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.