States of Matter Vocabulary
Name and distinguish the three states of matter — solid, liquid, and gas — using properties vocabulary: hard, rigid, runny, flows, keeps its shape, fills its container; use 'change of state' to describe what happens when materials are heated or cooled
What a learner can do afterwards
- Correctly sort a set of everyday materials as solid, liquid, or gas and give a reason for each
- Use the terms solid, liquid, and gas accurately when describing everyday substances
- Use 'change of state' to describe what happens when ice melts or water boils
The lesson
Everything is made of matter. Matter can be solid, liquid, or gas. A solid is hard and keeps its shape. A liquid flows and takes the shape of its container. A gas spreads out and fills all the space it can.
Maya has three cups: a rock, milk, and air trapped inside. The rock is solid because it is hard and keeps its shape. The milk is liquid because it flows and pours. The air is a gas. It spreads out and fills the cup.
When you are not sure, touch it. Solids feel hard. Liquids feel wet and runny. Gases you cannot touch, but you feel them move as wind.
Solid, liquid, and gas: heating or cooling changes matter's state.
Watch it
Where it sits
Learn first
Nothing; this is a starting point.
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.