An important skill for third graders to learn is identifying whether an object is a solid, liquid, or gas. Lindsey Kay, a third-grade teacher at Oak Ridge Elementary used balloons to put her student's skills to the test. 

She filled some balloons with water, some with water to freeze overnight, and some with just air inside, and told students they would be using one of their five sense - touch - to determine what state of matter the balloons were in. She talked with her students about physical properties describe what an object physically feels like and talked about adjectives such as hard, soft, squishy, etc. Students then were given a bucket with three balloons. They were able to pick them up, hold them in their hands, and determine what was inside the balloons. Students had to record their findings.

While observing the balloons, students learned the frozen balloons were solid and hard. When they put pressure on the water balloons, they noticed the shape would change and could feel the liquid moving inside. The balloon with air inside, even when squished, changed its shape a little bit, but bounced right back to its original shape. Kay has taught her students that solids keep their shape, liquids take the shape of their container, and gases fill up any open space. The students dentified and labeled what was inside each balloon and then described its physical property. The students had to write down if the balloon contained a solid, liquid, or gas, what it felt like, and if it would or wouldn’t change its shape.

Kay shared, “I believe students truly enjoy hands-on activities, which keeps them engaged and having fun, while still learning the instruction. It helps them make better connections with what they’re learning, rather than being handed constant worksheets! It makes teaching more enjoyable for myself as well!”