Summary

In this activity, students will play a game that tasks them with recalling and reviewing information that they have learned about states of matter.

Grade Level

Middle School

NGSS Alignment

This activity will help prepare your students to meet the performance expectations in the following standards:

• MS-PS1-4: Develop a model that predicts and describes changes in particle motion, temperature, and state of a pure substance when thermal energy is added or removed.
• Scientific and Engineering Practices:
  • Engaging in Argument from Evidence
  • Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information

Objectives

By the end of this activity, students should be able to:

• Recall key information about phase changes and states of matter.
• Describe the meaning of vocabulary terms related to phase changes and states of matter.

Chemistry Topics

This activity supports students’ understanding of:

• States of Matter
• Phase Changes
• Boiling Point
• Melting Point
• Energy

Time

Teacher Preparation: 5 minutes
Lesson: 15 minutes

Materials

• Student notes, notebooks or previous written activities (optional)

Safety

• No specific safety precautions need to be observed for this activity.

Teacher Notes

• This activity is designed as a quick review game that can be used if there is extra time at the end of a class period or as review for an assessment.
• Depending on student ability, teachers may decide to allow students to use their notes or notebook as reference during the game. Alternatively, teachers may decide to have students work without any assistance.
• Students should be placed in small groups (teams) to encourage collaboration. Groups of 3-4 are recommended.
• Before starting the game, the teacher should explain the rules.
• The rules below are suggestions and can be changed by the teacher as desired.
  • Each group will work together to as a team.
  • The teacher will determine which group begins the game.
  • The first group will be assigned the letter “A”. The group will have one minute to think of a word or phrase that begins with “A” that relates to the topics of states of matter and/or phase changes.
  • If allowed, teams can consult their notes and previous coursework.
  • If the team does not provide a response within one minute, they are eliminated.
  • The next team identified by the teacher must then come up with a term starting with the letter “A”.
  • When the team has a correct response, the teacher will move on to another team, following a logical order of taking turns.
  • The next team to participate will be assigned the letter “B”. The group will have one minute to think of a word or phrase that begins with “B” that relates to the topics of states of matter and/or phase changes.
  • The game will continue moving through the letters in order as teams provide a correct answer, and remain in the game, or as teams become eliminated due to no response or incorrect response.
  • In the instance when no team can think of a term that begins with a specified letter, all of the teams who were out cane rejoin the game and the game moves on to the next letter.
  • The final team remaining in the game is the winner.
• Optional additional rules can include:
  • Eliminating teams who are talking when it is not their turn may be eliminated.
  • Teams must correctly define/explain the term chosen.
  • Teams must be able to explain the connection between their term and the topic of states of matter and/or phase changes.
  • Teams who have been eliminated may serve as judges for student responses.
• The provided student handout may be used as an alternative to playing the game as a group.
• An Answer Key document that includes possible answers is available for teacher reference.
• Teachers may find it helpful to also use the Alphabet Review game for another topic.