The first thing you need to do is find out what your state
requires you to teach to 2nd graders about matter, and what
is developmentally approprieate for 2nd graders. The
expectation at 2nd grade may not use the term "matter" but
you are teaching about the physical properties of matter when
you are covering that expectation. For example: the
following expectations that relate to physical properties of
matter are stated in Texas' 2nd grade Science Essential
Knowledge and Skills.

* Scientific processes. The student uses age-appropriate
tools and models to verify that organisms and objects and
parts of organisms and objects can be observed, described,
and measured. The student is expected to:
(A) collect information using tools including rulers, meter
sticks, measuring cups, clocks, hand lenses, computers,
thermometers, and balances; and
(B) measure and compare organisms and objects and parts of
organisms and objects, using standard and non-standard units.

* Science concepts. The student knows that organisms,
objects, and events have properties and patterns. The student
is expected to:
(A) classify and sequence organisms, objects, and events
based on properties and patterns; and

*Science concepts. The student knows that many types of
change occur. The student is expected to:
(A) observe, measure, record, analyze, predict, and
illustrate changes in size, mass, temperature, color,
position, quantity, sound, and movement;
(B) identify, predict, and test uses of heat to cause change
such as melting and evaporation;

The National Benchmarks for Science Literacy for Kindergarten
through Grade 2 state that by the end of 2nd grade, students
should be able to do the following:

"Students should examine and use a wide variety of objects,
categorizing them according to their various observable
properties. They should subject materials to such treatments
as mixing, heating, freezing, cutting, wetting, dissolving,
bending, and exposing to light to see how they change. Even
though it is too early to expect precise reports or even
consistent results from the students, they should be
encouraged to describe what they did and how materials
responded.

Students should also get a lot of experience in constructing
things from a few kinds of small parts ("Tinkertoys"
and "Legos"), then taking them apart and rearranging them.
They should begin to consider how the properties of objects
may differ from properties of the materials they are made of.
And they should begin to inspect things with a magnifying
glass to discover features not visible without it.

Current Version of the Benchmarks Statements

By the end of the 2nd grade, students should know that

•Objects can be described in terms of their properties. Some
properties, such as hardness and flexibility, depend upon
what material the object is made of, and some properties,
such as size and shape, do not. 4D/P1*
•Things can be done to materials to change some of their
properties, but not all materials respond the same way to
what is done to them. 4D/P2"

**********************************************************
With all of that being said I would suggest you start by
giving students a bag full of items. Each item should have
at least one property the same as another item, with the bag
being considered one of the items. MAKE SURE THAT EVERY
GROUP'S BAG HAS THE EXACT SAME OBJECTS AS THE OTHER GROUPS.
Student groups should take bag and put everything on surface
in front of them (table or floor, whereever they are
working). Then the groups need to catagorize items into
groups for which one property matches. They then need to
make a label for each group of items. They are determining
where to sort each item and what the categories will be.
Groups will present to class and you will hear and see some
interesting property categories, some you might not have
thought of. I list all categories on board and then talk
about how every item had properties that could make it fit
into another category, but we had to make a choice of what
property was more important to us to place the item in...
(this becomes an important point in 5th grade when students
are seperating mixtures and identifying that one property
that is different for which the property will be used to
seperate the mixture).

Secondly, Hold up a stuffed animal, and then pass it around,
and have students brainstorm the characteristics (or
properties)of the animal. List these on the board or chart
paper. Talk about how we can use all our senses to make
observations about an object. You could sequee this into
giving students a wrapped candy or a fruit and repeating what
you do with the stuffed animal. Have students make a 5
column T-chart to record the properties/characteristics that
is observed using each sense (lable each column with one of
the 5 senses)

Thirdly, talk about how measurement is a property of an item
that you can observe with different senses (how loud
something is, what size something is, how heavy it is, how
much heat something has(temperature)) Pull out the balances,
tape measures (or meter sticks or rulers), thermometers,
measuring cups and spoons, etc. and do some measurements on
different objects. I made up a non standard measurement kit
for our younger grades with popsicle sticks (two different
sizes), paperclips, pennies, straws, pencils, erasers, etc.)
The second grade used the nonstandard measurement kit and
measured things and then they gave a lesson on measuring with
centimeters using a ruler and had them remeasure everything
using the centimeter ruler.

I hope some of this helps.

I hope all this helps

Share This Post | Report This Post

Next Post >>

Posts on this thread, including this one