Dows Lane Students Study Properties of Liquids and Solids Using Experiments

IRVINGTON, NY — Dows Lane Elementary School students, who have been studying about the properties of liquids and solids, experienced how the state of matter changes through science demonstrations and hands-on activities.

Thanks to a grant from the Irvington Education Foundation, first- and second-graders welcomed scientist Christopher Green to their classrooms for two days recently where he interacted with the students and used dry ice, water, soap and pennies to bring the concepts to life for them, according to a district spokesman.

Throughout the lessons, Green discussed how molecules interact with each other and explained what causes the changes in the state of matter.

During one experiment, the students used a pipette to draw water and carefully drop it onto the flat surface of a penny. They observed how water molecules that cling to each other caused the round shape of the dome of water to form on top of the penny.

The students also witnessed gas evaporating when dry ice was dropped into water, and heard the rapid evaporations of dry ice when it rubbed against metal, which in turn vibrated, making a screeching sound.

“Mr. Green presented all of these concepts in a real, fun, engaging, interactive way that would be very difficult for us to replicate,” said first-grade teacher Katherine Tripeau. “It’s more meaningful for the students when they’re able to get their hands on these different states of matter.”

First-grader Ashley Shapiro said she enjoyed making silly putty by mixing water, glue and Borax, dropping water on a penny and seeing the different properties of liquids, solids and gases.

“Science is one of my favorite subjects because you get to learn new stuff,” she said. “We learned that when you put together solids, liquids and gases you make really cool stuff.”

Green said that it’s important to get students excited about science and prepare them to make educated decisions about our planet.

“We can solve all of the problems on planet Earth with math and science,” he said. “If the kids don’t have an interest and if they’re not excited about it, they’re not going to become the next generation of brilliant scientists.”

Photo captions: Dows Lane Elementary School students experiencing how matter changes. Photo credit: Irvington Union Free School District.