Classroom Activities: Solids, Liquids, and Gases

These classroom activities are designed to complement the States of Matter topic on BrainPOP Jr.

Shapes Matter
Remind your students that liquids take the shape of their containers. Experiment pouring liquids into containers of different shapes and sizes. Then have students pour the same amount of liquid into each container. How do the shapes change? Why do some containers appear to have more liquid than others?

As an extension, help students blow air into balloons to make different shapes. Balloons can be small, large, tube-shaped etc. Encourage students to make balloon animals to show how gas can be moved and contained. Compare how liquids and gases fill their containers.

Mass Mania

Review with your students that mass is the amount of matter in an object. Explain that some objects may seem very large but have little mass. For example, a balloon is bigger than a key, but the balloon has less mass. A foot of yarn is longer than a marble, but the marble has more mass. Brainstorm different examples. If possible, have small groups use balance scales and gram measurements to compare the masses of different objects.

Property Game

Discuss different properties of objects, such as color, texture, smell, etc. Then have students choose objects and write riddles that describe their properties. Encourage your students to write riddles for solids, liquids, and gases. Have students read their riddles and invite volunteers to guess the object. For example, a student might say: “What is solid, wooden, tall and attached to our wall?” Encourage students to think about how the objects are alike and different from each other.