SCI6-OI1-GQ1-LO1-KO3-U: Most matter expands when heated and contracts when cooled (sidewalk…
Most matter expands when heated and contracts when cooled (sidewalk gaps, bike tires).
The Alberta Science Kindergarten to Grade 6 outcome SCI6-OI1-GQ1-LO1-KO3-U (Matter) for Grade 6 says: “Most matter expands when heated and contracts when cooled (sidewalk gaps, bike tires).” This Fieldbook unit teaches it hands-on, with everyday materials and a printable teacher guide and student sheet for every lesson. Official wording: Alberta Science Kindergarten to Grade 6.
Hot and Cold: Particles on the Move Grade 6
Why tires go soft in winter, why sidewalks have gaps, and how a thermometer knows. Five lessons on what heating and cooling do to the particles in everything around us.
- Why do bike tires go soft in winter? 45–60 min
Students stretch a balloon over a bottle, move it between warm and ice water, and find out what happens to air particles when they cool down. Then they explain a cyclist's 'flat' tire on the first cold morning.
- Why does food colouring spread faster in hot water? 45–60 min
Two cups, two drops, one race. Students drop food colouring into warm and ice-cold water at the same moment, then explain what the moving colour tells us about particles they can't see.
- How does a thermometer know? 50–60 min
Teams build a working thermometer from a bottle of coloured water and a clear straw, then calibrate it against a real thermometer. At the end, they explain how any liquid thermometer 'knows' the temperature.
- Why do sidewalks have cracks on purpose? 50–60 min
Students loosen a stuck jar lid with warm water, then go on a gap hunt around the school to find and measure the joints engineers build into sidewalks, walls and railings. They explain why solid things need room to grow and shrink.
- Can you keep an ice cube frozen the longest? 60 min, plus a 40-minute wait (teach something else while the ice sits)
A design challenge with insulation, a budget and a class leaderboard. Teams build an ice cube keeper, measure how much melted, and explain why the best designs slow down heat moving in.
Printable practice for SCI6-OI1-GQ1-LO1-KO3-U
- Hot and Cold: Particles on the Move workbook included with the unit
4 readings, 3 English-support pages, 3 practice pages, 1 word wall, 1 unit review, 1 unit test, with answer keys.
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Compared with NGSS: MS-PS1-4.
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