The program continues with what we call the “Science Studio,” where children in different grade levels are presented with examples of a variety of phenomena and asked to decide whether they are matter or “not matter.” From these and Joanie’s students’ ideas, we begin to build a working definition of matter using a graphic organizer. After they sort through a variety of meanings for the word “matter,” they begin to make a list of criteria that can be used to decide whether something is or is not matter. The video opens with a conversation among first and second graders and their teacher, Joanie Grisham, at the Fayerweather Street School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In this session, we’ll build a working definition of matter, learn to distinguish between its “accidental” and “essential” properties, and explore it through classification, an activity with a rich history in science. Most areas in physical science can be discussed and explained in terms of matter or energy, and matter is a subject that naturally bridges to the other sciences (chemistry, life, earth science, etc.). Matter is one of the big ideas in science. Yet how do we define it? What does a block of cheese have in common with the Moon? What are the characteristics of matter that set it apart from something that is definitely not matter? What is matter? This question at first seems deceptively simple - matter is all around us. Begin to build a model that differentiates between solids, liquids, and gases.Understand some of the history behind the classification of matter.Differentiate between essential and accidental properties of matter.Recognize the criteria that make something “matter”.During this session, you will have an opportunity to build understandings to help you:

What is matter in chemistry