Watching ice melt

Watching ice melt

Pencil and paperOnline interactive
Overview
Using this Resource
Connecting to the Curriculum
Marking Student Responses
Further Resources
This task is about observations and asking questions.
How to do this task 
  1. Place an ice cube on a paper towel and watch it melt.
  2. Talk about what is happening to the ice cube with your partner.
  3. Write down what you saw, and some questions about what you saw.

Question 1Change answer

What we saw  Questions about what we saw
Task administration: 

This task can be completed with pencil and paper or online.

Equipment:

Paper towel; ice cube.

  • Students need to work in pairs for this task.
  • Consider students giving their responses orally.
  • You could bring out another ice cube from the freezer after a given time so that students can make a comparison.
  • Depending on day and ice cube size, melting could take up to an hour, using small ice cubes is probably better.
Level:
2
Curriculum info: 
Science, Investigating in science, Material World
Keywords: 
changes, melting, ice, observation, questions
Description of task: 
This practical task requires students to describe to a partner their observations about an ice cube melting. Students then develop questions about what they observe.
Curriculum Links: 
Science capabilities
The capabilities focus is brought about by the conversations you have and the questions you ask.
 
Capability: Gather and interpret data
This resource provides opportunities to discuss that wondering about something we see helps us think of questions to investigate.
Science capabilities: 
Gather and interpret data
Making Better Sense: 
Melting/Dissolving
Answers/responses: 

What we saw:
Any valid observations, e.g., ice cubes getting smaller, melting, turning to water, warming up.

Questions about what we saw:
Any valid questions related to observations, e.g., Do they melt faster in the sun or the shade?; Will they melt faster in my hands?; Will a small ice cube melt faster than a big ice cube?..