To close out our unit on matter, second graders will be investigating what happens when you mix solids and liquids together.  They'll be considering the properties of the solids and liquids before and after they are mixed in order to optimize a product they will be making...PLAY-DOH!

Students are first comparing high-quality play-doh to low-quality play-doh, recognizing the properties that make them such.  Our high-quality play-doh is store bought, while the low-quality play-doh is homemade. They'll be creating tests and gathering data to determine which mixture they design is most like the high-quality play-doh!  As engineers, they will be improving the process to make play-doh.  

Second graders are gathering evidence to show that matter can indeed change, just like their objects changed when the pieces where rearranged.  But can the pieces stay the same and just look different?

By building "snowmen" made of ice, second graders will make observations throughout the day to see how matter can change.  In this case, the water used to make the snowmen will undergo a physical change.  Each "snowball" began as liquid water in a balloon.  Put in the freezer, the water changed to ice.  Now out of the freezer, what will happen to them?  Only time will tell!