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Science lesson plan · 2nd grade (Year 3 in England) · 30 minutes

What happens when we heat it?

States of matter

CCSS NGSS.2-PS1-4England: KS1 Y2 Uses of everyday materialsEngland: KS2 Y4 States of matter

Objective and success criteria

Students will: What happens when we heat it?.

  • I can answer questions on today's skill on my own, without help.
  • I can explain each step and say why it works.
  • I can check my answer and spot a mistake.

Before and after

Needs first: Heating and cooling: can the change be undone?

Leads to: Ice melting race: compare melting times

Materials: Ice, water and a kettle (teacher demo), Particle diagrams, Mini whiteboards, A diagram or short video clip of the idea, Printed student sheet (below).

Warm-up · 4 min

  • Quick retrieval from earlier learning (Heating and cooling: can the change be undone?). Students answer on mini whiteboards.
  • Show answers together and note who needs support in the main task.
  1. Can this change be undone: butter softening in a warm kitchen? (can change back / cannot change back) → can change backPrompt: Could you get the starting material back by warming it or cooling it?
  2. Three of these changes CAN be undone. Which one is different? (candle wax melting / water freezing into ice cubes / burning a log on a fire / chocolate melting in a warm hand) → burning a log on a firePrompt: Think about melting and freezing versus cooking and burning.
  3. Clay is shaped into a pot and baked in a very hot kiln. Can it go back to soft clay if you add water? (No, firing changes it for good. / Yes, straight away. / Yes, if you shake it. / Yes, if you put it in the freezer.) → No, firing changes it for good.Prompt: Bricks and mugs are fired clay. Do they go soft in the rain?

Hook · 3 min

  • Show an ice cube melting and a kettle steaming and ask what is the same and what is different.
  • Share the objective: What happens when we heat it?. Read the success criteria together.

I do: model it · 7 min

  • Work through the example out loud, saying why you do each step, not just what you do.
  • Example: What happens when you heat this: butter in a hot pan?
  • Step 1: So the answer is: melts into a liquid
  • Answer: melts into a liquid
  • Pause after each step and ask a student to say what comes next.

We do: guided practice · 6 min

  • Do these together. Students try each step on whiteboards before you reveal it.
  • Use the hints as prompts rather than giving the answer.
  1. What happens when you heat this: cake batter in the oven? (boils and turns to steam / rises and becomes a spongy solid / burst open and puff up / turns white and firm) → rises and becomes a spongy solidPrompt: Picture it cooking or warming in the kitchen.
  2. Why do cooks put butter in a warm pan before frying? (Butter turns into a gas straight away. / Butter cools the pan. / Heat turns butter into ice. / Heat melts the solid butter so it can spread over the pan.) → Heat melts the solid butter so it can spread over the pan.Prompt: What does heat do to many solids?

You do: independent practice · 7 min

  • Students work on the student sheet. Circulate and check the first two answers of every student early.
  • Students who finish: write a question of their own for a partner, with the answer.

The 6 questions are on the student sheet below, with answers in the key.

Exit ticket · 3 min

  • Two questions on their own. Sort answers into got it / nearly / not yet to plan the next lesson.
  1. What happens when you heat this: cake batter in the oven? (burst open and puff up / turns brown and crunchy / melts into a liquid / rises and becomes a spongy solid) → rises and becomes a spongy solidPrompt: Picture it cooking or warming in the kitchen.
  2. True or false? Toast can be turned back into bread by cooling it. (True / False) → FalsePrompt: Some heated things melt, some cook. Can they change back?

Watch out for

  • Everyday meanings of words getting in the way of the science meaning: define key words explicitly.
  • Remembering facts without the reason: ask "why?" and "what is the evidence?"

Support and stretch

Support

  • Review first: Heating and cooling: can the change be undone?.
  • Use concrete materials: ice, water and a kettle (teacher demo).
  • Give the first step of each question, or a partly worked example to finish.
  • Pair with a confident partner for the guided practice.

Stretch

  • Move on to: Ice melting race: compare melting times.
  • Explain a common mistake in writing and how to fix it.
  • Write a word problem that uses today's skill, then solve a partner's.

Homework and more practice

Free online practice with hints and printable worksheets for this skill: eurekami.com/science/grade-2.

Free lesson plan from eurekami.com/lesson-plan-builder

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What happens when we heat it?

Name

Date

Score/ 6

  1. Question 1

    True or false? Heating always makes things go hard.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  2. Question 2

    What happens when you heat this: bread in a toaster?

    • A. boils and turns to steam
    • B. turns white and firm
    • C. melts into a liquid
    • D. turns brown and crunchy

  3. Question 3

    Why should you never leave a chocolate bar on a sunny car seat?

    • A. It will disappear.
    • B. The heat will melt it.
    • C. It will turn into a cake.
    • D. It will freeze.

  4. Question 4

    True or false? Heating can melt some solids.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  5. Question 5

    What happens when you heat this: popcorn kernels in a pan?

    • A. melts into a liquid
    • B. turns white and firm
    • C. turns brown and crunchy
    • D. burst open and puff up

  6. Question 6

    Steam rises from a boiling pot of pasta. What is the steam?

    • A. melted metal
    • B. air that turned white
    • C. smoke from burning pasta
    • D. water that has turned into a gas

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Answer key: What happens when we heat it?

  1. 1. B. False

  2. 2. D. turns brown and crunchy

  3. 3. B. The heat will melt it.

  4. 4. A. True

  5. 5. D. burst open and puff up

  6. 6. D. water that has turned into a gas