Smoothie Capacity Challenge
Lesson idea. This activity is intended to help young children understand that matter is made of particles and to identify changes in state as changes in the amount of energy that particles within the material have. It is intended that they develop a very practical understanding of this principle as preparation for investigating the changes in state of various different materials. The activity is a practical, physical exploration of a concept and so best done in a large hall as there is some running around involved.
Teaching approach. This is a practical session to be used with a whole class in small groups(ta) of 2 or 3 –perhaps with the added supervision of a teaching assistant if the class is excitable or particularly young. There is scope within this activity for the following different methods of learning:
- Whole class(ta) dialogue - Discussion of each part of the activity
- Open-ended questions(ta) – How can we find out if the containers hold the same amount? What can we tell just by looking at them?
- Project work – as part of a wider maths topic on measuring volume and capacity.
- Enquiry-based learning(ta) – children are discovering the answer to questions that they are encouraged to pose themselves.
- Arguing and reasoning(ta) – persuading each other about their ideas.
- Exploring ideas – developing practical, physical understanding of key mathematical principles. (edit)
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| Title | Smoothie Capacity Challenge |
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| Files and resources to view and download | Download the document here File:People Particles.doc, or view it on the wiki Smoothie Capacity Challenge/Lesson Document |
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