Physical Science – Grade 3

Properties of Objects and Properties of Materials

Standards:
 Differentiate between properties of objects and properties of materials.
 Compare and contrast states of matter

Teacher Background

1. What’s the difference between an object and a material?

Material is the stuff that an object is made of. Materials keep their properties even if the
shape or size of the piece changes. For example, a piece of glass is a material and a glass
bowl is an object. A property of glass would be that it is hard. The hardness of glass
does not change no matter how it is used.

Properties of an object may include shape, size and weight or mass. These things change
with the object whereas the properties of materials are consistent despite the size of the
sample.

2. What are the properties of materials and what do they mean?

1. Color – what is the overall color of the material.

2. State of matter – solid, liquid or gas
3. How it interacts with light or it’s clarity – i.e. opaque, translucent, transparent
4. Hardness or strength – easily scratched or it scratches other things
5. Texture – rough or smooth
6. How it reacts with heat – melting point, boiling point, freezing point
7. Density – how tightly packed the stuff is. If it is dense, a small amount will be
very heavy, like a rock. If it is lightly packed together, a small amount will be
very light, like cotton candy.
It pertains to the old joke, which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound
of steel? Answer: they weigh the same, but they take up very different
amounts of space. A pound of steel has a high density, a pound of feathers
has a very low density.

We will not test of all of these traits, as some are much harder than others to work with in
the classroom. Also, density is a difficult concept for elementary age students.

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 Lesson 1 – Identifying Objects and Materials

Part 1
Materials: Rulers
Scales
Object Properties Chart

Procedure
1. First, students will identify common objects in the room. (ex. Stapler, desk, student,
book, pen etc.)

2. Next, have students choose 5 objects in the room, either individually or with a partner.
Record the shape, size and weight of the object on the Object Properties Chart. Shape is
recorded based on observation. Length can be measured with a ruler. Remind students to
use units - inches, feet or centimeters. Weight can be measured with a scale.

3. Students record their measurements and observations in the boxes on Object Properties
Chart.

4. Share individual results with a whole class discussion.

Part 2
Materials: Hardness scratch items (pennies, nails, quartz)
Materials Properties Chart

Procedure
1. Identify 5 common materials in the classroom (ex. chalk, wood, rocks, glass, plastic,
metal, clay, glue, wax, cotton etc.)

2. Introduce properties of materials:

1. Color – what is the overall color of the material.

2. State of matter – solid, liquid or gas
3. How it interacts with light or it’s clarity – i.e. opaque, translucent, transparent
4. Hardness or strength – easily scratched or it scratches other things
Soft scratches a fingernail
Soft scratches a Penny
Nail scratches a nail
Glass scratches a piece of glass
Quartz scratches a piece of quartz
5. Texture – rough or smooth
6. How it reacts with heat – melting point, boiling point, freezing point

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 7. Density – how tightly packed the stuff is. If it is dense, a small amount will be
very heavy, like a rock. If it is lightly packed together, a small amount will be
very light, like cotton candy.
It pertains to the old joke, which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound
of steel? Answer: they weigh the same, but they take up very different
amounts of space. A pound of steel has a high density, a pound of feathers
has a very low density.

3. Next, have students choose 5 materials in the room and record them on their Materials
Properties Chart.

4. Share individual results with a whole class discussion. Highlight the differences
between the properties of objects and the properties of materials.

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Name _____________________________________________________ Date _____________________________

Object Properties Chart

Object Name Shape Length Weight

1.

2.

3.

4.

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 5.
Name _____________________________________________________ Date _____________________________

Material Properties Chart

Material Name Color Clarity Hardness/Strength State of Matter

1.

2.

3.

4.

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5.

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 Lesson 2 - Melting Point: A Property of Materials

Background: Chocolate melts right around 94 degrees F. Prep by choosing a small

amount of chocolate (or something else). Have enough to give one piece to each group
of students. Groups of two or three students work well.

Materials: thermometers
Re-sealable baggies
Temperature Data Sheet

Procedure:
1. Review the concept of properties of materials versus properties of objects. Review the
vocabulary and some of the properties of materials that were taught previously. Explain
that today’s lesson will explore the melting point, which is another property of a material.

2. Give each group of students a piece of chocolate. Have the students put their
chocolate into a re-sealable baggie. Do not seal the baggie, and place a thermometer in
the chocolate.

3. Record the temperature.

4. Next, students will hold the chocolate in their hand. Don’t squeeze, just warm it up
with your hands.

5. Record the temperature every minute along with the state of the chocolate. Continue
to record the temperature for 8- 10 minutes until it is melted.

6. Once all the groups have melted their chocolate, compare the melting point that each
group recorded. Discuss how the melting point should be about the same for all groups
because chocolate is a material, that will have a consistent melting point.

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Name __________________________________________Date __________

Temperature Data Sheet

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 Time Temperature

Starting time: 0 minutes

1 minute

2 minutes

3 minutes

4 minutes

5 minutes

6 minutes

7 minutes

8 minutes

9 minutes

10 minutes

11 minutes

Lesson 3 - Property or Attribute Test for a Material

Background: We are going to test the strength of different strings by hanging weights on
them until they break. The string needs to be very thin in order for it to break. For

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weights, you can substitute cups and pennies or washers or rocks or anything and weigh it
later.

