Communicating matters
View Sequence overviewStudents will:
- explore particle theory.
- explain the different arrangement of particles in solids, liquids and gases.
Students will represent their understanding as they:
- participate in a role-play exploring the arrangement of particles.
- create a labelled diagram showing the arrangement of particles in solids, liquids, and gases.
In this lesson, assessment is formative.
Feedback might focus on:
- students’ drawings of the particle model of solids, liquids and gases.
Whole class
Class science journal (digital or hard copy)
A long rope or similar, used to simulate the shape of a container to hold liquids and gases
Optional: Saved or printed images from the Particle arrangement in solids, liquids and gases Resource sheet, to use for student prompting if required
Each student
Individual science journal (digital or hard copy)
Lesson
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkRe-orient
Revise the term particles introduced in the Launch phase. Remind students that, based on the evidence collected over hundreds of years, scientists think that all substances are made of particles, and that it is the way these particles behave that make something a solid, liquid or gas.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkIdentifying and constructing questions is the creative driver of the inquiry process. It allows students to explore what they know and how they know it. During the Inquire phase of the LIA Framework, the Question routine allows for past activities to be reviewed and to set the scene for the investigation that students will undertake. The use of effective questioning techniques can influence students’ view and interpretation of upcoming content, open them to exploration and link to their current interests and science capital.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to spend some time considering the mindset of students at the start of each Inquire phase. What do you want students to be thinking about, what do they already know and what is the best way for them to approach the task? What might tap into their curiosity?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThinking about particles
Encourage students to ask questions about particles in relation to solids, liquids and gases. Record the questions in the class science journal.
If required, model some examples for students. For example:
- How big are particles?
- Do particles move?
- How are the particles in solid, liquids and gases different?
- How do particles in solids, liquids and gases behave?
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkThe Investigate routine provides students with an opportunity to explore the key ideas of science, to plan and conduct an investigation, and to gather and record data. The investigations are designed to systematically develop content knowledge and skills through increasingly complex processes of structured inquiry, guided inquiry and open inquiry approaches. Students are encouraged to process data to identify trends and patterns and link them to the real-world context of the teaching sequence.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment (Launch phase) that identified the alternative conceptions that students held. Are there activities that challenge these ideas and provide openings for discussion? What content knowledge and skills do students need to be able to complete the final (Act phase) task? How could you systematically build these through the investigation routines? Are there opportunities to build students’ understanding and skills in the science inquiry processes through the successive investigations?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkPlaying particles
Guide students to role-play the behaviour or particles in a solid, a liquid, and a gas, without telling them which state of matter they are role-playing.
Solid
| With a strong/stiff upright posture, students stand closely together in uniform rows. They hold hands tightly with the students beside/behind/in front of them (as much as is possible). Ask them to imagine that they are being pushed from one side. They need to slide in the direction they are being pushed, while maintaining their posture, proximity, contact with others and the floor. |
Liquid | Place a rope or similar on the floor in a circular shape. Make sure the size of the circle is large enough to hold all students, but small enough that they get a sense that particles in liquid are close together and bonded—though not as close and as tightly bonded as a solid. Students stand in a non-uniform group, relatively close together, and hold hands loosely. Change the shape of the rope, making it square, triangular, freeform, etc. Students might need to move to conform to the new shape, but maintain a similar proximity with other students. |
Gas | Students stand randomly in no particular shape, with non-uniform distances between themselves and other students. Students imagine that they are being gathered together. You might ask them to imagine a container enclosing them, or use a rope or similar to, in effect, round them up. |
These role-plays require students to be in close proximity and make physical contact with one another. Determine the structure of this activity that is appropriate for your students and context. You might like to have the whole class participate in all three role plays, or split the class into three groups, selectively grouping students who might have sensory or other issues into groups in which they would feel comfortable.
Scientific models
Scientists use models to represent and visualise complex ideas.
Scientists use models to represent and visualise complex ideas. Models can help bring these ideas into focus, leading to more questions and better explanations. Models are also used to communicate ideas to others. They can be evaluated and refined over time. In this sequence, students explore the behaviour of particles in solids, liquids, and gases through modelling—creating a diagrammatic representation of initial ideas, which they revisit as the sequence progresses, then using role-play as a physical model to further refine their understanding.
It is important to understand that models also have limitations, and we must think critically about these. Models are approximations and are often simplified to make them easier to understand. They can be missing important details. The adequacy of a model (i.e. what it shows, what it doesn’t show, what affordances it provides) should be examined and discussed to determine whether it is ‘good enough’ for its current purpose. In this case, students are ‘playing particles’ but are missing the detail of what is happening at a subatomic level. However, the benefits of being able to visualise particles and their arrangement is ‘good enough’ to be helpful for students’ developing understanding.
Scientists use models to represent and visualise complex ideas. Models can help bring these ideas into focus, leading to more questions and better explanations. Models are also used to communicate ideas to others. They can be evaluated and refined over time. In this sequence, students explore the behaviour of particles in solids, liquids, and gases through modelling—creating a diagrammatic representation of initial ideas, which they revisit as the sequence progresses, then using role-play as a physical model to further refine their understanding.
It is important to understand that models also have limitations, and we must think critically about these. Models are approximations and are often simplified to make them easier to understand. They can be missing important details. The adequacy of a model (i.e. what it shows, what it doesn’t show, what affordances it provides) should be examined and discussed to determine whether it is ‘good enough’ for its current purpose. In this case, students are ‘playing particles’ but are missing the detail of what is happening at a subatomic level. However, the benefits of being able to visualise particles and their arrangement is ‘good enough’ to be helpful for students’ developing understanding.
Particles and particle theory
All matter is made up of very small particles called atoms.
