Science Lesson

Simmons Student: Nick Averill Date: 12/7/16

Learners: MC, KS, BT Name of Lesson: States of Matter
Grade: 12

1. Curriculum Frameworks/Common Core Addressed

Area: Science and Technology/Engineering (grades K-12) (must list

the Resource guide page of the standard you are using)
Strand: Physical Sciences (Chemistry and Physics)
Standard: 1.3 Describe the three normal states of matter (solid,
liquid, gas) in terms of energy, particle motion, and phase
transitions.
Entry point: The student will give examples of physical properties
of matter

SPED Objectives for Learners:

MC: Across 1 person and 1 setting, MC will independently

complete self-monitoring activities (e.g. answering questions
about his behavior, recording steps completed in a checklist)
with 90% accuracy and independence across 2 consecutive
weeks.
MC: Across 1 person and 1 setting, MC will use a planner in
90% of programmed opportunities across 2 consecutive
weeks with 4 contexts.
BT: Across 2 people and 2 settings, BT will follow complex
directions in 89% of opportunities for 3 consecutive sessions
with 5 directions.
KS: Across 2 people and 1 setting, given a set of written
directions (e.g. recipe, worksheet, instructions), KS will
follow the directions in 80% of opportunities across 3
consecutive sessions with 2 sets of directions

2. Lesson Objective/ Purpose

Given a solid, liquid, or gas in the form of a picture or word,

students will identify the state of matter in 90% of opportunities.
3. Teacher Actions/ Pacing

Parts of the lesson

a. Introduction (4 minutes)

The teacher will scaffold to help the students create rules for
the lesson to be followed.
o Quiet voices
o Calm body
o Listen to the teacher
Teacher will give the students the opportunity to play with
oobleck (cornstarch and water) for about 30 seconds each.
Teacher will then ask students if they think the oobleck is a
solid, liquid, or a gas and will write their guesses on the board.
(This will be used as a pre-assessment)
Teacher will then go over the schedule for the lesson
o Watch a video
o Practice states of matter
o Make oobleck
o Quiz!
o Play with oobleck

b. Body of Lesson (20 minutes)

Direct Instruction (7 minutes)

The teacher will show the video about states of matter on the
computer (see materials)
The students will then help create definitions for the three states
of matter.
The definitions should be similar to the following including
descriptions of the ability to hold it:
o Solid: hard, you can hold it
o Liquid: Moves, it is hard to hold
o Gas: All over, you cant hold it

Activity 1 (5 minutes)
The teacher will pass out cards with the states of matter on
them.
 MODEL: The teacher will then demonstrate choosing which state
of matter an item is (bouncy ball: teacher points to solid and
states its a solid and points to the solid card on the table)
PRACTICE: The teacher will then ask the state of matter of
certain items and the students will use cue cards to answer. If
they get the answer correct, they will each get to choose
between a liquid edible and a solid edible (student specific).
REVIEW: Teacher will then review the definitions of solids, liquids,
and gasses that were created earlier
Activity 2 (8 minutes)
MODEL: After practicing with states of matter, we will make
oobleck. Students will mix 1 cup of corn starch with cup of
water (teacher will add food coloring) to make the oobleck. The
teacher will model this.
Students will use a recipe to create the oobleck (*BT and KS)
PRACTICE: While playing with the oobleck, the teacher will ask
the students individually again whether they think it is a solid,
liquid, or gas.
The teacher will go back to the original answers and discuss
whether their answer changed or not. If it changed, the teacher
will ask why it changed.
REVIEW: Teacher will discuss that sometimes it feels like a liquid,
and sometimes it feels like a solid. The teacher will refer to the
students hypotheses and tell them that solid and liquid are both
correct!
The students will put their oobleck into a bag to save for later.

c. Review key concepts from lesson (1 minute)

The teacher will review the definitions on the board of solid,

liquid, and gas that the students created earlier.

d. Evaluation procedure for lesson objective (3 minutes)

The students will be presented with 10 items (either in word

form -MC- or picture form -KS, BT-) and will determine whether
the item is a solid, liquid, or a gas.

e. Lesson Closure (2 minutes)

The teacher will ask the students what they learned about
today and whether they had fun making the oobleck.
 The teacher will then give the homework: write down 5 solids,
5 liquids, and 1 gas that you see around your house. (*MC)
The teacher will then give the students a survey to complete
before they get another chance to trade in with the oobleck.

4. Accommodations

Cue cards for whole group practice

Modified assessment (powerpoint instead of paper test)

5. Materials

Corn starch
Water
Food coloring
Video about states of matter
Cue cards (solid, liquid, gas)
Student specific solid and liquid reinforcers
Student specific assessments
Rules board
Hypothesis boards
Trifold board
http://studyjams.scholastic.com/studyjams/jams/science/matter/s
olids-liquids-gases.htm

6. Possible Problems

Possible Problems Solutions

Student is non-compliant Teacher reminds student what

Student engages in food
stealing, aggression, or other
problem behavior.
I am running out of time
Students do not want to end
he is earning.
Teacher will have student
removed from lesson until he
meets student specific criteria to
come back to the lesson.
If I find myself running out of
time, I will cut short the practice
examples or the time playing
with the oobleck.
Remind them that they will get
play with oobleck to play with it again after the
lesson.