Exploring states of matter
In this activity, students develop a concept map to summarise current ideas about states of matter.
Most students are familiar with three states of matter – solid, liquid and gas. This activity introduces them to two new states – plasma and Bose-Einstein condensates.
By the end of this activity, students should be able to:
identify key ideas about states of matter from a written article
display the ideas in a concept map
identify and discuss similarities and differences between concept maps
recognise that concept maps are a useful method to communicate scientific knowledge.
appreciate that science knowledge about states of matter has changed over time.
Download the Word file (see below) for:
introduction/background notes
what you need
what to do
discussion questions
sample concept map.