It's helpful for students to understand the properties of the states of matter before they get too far in the lesson. This activity makes for a perfect introductory baseline or even summative assessment to see how much students have learned. Students will create a chart illustrating particle models for each state of matter. They should be sure to include the properties of each state of matter.
This is a great opportunity to discuss with your students what happens when you add thermal energy to or remove thermal energy from a system of particles. Students can relate this to the kinetic energy of the particles, the motion of the particles, and the temperature of the system.
This activity can be easily differentiated to be more accessible to a wide range of students. The template associated with this assignment is a simple T-Chart. To make this activity more accessible, use the completed example above as a starting point. Remove columns so students only have to create the particle arrangement for each state of matter, or even just come up with example of solids, liquids, and gases. Modify the resources to best fit the needs of your students.
(These instructions are completely customizable. After clicking "Copy Activity", update the instructions on the Edit Tab of the assignment.)
Student Instructions
Create a T-Chart that matches the states of matter to their particle arrangement and properties.