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3rd Grade · Science

Matter Lesson Plan for 3rd Grade

A ready-to-teach matter lesson for 3rd Grade, built around solids, liquids and gases, how particles move in each state, and the changes of state melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation. Print the plan, print the practice pages, and you are set.

Approximately 45 minutes

Learning objective

  • Describe how particles move in solids, liquids and gases
  • Name the changes melting, freezing, evaporation and condensation
  • Tell whether matter is a solid, liquid or gas from its properties

Materials

Lesson steps

  1. 1. Ask the question (5 min)

    Open with a question about matter that students cannot answer yet. Take predictions and record them without correcting anything. Wrong predictions are the point: you will come back to them.

  2. 2. Explore (12 min)

    Students investigate matter through a hands-on activity, a demonstration, or a set of images. Their job is to notice and describe, not to be right yet.

  3. 3. Explain (10 min)

    Now give the vocabulary and the explanation for matter. Tie it directly back to what students just observed and to the predictions on the board. Name which predictions held up.

  4. 4. Independent practice (you do) (13 min)

    Hand out "How Particles Move in Solids, Liquids and Gases". Students record what they learned and answer the questions independently. Circulate and press for "how do you know?"

  5. 5. Extend the thinking (5 min)

    Ask where else matter shows up outside the classroom. Collect two or three examples and leave the question open for tomorrow.

Check for understanding

Ask students to explain matter to a partner in one sentence, then write that sentence down. Collect the sentences: they show you exactly which part of the idea did not land.

Differentiation

Extra support. Students who stall: pull them into a small group and rebuild matter with concrete materials or a simpler text before asking for the written work again. Do not send the page home as homework, it will just rehearse the misunderstanding.

Extension. Students who finish early: ask them to write their own matter problem for a partner to solve, then check the partner's work. Creating a problem is harder than solving one and it surfaces whether they really understand matter.

Skills covered in this lesson

States of matter

Practice pages for this lesson

4 items, 6 printable pages that match the independent-practice step.

Questions teachers ask about teaching matter

What are the three states of matter?
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.
How do particles move in a solid, a liquid and a gas?
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.
What is the difference between evaporation and condensation?
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.
Is there an answer key for each worksheet?
Yes. All four states of matter sheets have an answer key that shows every answer.

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