What is Matter?

Third Grade

What is matter?• Everything is matter!

• Anything that has mass and takes up space is matter.

• It includes all the things that you can see, touch or smell.

• Your desk, paper, pencil, and even the air you breath are matter.

Matter everywhere• Many things that you cannot see, smell or

touch are also matter.

• Air is an example of matter that you cannot

see, smell or touch.

Matter has mass

• You can feel the mass of things as weight

when you pick them up.

• When you blow up a balloon, you see that

even air takes up space.

• Look at the hockey puck and volleyball.

• The puck is small and hard.

• The volleyball is large and soft.

• The puck and volleyball look different, but

both are matter.

Hockey puck volleyball

Both are

matteran

d used for

sports.

Black,

flat

and

hard

Yellow,

white,

big

and

soft

States of matter• All matter is made of small

particles. These particles are so small that you can not see them, even under a magnifying lens.

• The particles are always moving.

• In some kinds of matter the particles are held tightly together

• In other kinds of matter they are held less tightly.

• States of matter are the form that matter can take

• Three states of matter are solids, liquids, and gases.

• In solids particles are packed tightly together.

• In liquids particles are packed together less tightly.

• In gases particles move about freely.

• Your science book is a solid. Like other solids, the book does not change shape.

• The particles of solids are held tightly together.

Solids:• solids are made of tightly packed particles.•Solids have their own shape.•You can easily measure both the mass and the volume of solids. Like your science book, the fabric of the balloons and balloon baskets are also solids.

particles are tightly packed in solids

Liquids:• particles in liquids are held together less tightly.•The particles in a liquid flow past one another.•Liquids take the shape of their containers. •If you pour a liquid from one container to another, the liquid will take the shape of the new container.

•You can easily measure the mass and the volume of liquids.

particles are held less tightly in liquids

Gases:•The tiny particles that make up gases are far apart compared to solids and liquids.•The particles of a gas move freely and take up the space of their container.•The particles of a gas bounce off one another as they move freely.

•All matter has mass, so gas has mass too. You can measure the mass and volume of a gas.•The air in the balloon is gas. The air takes the shape of this balloon.

•The particles of air move freely in the balloon.

Changes in water• Matter can change states through heating or cooling.•When water heats up, the space between the water particles becomes greater.•When water cools down the space between the particles becomes less.

•When liquid water cools to 0°C (32°F), it freezes , or changes from a liquid to a solid. It changes to ice, solid water.•When ice is heated, it melts , or changes from a solid to a liquid. Ice melts at 0°C.•You can see water as a liquid and as a solid.

water as liquid

water as solid

•You cannot see water as a gas.•Water as a gas is called water vapor. •When water is heated to 100°C, it boils, or changes from liquid water into bubbles of water vapor.•Water vapor and steam are not same; steam is droplets of liquid water in the air.

Water

vapor

Steam is

not

water

vapor.

•When water boils, it evaporates.•Evaporation is the change from liquid water to water vapor. •Evaporation can also happen slowly at the water surface.

•Notice the water droplets on the outside of the pot of water.•Where does that water come from?•When water vapor in the air cools, it can change back into liquid.•The water vapor condenses.•Condensation is the change from a gas into a liquid.

Water evaporation

and condensation