Solids, Liquids, and Gases

Having never taught first grade science before, I've come across the most challenging unit yet...Matter. I've found a few things on TPT about solids and liquids, but gases are a WHOLE OTHER STORY! 

Here's a little experiment my kiddos did today:

I had them fill out a chart for what they saw, what they predict, and what happened. They drew it, they wrote it....and they were super excited. They were even MORE excited to see that their teacher forgot that the sparkling water had fallen upon entering the classroom. Yeah...the foaming over was quite a sight to see, but also a teachable moment.

We also played a game yesterday. I put signs on four of my P.E. cones. I spread them out on the playground far enough where they would have to run between them. I called out a word and they had to run to the cone that they felt best described it. If there were kids at more than one cone, I'd ask them to explain WHY they chose that form of matter. Some of their answers were quite entertaining. The question mark was there for when they aren't sure. I gave an example of "kumquat". If they weren't sure what it was, they could go to that cone and I'd give them a clue. I told them, "A kumquat is a type of fruit." This helped them in their decision.

I did throw in a few to really get their brains going. Most kids picked blood as a liquid. Then I threw this one at them..."What is Mrs. Magallano?" Several kids picked solid, while the rest picked liquid. One kid picked gas and I secretly laughed. 

One of the students who picked liquid rationalized by saying, "Well, you said blood was a liquid, and there's blood inside you, so I think you're a liquid too!"

I love those moments!

In a few weeks we will be studying how these forms of matter can interact with each other. I can't wait to change some solids into liquids. I plan on bringing my juicer and letting the kids taste some veggie/fruit juice! OH I CAN'T WAIT!!!

If you have any great ideas about how to teach solids, liquids, and gases, please let me know! I'm always looking for good ideas!