Lesson Plan: States of Matter Physics
This lesson plan includes the objectives, prerequisites, and exclusions of the lesson teaching students how to describe the transitions between the three most common states of matter on the surface of Earth: solid, liquid, and gas.
Objectives
Students will be able to
- recall that there are three states of matter that are common on Earth: solid, liquid, and gas,
- recall that liquids and gases are both fluids,
- describe what is meant by the terms melting, condensing, freezing, solidifying, boiling, evaporating, and sublimating,
- recall that when a substance is not undergoing a state change, a change in its internal energy will result in a change in temperature,
- recall that when a substance is undergoing a state change, a change in its internal energy will not result in a change in temperature,
- interpret graphs and tables of temperature against time for substances and identify the temperatures at which state changes occur,
- describe in approximate terms how particles are arranged in solids, liquids, and gases.
Prerequisites
Students should already be familiar with
- energy,
- temperature,
- the degree Celsius, degree Fahrenheit, and kelvin temperature scales,
- the idea that objects and materials are made up of atoms.
Exclusions
Students will not cover
- any states of matter other than solid, liquid, and gas,
- calculations of specific heat capacity,
- calculations of specific latent heat,
- gas laws,
- thermodynamic laws,
- crystal physics.
