November 15th, 2009

Hello all,

We have now moved from Life Science on to Physical Science. Physical Science focuses on the make up of matter, the three different states of matter that materials can exist in, mixtures and solutions, the ways that mixtures and solutions can be separated. In the upcoming weeks we will discuss light and sound, energy, magnetism and electricity. Physical Science can be fun, however, it is a large portion of new knowledge that your students will be learning. It is important that they are studying their ten weekly vocabulary words.

Students should know:
* All things are made of MATTER.
* Matter is the "stuff" that all things are made of.
* There are three basic states of Matter: Solid, Liquid and Gas
* Solids have particles that are packed closely together, vibrate in place, and have a definite size and a definite shape.
* Liquids have particles that are packed loosely spaced, have a medium amount of room to move, have a definite size, but not a definite shape, they take the shape of the container they are placed in.
* Gases have particles that are very far apart, move freely and quickly, they have no definite size, and no definite shape. They spread out to the size and shape of the container that they are placed in.

* Mixtures are two or more substances that are combined to make something else, that do not change the original materials, or change what they are made of.
* Mixtures can be separated.
* Ex. of mixtures include: salads, chex mix, salt and pepper, iron filings and sand air, lemonade, kool-aid etc.

* Solutions are a special type of mixture that can not be easily separated. One material seems to disappear in the other, this is called dissolving.
* Solutions consists of two parts:
- Solute: the solid part of a solution
- Solvent: the liquid part of a solution
* Ex. air, lemonade, kool-aid, tea, saltwater, sugar water

Please check out the links on the right side of the home page to find more information about the above topics, including games for the students to play.