BFSU Enrichment
LESSON A-2

Solids, Liquids, and Gases

Everything you can touch is a solid, a liquid, or a gas — and the only thing that moves matter between those states is temperature.

Free enrichment to teach alongside Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding, Volume 1 by Dr. Bernard J. Nebel. It reproduces none of his text — you'll want the book to teach from it. Get the book on Amazon →
Developed by Jesse Genet · @jessegenet
Download the kit
⬇ Full packetEverything, print-ready ⬇ Kid sheets onlyWhat goes in the notebook ⬇ Teacher sheets onlyGuide · oration · supply list
Posters
Everything Is Solid Liquid or Gas
Everything Is Solid Liquid or Gas
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Heat Changes the State
Heat Changes the State
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The Whole Earth Is Solid Liquid and Gas
The Whole Earth Is Solid Liquid and Gas
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The activities — hands-on experiment cards
Three States Trio
Card 1 · Teacher demo

Three States Trio

The same substance — water — sits on the table in all three states at once. State words describe how a thing is right now, and the same stuff can wear all three costumes.

⬇ This card
Reading Real Temperatures
Card 2 · Kids hands-on

Reading Real Temperatures

Temperature stops being a feeling and becomes a number a child reads for themselves — and water's two magic numbers (32 °F and 212 °F) are where its state changes happen.

⬇ This card
Metal That Melts in Your Hand
Card 3 · Kids hands-on

Metal That Melts in Your Hand

Metals melt too — each at its own temperature. Gallium's melting point (≈86 °F) is lower than a person, so body heat alone turns a solid metal into a bright silver puddle.

⬇ This card
One Ice Cube, All Three States
Card 4 · Teacher demo · the centrepiece

One Ice Cube, All Three States

One single ice cube climbs the whole ladder while the kids watch: solid → liquid → gas. At the end the pan is dry because the water is in the room's air, not gone.

⬇ This card
The Melt Race
Card 5 · Teacher demo · kids predict

The Melt Race

It isn't only water that changes state. Six materials warm together and melt in order — because every material has its own melting temperature. And the cheese proves not everything melts.

⬇ This card
The Disappearing Spoon
Card 6 · Teacher demo

The Disappearing Spoon

A real metal spoon melts away in a mug of hot water — because Field's metal's own melting number (144 °F) sits below hot-water temperature. Metal obeys exactly the same rule as butter.

⬇ This card
Dry Ice: Solid Straight to Gas
Card 7 · Teacher demo · the finale

Dry Ice: Solid Straight to Gas

Some solids skip liquid entirely and go straight to gas. That is sublimation — and dry ice proves it beside a normal ice cube: one leaves a puddle, one leaves nothing at all.

⬇ This card
One more idea — a bonus for the review
The same water melting and freezing back
🎁 Reveal at the review

It Goes Both Ways

Melting is not a one-way street. Here's one to hold back for the review: heat in, the ice melts; heat out, the puddle freezes right back — the same water both times.

A peek ahead → the water you boil away comes back too — as fog, dew, and rain (a lesson coming soon).
⬇ Bonus card
The song
🎵
Solid Liquid Gas
A-2's sing-along — press play
⬇ Lyric sheet
In the student binder
📖OverviewThe big idea, the three states & water's magic numbers — for the notebook.⬇ ✎CopyworkSee it, trace it, write it — solid, liquid, gas, in big primer handwriting.⬇ 🗂️My Sorting ChartGlue each little picture under solid, liquid, or gas — then chart the melt race.⬇ 🌡️Number LogTemperature is a number — read the thermometer and write it big.⬇
Everything that's included