In fourth grade we are discovering that matter is all around us. If it has weight and takes up space, then it is matter.

Students investigated three phases of matter which are usually easily categorized as a solid, a liquid or a gas. However, we found that some substances take on the properties of both a solid and a liquid. One of these substances is “putty.” Students made putty in the classroom to observe that as pressure is added, putty has characteristics of a solid but when pressure is removed, putty goes into more of a liquid state.

In addition, our fourth graders have been finding ways to measure mass and volume of matter. Students used a balance scale and various gram weights to calculate the mass of common items such as cotton balls and pencils. To find the volume of a solid, careful metric measurements were taken of solid blocks and put into the formula v = l x w x h (volume = length x width x height). Finally students also found the volume of other items by sinking them in beakers filled with water and finding the difference in water levels.