What in the World Is Matter?

This coming week we will begin our first Science Unit. An inquiry question to ask will be "How do we classify something as being a solid, liquid, or a gas?" We will conduct a few experiments to investigate this question. I thought we would make root beer floats to connect to this concept again. I'm sure many of my students will remember from Grade 2 at least some information about Matter. We will also explore some Oobleck. I think I will have the students predict first whether it can be called a liquid or a solid. (It's actually neither. It is a pressure dependant substance called a non Newtonian, similar to quick sand.) After some exploration and recording of our observations we will have a debate as to what kind of matter it is. I've included a template for a flip booklet that the students will use to record their understandings. They will label the front tabs "Liquids, Solids, Gases" with an illustration to match the way the atoms are combined for each state. Under the flaps the students will make some jot notes about the shape, volume, molecules and examples. Photos to come!