Unit 6 Matter as Particle

Topic

Heating ice to steam

Curriculum Link

6.1 States of matter: melting point and boiling point

Estimated Lesson Time

80 minutes

Introduction

In this activity, students will investigate the temperature change when ice is heated to steam. They are first asked to predict the temperature change so that teacher can probe their prior understanding about the concepts of melting point and boiling point. Through hands-on practical, students are provided an opportunity to test their own predictions. The emphasis of this activity is to help students learn the concepts of melting and boiling but not just their definitions. For a better learning of these concepts, the prerequisite knowledge is particle theory and forms of energy.

Key question

What is the temperature change when ice is heated to steam?

Learning Objectives

In this activity, the students should be able to

  1. make the prediction on the temperature change when ice is heated to steam (SP3);
  2. conduct a practical for data collection and present the data in form of a graph (SP1 & SP6);
  3. analyse and explain data related to the temperature change (SP5);
  4. evaluate own understanding by comparing the prediction before the practical and the explanation after the practical.

Teaching Plan

Task (Time) Brief Description Materials Objectives

Engagement
(20 min)
  • Students are engaged to make predictions on the temperature change when ice is heated to stream.
  • As it is a challenging task, students are recommended to carry out a group discussion and teacher should encourage the interflow of ideas among different groups. Yet, the role of teacher is a facilitator to probe students' prior understanding and it is unnecessary to justify or comment students' ideas at this stage.
(1)

Exploration
(30 min)
  • Students explore the temperature change through the practical.
  • Students record and present data.
(2)

Explanation
(20 min)
  • Students explain the temperature change.
  • Throughout the process, teacher can guide the students to explain in terms of particle theory and forms of energy, depending on the ability of students.
(3)

Evaluation
(10 min)
  • Students evaluate their learning by comparing their prediction (Q1) and the later explanation (Q4).
  • Teacher can consolidate and conclude the concepts based on students' ideas in the prediction and the explanation.
(4)

Reference

Chin, C., & Osborne, J. (2010). Students' questions and discursive interaction: their impact on argumentation during collaborative group discussions in Science.
Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 47(7), P.883-908.

*Apparatus and materials required: