3 states of matter science experiments for kids
I love a good, corny joke. That’s one of the main reasons I love teaching states of matter.
What’s the matter with you?
Science matters.
Does it matter?
I’m here all day, ya’ll! But seriously, I do love teaching states of matter during our 2nd grade homeschool time… and not just because of the corny jokes. In fact, most of the time, all I get from my 2nd grade boy is an eye roll after I deliver one of my *fabulous* Matter Science jokes! That’s why I’m so glad that, besides corny jokes, there’s a lot of opportunity for hands on science labs about the states of matter and properties of matter.
Let’s take a look at a couple of my favorite states of matter and properties of matter science labs for 2nd graders!
States of Matter read aloud activity
We started off this states of matter unit with the book, What is the World Made Of? I love this book because it’s written in a kid-friendly, easy to understand way and it’s easy for kids to connect to!
As we read, we stopped after each state and charted about solids, liquids, and finally gases. Once the book finished talking about gases, we stopped reading even though we were only half way through our book. We will read the 2nd half of the book when we start talking about changes in matter.
Once we finished charting the states of matter, we sorted objects into their solid, liquid, or gas. We started off sorting real life objects together, and then did this cut and paste states of matter sorting activity.
The next day, we learned that all matter is built with atoms. And the arrangement of the atoms matters. Get it? Matters? Okay, okay, I’m done with the corny jokes. Maybe! 🙂
We watched an informational video about atoms and then built a solid, liquid, and gas with “atoms.” And we, of course, ate a few Cheerios Atoms along the way…
This states of matter activity would also work great with any other small cereal or even M&M candy if you dare to give your children extra sugar. Ha!
Properties of Matter science lab
Once we had a good understanding of the states of matter, we were ready to observe some different objects and talk about the properties of matter.
Using a magnifying glass, we observed the properties of some common objects we already had on hand… We are here to make this as easy as possible. We do NOT have to spend a lot of money for our kids to observe and learn about the properties of matter! We observed matter properties like color, flexibility and even odor! So so fun for my 2nd grade boy!
This was also a good chance to review our recent work with using adjectives in our writing using sensory details, and not just writing that an object feels “good.”
properties of matter science lab: Oobleck
We ended the week with Oobleck, because…how can you learn about matter and NOT make Oobleck? We read Bartholomew and the Oobleck, by the one and only Dr. Seuss. Then we made Oobleck and played with it observed its properties.
We recorded our observations of the oobleck’s properties, and he made a hypothesis about what state of matter oobleck is… And he called it a “soliquid.” LOL! 🙂
After we watched a video explaining oobleck we made our conclusion and wrote it down on the Oobleck science experiment recording sheet!
All of the Matter science labs, plans, and paper materials are in this 2nd grade Next Gen States of Matter Unit!
