Activities for year 7 Science
Activity 3: Mystery Box
Description:
For this task students will be using their sense of touch to identify solids,liquids and gases using the properties they have learnt from the particle model. This hands on activity gives students an interesting way to apply their knowledge and challenge their understanding.
Learning Intention:
Students should be able to apply their knowledge to analytically determine the properties and state of an object
Curriculum Link:
Victorian Curriculum: 7-8
The properties of the different states of matter can be explained in terms of the motion and arrangement of particles (VCSSU096)​
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using the particle model to distinguish between the properties of liquid water, ice and steam
Directions:
Set up multiple (5-10) stations with different materials accessible, but visually concealed. We recommend a box with holes cut for the students to put their hands in to conceal the station, and a large enough container for the object to avoid significant spillage or mess. You can select whichever items you feel could make for interesting justifications from students.
We recommend that you use: Lego, water, oil, play-dough, air (empty container), sand or dirt, stress ball or any other interesting items that you have within the science department. Good materials will cause students to think. Sand fills a container and will move around your hand in a similar way to a liquid, but why isn't it a liquid?
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Students should move from station to station filling out a table that includes what state they think the object is, justifications for their guess, and what they think the actual item is. An example sheet with 6 stations has been provided which you may like to modify if you use a different number of stations.
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Once students have recorded their findings, lead a class discussion and see if students can come to an agreement on the properties and classification of each workstation. You can finally reveal the stations so students can see how close they were.