Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)

Lesson Idea Name: Solids, Liquids, & Gases

Content Area: Science
Grade Level(s): 4th grade

Content Standard Addressed: S.4.E.3 - Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to demonstrate the
water cycle.
a. Observe the flow of energy in water as it changes states from solid (ice) to liquid (water) to gas (water
vapor) and changes from gas to liquid to solid.

Technology Standard Addressed: Knowledge Constructor

Selected Technology Tool: Popplet

URL(s) to support the lesson (if applicable):

Bloom’s Taxonomy Level(s):

☒ Remembering ☒ Understanding ☒ Applying ☒ Analyzing ☒ Evaluating ☒ Creating

Levels of Technology Integration (LoTi Level):

☐ Level 1: Awareness ☒ Level 2: Exploration ☒ Level 3: Infusion ☒ Level 4: Integration
☐ Level 5: Expansion ☐ Level 6: Refinement

Universal Design for Learning (UDL): Universal design for learning is addressed through this lesson plan
because this lesson gives the students multiple hands on ways to experiment with the concepts that they are
learning about. Using a variety of ways to teach the students is beneficial because not every student learns in
the same way. Some students will benefit more from listening to audio from a video clip, or listening to the
teacher explain a concept, while other students will benefit more from doing a hands on experiment and
seeing firsthand the principles that the teacher is explaining to them. This lesson incorporates all of these
different methods, which allows every student to be included and getting the most that they can out of the
lesson.
Lesson idea implementation: To begin the lesson, tell students that today we are going to be learning about
the states of matter. Most students will already know that these states of matter include solids, liquids and
gases, but they will not know much more about each state of matter.
Pull up the Popplet on the Smart Board and then as the teacher is introducing the concepts of solids, liquids
and gases, the teacher can navigate through the Popplet to show the students supplementary information
about these states of matter. The Popplet has examples, images and videos that can be navigated to and
played through the Popplet on the Smart Board.
After explaining the concepts to the students, tell students that today we are going to be conducting an
experiment to see the changes in the water cycle.
Experiments will have to be conducted in a safe lab area, with proper equipment, protection and supervision.
The teacher will help to lead the students through the experiment – the experiment will include:
-Filling an ice tray and placing it in the freezer (students will need to understand that it normally takes a long
period of time to freeze water, but for the sake of time in the classroom, there will be ice cubes ready that
have been previously frozen).
-Taking an ice cube and placing it in a hot skillet to watch it melt and watch the water vapor coming off of the
skillet.
As the students work through these experiments, the teacher will explain the changes in the water cycle.

Spring 2018_SJB
 Beyond-the-Basic Productivity Tools (BBPT)
After completing the experiments, the students will be placed into groups to further research the water cycle.
They are allowed to go onto Google or go through their textbook if they need more specific details about the
water cycle. They will then create a group project, with a large tri-fold board or a poster board to present the
water cycle to their classmates. This group project and presentation will be the final assessment in the
students’ mastery of the learning objective(s). The group project and presentation will be graded by rubrics
that will be shared with the students beforehand so that they know what they will be graded on in their
poster board as well as in their presentation.

Reflective Practice: I created this lesson with hands on activities and experiments included in order to give
the students an opportunity to have some hands-on experience in learning about the water cycle. (Although
this will have to be done very carefully with supplemental adult supervision, it will still give the students the
opportunity to have hands on experience and see the water cycle in effect, firsthand). I think this is one of the
most beneficial ways that students learn – through hands-on experiences. There are many more ways that
technology can be incorporated into this lesson; for instance, there are a large multitude of educational
videos about this concept that can be used as supplementary instruction for this topic. I have seen videos of
this topic on Brain Pop, Discovery Education and other websites. I would use these as websites that the
students can go to for further research for their group projects, which would give them valuable information
as well as the opportunity to use technology for educational purposes.

Spring 2018_SJB