MajesticPumas: Science (review) so far...

1. What is Matter?

Look around the classroom. Everything, from the clothes you are wearing to the air you breath is matter. Matter is very important. Matter makes up everything including living things like plants and people. It also makes non-living things such as tables and chairs. Things as big as an elephant or as tiny as a grain of sand on a beach are matter.Everything is matter and matter comes in three different states: solid, liquid and gas. That means that everything is either a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Each state has properties.

2. What does property mean?

Each state

has properties, but what does that mean?

A property describes how an object looks, feels, or acts. So that means that liquids look, act, or feel differently than solids or gases.

One property of all matter, whether it's a solid, liquid, or gas, is that it takes up space and has mass.

To help you decide if something is a solid, a liquid or a gas, you need to know the properties, (how it looks, acts or feels) of these three states.

Challenge Questions:

1. Think about a can of soda. All three states of matter are there.

     What part is solid matter?
     What part is liquid matter?
     What part is gas matter?2. What about you? All three states of matter are a part of you.
     Name a part of you that is solid.
     Name a part of you that is liquid.
     Name a part of you that is gas (hint - think about breathing)
3. A basketball has only two states of matter.

What two states of matter are in a basketball?

Can Matter Change?

Matter can change in different ways. There are physical changes and chemical changes.
Some matter can change states. That means some matter can change from a solid to a liquid, or from a liquid to a gas.

What is a Physical Change?

If you change something physically, it may look, act, or feel different, but it is still the same thing. The molecules haven't changed. For example, if you tear a piece of paper it looks different, but it is still a piece of paper. That is a physical change.

An ice cube, a solid, becomes a liquid when it melts. You can take the liquid and turn it back into a solid by freezing it. The change is reversible. It is a different state, but it is still water. This is called a PHYSICAL CHANGE. The state has changed, but it is still the same thing - water.

What is a Chemical Change?

Matter can also change and become something completely different, that is called a CHEMICAL CHANGE. A chemical change is irreversible; that means it cannot change back.
Think about baking a cake.

The batter is a liquid mixture of flour, sugar, water and other ingredients. When you heat it in the oven, the batter turns into a yummy solid.

You cannot change it back into flour, sugar, water and the other ingredients. The batter has made a chemical change that is irreversible and it has become something new.