Middle School Physical Science NGSS Aligned - Understanding Matter
In this 9 week course, students explore matter and its properties through observations, modeling, hands on experiments, and more. This class is NGSS aligned, designed for 6, 7, and 8th grade, and covers four different NGSS standards.
Amanda Monarchino
Average rating:
5.0
Number of reviews:(3)
What's included
18 live meetings
27 in-class hoursHomework
1 hour per week. Students will be asked to complete work for assignments, projects, and labs that cannot be finished within class time but no new/additional work will be assigned as homework.Assessment
At the end of the course, students will take a quiz covering the main topics of the unit and receive a score summarizing their progress in the course.Class Experience
US Grade 6 - 8
Welcome to Understanding Matter for middle school students! This is a 9 week NGSS aligned course designed for 7th grade students to explore matter and its properties. I love to teach with a hands-on, interactive, and engaging approach so all students can have autonomy over their learning experience. Students will begin by manipulating virtual simulations to observe changes in the motion of particles in relation to changing pressure and temperature. Students will use these observations to explain why we have different states of matter (solids, liquids, and gases). Once students have acquired knowledge of the states of matter they will model the atoms and molecules that make up matter by using items around the house to represent elements in different combinations and ratios. They will discuss the difference between physical and chemical reactions and demonstrate what happens to the arrangement of atoms and molecules in a chemical reaction. Towards the end of the unit, students will conduct an investigation and gather evidence to prove the total number of atoms does not change in a chemical reaction, also known as the law of conservation of matter. In this investigation students will make predictions, gather evidence, and use evidence to develop a conclusion. NGSS standards covered in this course include: MS-PS1-, MS-PS1-2, MS-PS1-4, and MS-PSI - 5 Supplies needed for this 9 week course: toothpicks, baking soda, vinegar, balloon, digital kitchen scale, glass bottle, pencil, and paper. Students will also use extra materials around the house to build a model molecule but these can be items already in the house such as spare erasers, grapes, oranges, play dough, clay, bouncy balls, or whatever items they can find that are round in shape and generally uniform. Week 1 - An Introduction to Matter 1 - Tuesday - Encounter the phenomenon - the triple point of water (3 states of matter) 2 - Thursday - New vocabulary game and start PhET lab investigation on temperature, pressure, and states of matter Week 2 - Types of Matter - Solids, Liquids, and Gases 3 - Tuesday - Mini lesson on states of matter and finish PhET lab investigation 4 - Thursday - Discuss PhET lab results and play vocabulary review game Week 3 - Chemical Formula Writing 5- Tuesday - Introduce chemical formulas, chemical formula format, and how to use chemical formulas 6- Thursday - Start chemical formula writing - whole group practice Week 4 - Using Chemical Formulas for Molecular Modeling 7 - Tuesday - Chemical formula writing - independent practice and start molecular modeling project 8 - Thursday - Molecular modeling work time with teacher feedback Week 5 - Using Chemical Formulas for Molecular Modeling (continued) 9 - Tuesday - Molecular modeling presentations and peer feedback 10 - Thursday - Identifying physical and chemical reactions minilesson Week 6 - Physical and Chemical Reactions 11 - Tuesday - Physical and chemical reaction group and independent practice 12 - Thursday - Law of conservation of matter Week 7 - Conservation of Mass 13 - Tuesday - Baking soda and vinegar pre lab - develop a hypothesis and identify variables 14 - Thursday - Baking soda and vinegar experiment Week 8 - 15 - Tuesday - Baking soda and vinegar experiment lab write up 16 - Thursday - Revisit the phenomenon - the triple point of water (3 states of matter) Week 9 - 17- Tuesday - Unit review with Understanding Matter Kahoot! 18 - Thursday - Wrap up lesson and course exit quiz
Learning Goals
Learner goals include:
Demonstrate the relationship between temperature, pressure, and states of matter
Read and write chemical formulas to represent simple molecules
Use ratio to build a model of simple molecules we encounter in our daily lives
Identify physical and chemical reactions and describe the difference between them
Conduct an experiment to gather data about the law of conservation of matter
Use data to accept or reject a hypothesis related to the law of conservation of matter
Other Details
Parental Guidance
Students in this course will utilize PhET Interactive Simulations which is a platform that allows students to virtually investigate key phenomena related to this course! No account is required to use the website. The first simulation is titled States of Matter: Basics - Phase Changes and the second is titled Build a Molecule. Feel free to visit the site before signing up for the course and let me know if you have any questions. Students will also use Blooket to review important information and vocabulary in a gamified fashion! They will not need an account for Blooket and will use a code I send to them to sign into the game from their computer or device.
Supply List
Supplies needed for this 9 week course: toothpicks, baking soda, vinegar, balloon, digital kitchen scale, measuring spoons, glass bottle, pencil, and paper. Students will also use extra materials around the house to build a model molecule but these can be items already in the house such as spare erasers, grapes, oranges, play dough, clay, bouncy balls, or whatever items they can find that are round in shape and generally uniform.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
Joined June, 2023
5.0
3reviews
Teacher expertise and credentials
I am a middle school science teacher with 5 years of classroom experience with learners from all over the world. I have taught this course in person and online and have adapted and modified these lessons to be suitable for a home learning/virtual setting. Reviews
Live Group Class
$60
weekly or $540 for 18 classes2x per week, 9 weeks
90 min
Live video meetings
Ages: 10-14
3-12 learners per class
