States of Matter Experiments

This week, we conducted some exciting experiments involving the states of matter that we have been studying. We have been learning about water's states of matter: steam/vapor, liquid, and ice.  We have also been studying how water can cause erosion - in some cases, by seeping into cracks of rocks. As it freezes, the water turns to ice and expands causing bigger splits in the rock. Who knew water could be so powerful? We wanted to see this for ourselves.

We filled a number of containers of different sizes and materials to the brim with water - an aluminum can, a plastic water bottle, a glass spice jar, a plastic pesto container, a cookie tin and a glass honey jar. We took our containers to the courtyard and left them overnight. The sub-freezing temperatures this week were perfect for our purposes. Then the students recorded their predictions about what would happen to the containers - would the water freeze but leave the container intact? Would the water freeze and burst open the container? Did the material of the container make a difference?

The next morning, we checked our results and were amazed by the power of freezing water: the aluminum can split, the plastic water bottle became distorted, the glass jars cracked, the plastic pesto container's bottom bulged out as did that of the cookie tin. After observing the results, students recorded them on their sheets and drew the  changes to the container. Some of our predictions came true, others had surprising results!

One other fun experiment we tried in these very low temperatures was blowing bubbles to see what would happen to the liquid bubble soap - would it freeze? And what would happen to the bubbles if it did? What we observed were bubbles that held their liquid sphere for a few seconds before freezing. The frozen bubbles would break apart, shatter and come down in a big lump!

Enjoy the pictures below of our science from this week!