This unit entitled Matter in Weather is designed for 3rd grade.

The unit will integrate many

academic disciplines while teaching students about matter with specifics such as the states of matter,
transitions of matter, the water cycle, precipitation, and extreme weather.
Students will do a variety of activities to enhance their learning. First the students explore an
introduction to the concept of matter. Then the students will experience the transitions of matter by
melting ice. Next the students will state the water cycle through a poster. Next the students will
experience precipitation by creating a posted on one specific type. Finally the students will experience
extreme weather through creating a flood and analyzing soils activity during flooding.
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Education Standard: 3.2.3.A1. Differentiate
between properties of objects such as size, shape, weight and properties of materials that make up the
objects such as color, texture, and hardness. Differentiate between the three states of matter,
classifying a substance as a solid, liquid, or gas. 3.2.3.A3. Demonstrate how heating and cooling may
cause changes in the properties of materials including phase changes. 3.3.3.A4 Connect the various
forms of precipitation to the weather in a particular place and time, the students will be producing
works of art, speaking and listening during discussions, applying process knowledge that enablers them
to become independent leaders through inquiry and design, and study the dynamics of earth science,
which includes the forces of nature that build earth and wear down earth.
When the unit is complete, the students will be able to describe the three states of matter, the
transitions of matter, the processes of the water cycle, the properties of six different types of
precipitation, and the properties of different types of extreme weather. This context is key in a
students ability to understand, explore, and explain the natural world around them.