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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: toasting bread? (can change back / cannot change back) → cannot 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 / chocolate melting in a warm hand / water freezing into ice cubes / frying an egg) → frying an eggPrompt: Think about melting and freezing versus cooking and burning.
  3. Melted chocolate is poured into a mould and put in the fridge. What happens? (It stays liquid for ever. / It turns solid again, in the mould's shape. / It turns into cake. / It turns into water.) → It turns solid again, in the mould's shape.Prompt: Melting can be reversed by cooling.

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: a raw egg in a pan? (turns brown and crunchy / burst open and puff up / turns white and firm / rises and becomes a spongy solid) → turns white and firmPrompt: Picture it cooking or warming in the kitchen.
  2. A clay model is soft. How can you make it hard and strong for good? (Bake (fire) it in a kiln. / Squash it. / Leave it in water. / Put it in the fridge.) → Bake (fire) it in a kiln.Prompt: Bricks and plates are made this way.

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. 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?
  2. Steam rises from a boiling pot of pasta. What is the steam? (smoke from burning pasta / melted metal / air that turned white / water that has turned into a gas) → water that has turned into a gasPrompt: What liquid is in the pot?

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

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

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

  2. Question 2

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

    • A. turns brown and crunchy
    • B. boils and turns to steam
    • C. burst open and puff up
    • D. melts into a liquid

  3. Question 3

    True or false? Heating can melt some solids.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  4. Question 4

    What happens when you heat this: butter in a hot pan?

    • A. burst open and puff up
    • B. boils and turns to steam
    • C. melts into a liquid
    • D. turns white and firm

  5. Question 5

    True or false? Heating always makes things go hard.

    • A. True
    • B. False

  6. Question 6

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

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

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Answer key: What happens when we heat it?

  1. 1. C. water that has turned into a gas

  2. 2. C. burst open and puff up

  3. 3. A. True

  4. 4. C. melts into a liquid

  5. 5. B. False

  6. 6. B. The heat will melt it.