Materials: 3 different strings

Pennies (teacher provided)
Plastic cups
Thread Test Data Sheet
Foam (optional)

Procedure:
1. Explain that today’s lesson is to test the strength of a material. We are going to test
different strings in groups and then determine which material is the strongest.

2. Introduce each type of string to the class and allow the class to make predictions about
which string they think will be the strongest.

3. In groups of 2 or 3, tie one end of the string to a desk and the other end to a cup.

4. Place foam or something soft under the cup on the floor. (don’t let the cup fall a large
distance)

5. Add weight to the cup until it breaks.

6. Record the color of the thread and the weight.

7. Repeat the test with all 5 threads.

8. After all strings have been tested, check the results against the predictions and
determine which string was the strongest.

Name __________________________________________Date __________

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 Thread Test Data Sheet

Before you begin testing the thread, which thread do you predict will be the
strongest? _____________________________________
Why?
_____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

Thread Color Weight

Which thread was the strongest? __________________________________

Was your prediction accurate? _________________________________

Physical Science – Grade 3

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 Compare and Contrast States of Matter
Teacher background

Everything (matter) in the Universe exists in one of 4 states or phases. These are called
the states of matter:
 Solid
 Liquid
 Gas
 Plasma
Each has it’s own characteristics, all of which are based upon how fast their parts
(molecules) are moving.

Solid – holds its shape, things don’t pass through it easily

This is because it’s molecules are only vibrating in place and tightly packed together.
They do not have much energy.

Liquid – takes the shape of it’s container and flows

This is because it’s molecules vibrate, but also can slide around each other. They have
more energy and move more than solid molecules.

Gas – has no shape and will fill it’s container.

This is because gas molecules are very energetic and move freely in all directions,
bouncing into things and each other, filling whatever space it is in. That is why you can
smell cookies when you walk into a house, even before you see the cookies. The cookie
molecules are bouncing around the room.

Plasma – Incredibly energized molecules – ex. Lightning, stars, the sun etc.

Lesson 1 – Acting Out the States of Matter

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Materials: Space in the classroom

Procedure:

1. Choose an area of the room where the class can stand. Tell them that they are the
smallest parts of water, called molecules.

2. Have them place their hands by their side. They cannot move their feet, only shake in
place. (solid)

3. Have them keep their hands at their side, but tell them you are heating them up and
giving them more energy. They only have enough energy to move two steps in any
direction. (liquid)

4. Again, with hands at their side, you continue to heat them up and now they can walk
wherever they would like in the classroom. (Gas )

5. Now, begin to remove energy. “it’s getting very cold and you are losing energy” Now
you can only move two steps in any direction. (liquid)

6. Now you are even colder and cannot move your feet at all, only move in place. (solid)

7. Have students return to their seats and answer the following questions:

1. Describe the motion of the smallest parts of a solid? Liquid? Gas?

2. Which state of matter is easiest to pass through? Why?

Which is hardest? Why?

3. If you had a solid and a liquid and a gas in a container and you took the top off,
which one could escape by itself?

8. Discuss each question with the class.

Lesson 2: Changing From Solid to Liquid

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Background: Students will record the temperature of melting ice in water. The
temperature will not warm up past 32 degrees until all the ice is melted.
Make sure that the water and ice sit for a bit before you begin taking
temperatures to help chill the water.

Materials: Beakers
ice
water
thermometers
Ice Temperature Data Sheet

Procedure:
1. Place one ice cube into a container.

2. Pour in 100 ml of water over the ice into the container.

3. Stir with the thermometer.

4. Record the temperature every minute and write down any observations on your
data sheet.

5. Do this for 10 minutes.

6. Graph the results with a bar or line graph.

7. Discuss with the class how the ice cube changed from one state of matter to
another.

Name __________________________________________Date __________

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 Ice Temperature Data Sheet

Time Temperature Observations

about the Ice
Cube
1 minute

2 minutes

3 minutes

4 minutes

5 minutes

6 minutes

7 minutes

8 minutes

9 minutes

10 minutes

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 Lesson 3 – Recreating the Water Cycle
Background: Water in a liquid state can be heated into a gas called water vapor. If the
water vapor is trapped and cooled, it can be turned back into a liquid. We will attempt to
turn the liquid water in the plastic container into water vapor, have it cool on the plastic
wrap and return as liquid water into the beaker.

Materials: Water
plastic wrap
beakers
plastic container
weight (book or other heavy classroom item)

Procedure:
1. Demonstrate the full set up to the class before giving out materials. Have students do
a dry run set up with out hot water.

2. Pour warm water, almost hot to the touch, about 105 degrees F, into the plastic
container.

3. Float the beaker on top of the water in the plastic container.

4. Cover the plastic container with plastic wrap

5. Place a weight on the plastic wrap so that the weight is over the beaker and it cannot
move away from the weight.

6. Watch and wait. The warm water will turn into water vapor, cool on the plastic and
run into the beaker.

7. As a class discussion or a journal entry, talk about how the water changed from one
state to another.

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