All matter is made up of very small particles called atoms. Atoms can join together to form molecules.
The way atoms and molecules are arranged in a substance will affect its state: that is whether it is a solid, liquid or gas.
Particles in a solid are held closely together with rigid bonds. They vibrate in place, but do not change position. For this reason, solids maintain a constant volume and shape, do not flow, and cannot be significantly compressed.
Particles in a liquid are held together with looser bonds that allow the particles to slide past each other. They still hold closely together, so maintain a constant volume, but the force of gravity means they will flow when poured, and take the shape of the container they’re poured in to. They have a flat, featureless surface when still.
Particles in a gas are not bonded together and will spread out to fill the available space or container. Because there is ‘space’ between the particles, a gas can be compressed.
All matter is made up of very small particles called atoms. Atoms can join together to form molecules.
The way atoms and molecules are arranged in a substance will affect its state: that is whether it is a solid, liquid or gas.
Particles in a solid are held closely together with rigid bonds. They vibrate in place, but do not change position. For this reason, solids maintain a constant volume and shape, do not flow, and cannot be significantly compressed.
Particles in a liquid are held together with looser bonds that allow the particles to slide past each other. They still hold closely together, so maintain a constant volume, but the force of gravity means they will flow when poured, and take the shape of the container they’re poured in to. They have a flat, featureless surface when still.
Particles in a gas are not bonded together and will spread out to fill the available space or container. Because there is ‘space’ between the particles, a gas can be compressed.
The Inquire phase allows students to cycle progressively and with increasing complexity through the key science ideas related to the core concepts. Each Inquire cycle is divided into three teaching and learning routines that allow students to systematically build their knowledge and skills in science and incorporate this into their current understanding of the world.
When designing a teaching sequence, it is important to consider the knowledge and skills that students will need in the final Act phase. Consider what the students already know and identify the steps that need to be taken to reach the level required. How could you facilitate students’ understanding at each step? What investigations could be designed to build the skills at each step?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkFollowing an investigation, the Integrate routine provides time and space for data to be evaluated and insights to be synthesized. It reveals new insights, consolidates and refines representations, generalises context and broadens students’ perspectives. It allows student thinking to become visible and opens formative feedback opportunities. It may also lead to further questions being asked, allowing the Inquire phase to start again.
When designing a teaching sequence, consider the diagnostic assessment that was undertaken during the Launch phase. Consider if alternative conceptions could be used as a jumping off point to discussions. How could students represent their learning in a way that would support formative feedback opportunities? Could small summative assessment occur at different stages in the teaching sequence?
Read more about using the LIA FrameworkDrawing particles
After experiencing/observing all three role-plays, discuss with students their placement as particles, and which arrangement they think best represents solid, liquid and gas. Ask students to match their movements to the three descriptions of the properties of solids, liquids and gases that students have agreed upon in previous lessons.
- What did you notice about the placement of particles in the first/second/third role-play?
- How close were the particles to each other?
- Did they appear connected?
- How strongly were they connected?
- How would you describe what happened when they were ‘moved’?
- Which role-play would you associate with solids/liquids/gas? Why?
In collaborative teams, ask students to compose a description of the behaviour of particles in a solid, liquid and gas. Share the descriptions as a class, and construct an agreed description that can be added to the description of properties of each in the class science journal.
Working independently, students use their previous drawings/descriptions of solids, liquids and gases completed in the Launch phase to create a new annotated diagram. Encourage them to show the arrangement of particles in solids, liquids and gases. Prompt student thinking by referring explicitly to how they were arranged as ‘particles’ in each of the role-plays.
If required, show students illustrations that show the particle model of all three states of matter. You might like to have these ready on a piece of paper or iPad, and show individual students as required, rather than showing all students.
Undertake a gallery walk to share students’ representations.
Discuss:
- the common features of students’ diagrams, and what they think constitutes a high-quality diagrammatic model.
- the differences between students' diagrams. This might include a discussion about the size of particles as students represented them.
- how the size of particles can differ.
Discuss the purpose of models and how they are used in science, including the benefits and limitations of using them.
- What do you think a scientific model is?
- Can you think of an example of a scientific model? Have you ever made one yourself?
- Examples include using building blocks for a house, using playdough to test different shapes rolling down a hill, building a food chain to show how energy flows in the environment.
- Note that the role-plays students just participated in were a type of scientific model, as are the diagram they have drawn showing the particle arrangement of solids, liquids and gases.
- Why do you think that scientists often make/use models?
- To represent their understanding, to test ideas, to predict and explain how and why things change.
- Do you think a model can show every aspect of an idea? Why? Why not?
- What did our models of solids, liquids and gases show and not show?
- Solid: The model showed how the particles are attracted to each other and are close together. The model didn't show us the properties of that specific substance, if it could be stretched, or bent or folded. It also didn't show us that it can not be compressed.
- Liquid: The model showed how the particles stayed close together, but were able to flow around each other, and how they could change shape. The model didn't show us that liquids cannot be compressed.
- Gas: The model showed us how the particles in gases are further apart and spread out to fill the space, and how they can be compressed together. The model didn't show us that they still have some attraction to each other.
Optional: Refer to the questions students asked about particles at the beginning of the lesson. Determine which questions have and have not been answered. Add any further student questions to the list.
Reflect on the lesson
You might:
- reflect on how students' representations of solids, liquids and gases have change between the Launch phase and this lesson.
- add to the class word wall of vocabulary related to solids, liquids and gases.
- add to the class TWLH, completing the H and L sections with what they have learned about particles.
- discuss what is meant by a theory in science—how particle theory is widely accepted as it has so far been supported by evidence gathered by scientists over many years.