A few years ago I developed some notebook pages for young students to learn some basic principles of physics.  We pulled them out today, and I thought I'd share them with you.

 You  may download this 5-day unit for free!

Each of my kids made a model of a solid by packing brown sugar as tightly as possible into a tablespoon.  After dumping it out, they discovered that a solid stays the same size and keeps its own shape.

To contrast that with some freely flowing molecules, we poured our white sugar model into some custard cups and observed that liquids also stay the same size, but take on the shape of their containers.

We're about to learn about gas ("which is not the same thing at all as gasoline!"). At this point we'll become our own molecule models, reviewing first with a physical demonstration of tightly-packed solids and freely flowing (hand-holding) liquids.  Finally, we'll move constantly about the living room to demonstrate that gas molecules are constantly moving.  They spread out until they fill and take on the shape of their containers. 

Finally, we'll observe water in its various phases to learn that, by adding or removing energy, matter changes phases.  We'll start with ice cubes in a saucepan and observe how the added energy from the stovetop will make it melt into a liquid, then evaporate into a gas.  We will trap the gas with a lid (which has less energy than the stovetop below), and the gas will lose energy and return to its liquid phase.

The pages are simple, with fill-in-the-blank summary statements and beautiful, copyright-free illustrations.  It's a great unit to help introduce weather, the water cycle, or in my case, the earth's atmosphere in Jeannie Fulbright's astronomy course.  I'm sure there are many other unit studies this could be tucked into, as well.

I hope you enjoy this study.  If you do, please leave me a comment to let me know!

from Psalm 135:

 6 Whatever the LORD pleases He does,
         In heaven and in earth,
         In the seas and in all deep places.

 7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
         He makes lightning for the rain;
         He brings the wind out of His treasuries.