Activity 01
The Great Ice Melt
Give each group an ice cube on a small plate. Have them observe it over time, noting how it changes from a hard solid to a puddle of liquid water. They can draw pictures of the ice cube at the beginning and the puddle at the end.
Identify what happens when you put water in the freezer.
Facilitation TipAsk guiding questions like 'What is happening to the ice?' and 'What does it feel like now?'
What to look forPicture Sorting Game: Students sort cards with images (e.g., ice cube, river, cloud, steam from chai, puddle) into three boxes labelled 'Solid', 'Liquid', and 'Gas'.
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Activity 02
Spot the Steam!
As a teacher-led demonstration, carefully boil water in an electric kettle. Ask students to observe the steam coming out and discuss where it goes. Hold a cool steel plate above the steam to show how water droplets (condensation) form.
Explain where the steam from a boiling kettle goes.
Facilitation TipEnsure students are at a safe distance from the kettle to prevent any accidents with the hot water or steam.
What to look forShow and Tell: Ask students to describe what is happening in a picture, for example, a picture of an ice cream melting in the sun. Listen for their use of vocabulary like 'melt', 'solid', 'liquid'.
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Activity 03
Water Shape Shifter
Provide students with a small jug of water and various containers of different shapes (e.g., a glass, a bowl, a bottle). Let them pour the water from one container to another to see how the liquid takes the shape of its container, unlike a solid ice cube.
Compare an ice cube to the water in your glass.
Facilitation TipEncourage them to compare this with an ice cube, which keeps its shape no matter which container it's in.
What to look forDrawing Story: Students draw a three-part cartoon showing an ice cube being left on a table, melting into water, and then the puddle drying up.
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Generate Complete Lesson→A few notes on teaching this unit
Begin with the familiar: liquid water. Use safe, teacher-led demonstrations for any activity involving heat. Emphasise sensory learning by letting students touch ice and describe how it feels, then compare it to how water feels. Use simple, repetitive language like 'cold makes water solid ice' and 'heat makes water a gas called steam'.
After these activities, your students will be able to point out water in its three forms in the world around them and explain in simple terms how it changes.
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Steam or water vapour just disappears and vanishes forever.
Steam is water that has turned into a gas. It mixes with the air, which we also cannot see. You can show that it's still there by catching it on a cold surface, where it will turn back into tiny drops of liquid water.
Ice, water, and steam are three completely different things.
They are all the same thing, water, just in different forms. We can prove this by melting an ice cube to get water, and then freezing that same water to get an ice cube back.
The water droplets on the outside of a cold glass are leaking from the inside.
The droplets come from the air. There is invisible water vapour in the air all around us, and when it touches the cold glass, it cools down and turns back into liquid water.
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