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Hard, soft, hot and cold: K to 2nd science

Materials and their properties; heating and cooling. A free K to 2nd lesson plan with a hook, practice that links to free activities, and an exit ticket. Copy it and make it yours.

Lesson plan

Goal

  • Students work toward: materials and their properties; heating and cooling.

Hook (5 min)

  • Ask the class: Why does ice float in your drink?
  • Take two or three answers and write them where everyone can see them.

Teach (10 min)

  • Say the big idea in one plain sentence: hard, soft, hot and cold.
  • Show one example, then one that is not an example, and ask how the two differ.
  • Have students tell a partner the idea in their own words.

Practise (15 min)

  • Choose one for the whole class or let groups pick:
  • Read: Why Does Ice Float? (https://peabody.kids/library/why-does-ice-float)
  • Make: Make oobleck (https://peabody.kids/build/oobleck)
  • Make: Which cup keeps ice longest? (https://peabody.kids/science-fair/projects/which-cup-keeps-ice-longest)
  • Try: Quiz: hard, soft, hot and cold (https://peabody.kids/practice/sci/matter)

Exit ticket (5 min)

  • On a slip or aloud: one thing I learned about hard, soft, hot and cold, and one question I still have.
  • Sort the slips into: got it, nearly, not yet. Start tomorrow with the last pile.

Written by Peabody from its own skill pages. Free, no ads, no sign-in. Children can practise this on Peabody. More from teachers: teacher-shared resources.