Lesson plan

States of Matter in foods

Summary
Make snack foods and discover the changes in states of matter in making them. Act out the state changes in each case.
Science content
Chemistry: States of Matter, Properties of Materials (K-7)
Chemistry: Atoms, Molecules (3-7)
Chemistry: Physical Changes, Solutions, Mixtures and Separating (2, 4, 5, 6)
Chemistry: Chemical Changes (2, 7)
Procedure

First, act out the states of matter with the students, so that they are familiar with what happens on the molecular level as the states change. Show them each state in water as they move from one state to the next and back.

Make a snack that involves changing liquid water into a gas: popcorn. While it is heating up, act out what is happening to the water inside the kernal as the water evaporates (liquid to gas) - students can divide into groups and make skits about what is happening to the molecules.

Either:
Make a gas in another way to make a soda drink.
Optional: act this out as well - half the group can be the liquid juice and the other half the solid baking soda, then change to liquid and gas as they interact.

Or:
Make ice cream.
Optional: act out the liquid cream to solid ice cream transformation after making it.

Notes

Tyee and Champlain Heights Annex skipped the ice cream.
Lord Roberts: showed states of matter in water, then acted out the states. Popcorn. Ice cream.

Grades taught
Gr K
Gr 1
Gr 2
Gr 3
Gr 5