An important practice in scientists' work is to develop and use models to explain their understanding of scientific phenomena. Using a computer simulation, students are seeing how the particles that make up ice and water are the same, but that the speed at which they move and the space around them makes the properties of those two substances unique. We're relating the phase change of solid and liquid to the state of matter of a gas.
Using a syringe system, students are discovering that like solids and liquids, gases take up space and have weight, too, yet how they behave is different. We're developing a consensus model of how air must behave. It's a work in progress, and making our thinking visible is difficult, but what we uncover can hopefully help us better explain how these ships could have ended up in a field, especially since the water isn't heated. Our claim that the water evaporated isn't necessarily making sense now, but with time, we can hopefully explain our ideas better. We must gather some evidence first!
Using a syringe system, students are discovering that like solids and liquids, gases take up space and have weight, too, yet how they behave is different. We're developing a consensus model of how air must behave. It's a work in progress, and making our thinking visible is difficult, but what we uncover can hopefully help us better explain how these ships could have ended up in a field, especially since the water isn't heated. Our claim that the water evaporated isn't necessarily making sense now, but with time, we can hopefully explain our ideas better. We must gather some evidence first!