Chemistry I students last discussed the states of matter in sixth grade, but they are also used as a discussion lead in to thermodynamics in chemistry. Because students have experience with states of matter, I wanted to find an engaging way to activate previous knowledge and begin our thermochemistry unit. I generated a list of eight properties of each of the three common states of matter, printed them on colored sheets of paper, cut them into slips and mixed them together in a bucket. Then I divided the class into three teams and assigned each team a state of matter to represent and asked them to pull eight random slips from the bucket. The teams were to discuss amongst themselves whether or not each of the eight slips they pulled out matched their state of matter. If the group found that some of the slips descriptions didn’t define their state, they were to trade with another group until they found descriptions that did, but not to have more than eight slips at once.
After each group was pleased with the eight slips that they had, we debriefed as a class as to whether or not each group had the appropriate descriptions for their assigned state of matter. Most groups got all of their descriptors correct on the first try. The activity took about a quarter of a class period, and was a great student led start to the unit.
InTASC 3’s collaborative learning slant was used during this activity as the students were engaged in solving this puzzle together. HLPs 3-6-13 were used in selecting how to present the information to the class. I always begin my lesson planning by first outlining a unit, writing the notes, gathering laboratories and activities. Lastly I decide how I am going to present content. That is the tricky part, but also my favorite. The above lesson was assembled initially as a lecture, but the night before I presented it, I sat and thought about how I could make it more engaging, and this idea came to mind. I’m glad it did, and I plan on using it, or a modified version of it, again in the future.