Resource 2: Lesson plan: Which can be compressed – solid, liquid or gas?

 Teacher resource for planning or adapting to use with pupils

Miss Kamikazi used the activity below as the basis for her lesson.

First she got her pupils to do a quick spider diagram of their observations and knowledge about sand and this is what one of the better groups produced.

Then she decided that with an activity like this she could have given the pupils more ownership of the whole task. She made a worksheet (see below). She found that this change in approach really made a difference to the motivation, enthusiasm and learning of her pupils.

INVESTIGATION (sand, water, air)

          You have 3 syringes

          You have SAND, WATER and AIR in 3 bottles

Look carefully at the three bottles and compare them.

Before you try to experiment.

What do you think will happen?

SAND	YES/NO
WATER	YES/NO
AIR	YES/NO

Now half fill one syringe with SAND, one with WATER, and one with air.

Put your finger over the end of the syringe and try to push the sand, the water, and the air into a smaller space.

You can compress…

SAND	YES/NO
WATER	YES/NO
AIR	YES/NO