “Before Mixing,” “Mixed,” and “After Separating.” Have students make a drawing of the cups for each section. Under the written observation section, have students describe what they observe when the salt and gravel are mixed and separated.

Lesson 5

Teachers can use My Observation Sheet and/or Record Sheet 5-A for recording observations of the experiment. If using the My Observation Sheet, divide the blank top section into three parts. Label each one “Gravel,” Toilet Paper,” and “Salt.” Students should either draw the entire system (the cup with the funnel and items in it) or the filter paper after filtering.

Class discussion of lab/I Learned Sheet

Students need to be encouraged to generalize from this lab. They need to move beyond what simply happened to the gravel, toilet paper, and salt. They should learn that not all materials respond the same when something is done to them. They should be able to think of other items they could mix with water that would respond like the gravel, toilet paper, or salt.

Lesson 6

Students should complete the sheet independently.

The drawing section of the My Observation Sheet assesses students’ ability to meet the following benchmark: Draw pictures that correctly portray at least some features of the thing being described.

The written portion of the My Observation Sheet assesses students’ ability to apply the following benchmark: 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.)

Post Unit Assessment

Have students work independently on What Have You Learned about Changes summative assessment. Tell students they can’t use examples given in class, especially the objects they used in the experiments they conducted.

Have students work independently on What Have You Learned about Changes summative assessment. Tell students they can’t use examples given in class, especially the objects they used in the experiments they conducted.

Questions on What Have You Learned about Changes assess students’ ability to apply the following benchmarks:

1. Things can be done to materials to change some of their properties, but not all materials respond the same way to what is done to them.
2. Things change in some ways and stay the same in some ways.