How Particles Move in Solids, Liquids and Gases

Have your child read the reading, word bank or fact box first, since every answer is on the page. Act out the particles: stand still and wiggle for a solid, slide past each other for a liquid, spread out for a gas. Check with the answer key.

Read about particle motion in solids, liquids and gases and answer 6 questions. Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. A particle is a tiny piece of matter, far too small to see. The directions on the page read: Read about how particles move and look at the pictures. Then, turn the page to answer the questions. On page 2: Use the reading on page 1. Write solid, liquid or gas under each box. Then, circle the best answers and write the last two answers. The answer key covers the questions on page 2.

Yes, both. We made it for 3rd Grade matter, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with states of matter. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Solid, liquid and gas. A solid keeps its own shape, a liquid takes the shape of its container, and a gas spreads out to fill whatever it is in. Air is a gas, and gases are matter too.

In a solid, particles are packed tight and wiggle in place. In a liquid, they are close together but slide past each other. In a gas, they are far apart and zoom around fast. Heating makes particles move faster, and cooling slows them down.

Evaporation is a liquid turning into a gas, like a puddle drying up in the sun. Condensation is a gas turning into a liquid, like drops forming on a cold glass. Melting and freezing are the changes between solid and liquid.

Yes. All four states of matter sheets have an answer key that shows every answer.