Year 4 are starting states of matter. On the projector the teacher opens a Microsoft Whiteboard board with three columns, each headed by its rule: a solid keeps its own shape and its volume, a liquid flows and takes the shape of its container but keeps its volume, and a gas spreads out to fill whatever space it is given and can be squashed. Twelve photographs wait at the side: a brick, a wooden spoon, an ice cube and a coin; milk, honey and cooking oil; the air in a football, the helium in a party balloon and the carbon dioxide bubbles in a fizzy drink; and two that cause arguments, sand and a bath sponge. For each one the teacher asks which state it is, children hold up S, L or G on mini whiteboards, and the teacher drags the photograph into its column and says which rule decides it. The teacher spends longest on the sand, which pours but is made of tiny grains that each keep their shape, and the sponge, which squashes because its holes are full of air. Children build the same table in their books as the board fills and finish by writing why sand is a solid.
Tools: Microsoft Whiteboard Nine ideas for your own version in Generate
This page is one of a growing set of PICRAT examples by cell, subject and grade. Page maintained by Andy Perryer.