Matter Matters
A Classrooms Unleashed Program
for Second Grade Students
In this program, students become engineers, working collaboratively to explore properties of matter and applying their understanding to build a successful bridge. They will discover the relationship between the properties of different types of solid matter and their uses. In addition to a 1.5-hour field trip and engineering lab at the World of Wonders Science Museum, this program includes two, 75-minute classroom lessons.
A fully on-campus version of this program (three 75-minute lessons) is available for schools that choose not to travel to the World of Wonders Science Museum for the field trip.
All of our lessons are backwards designed from Next Generation Science Standards and Common Core for second grade. In addition to the Sierra Nevada Journeys-led lessons, classroom teachers will be provided with 3-4 easy-to-use learning experiences to reinforce concepts and vocabulary, as well as pre- and post-assessments.
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
LESSON 1: WHAT’S THE MATTER?
During this 75-minute lesson, your engineers will learn about the engineering design process and begin using it to solve a real-world problem. They practice making observations and classifying different types of solid matter based on their observable characteristics or properties. Then, the engineers apply their understanding of physical properties to determine the properties that would make a good bridge.
LESSON 2: WORLD OF WONDERS SCIENCE MUSEUM
During this 1.5-hour field, trip students travel to the World of Wonders Science Museum in Lodi, CA! Students work in teams during a museum lab to build a structure out of spaghetti and marshmallows, and journey on a scavenger hunt to explore hands-on science investigations throughout the museum.
LESSON 2 (Fully On-Campus Version): CHANGING MATTER
During this 75-minute lesson, your engineers will investigate how certain properties of solid matter can change as you change the matter itself. They apply their understanding by using folded paper and working in pairs to build their first model bridge.
LESSON 3: BUILDING BRIDGES
During this 75-minute lesson, students work collaboratively in groups to design paper bridges using their understanding of the physical properties of matter and building on their experiences with the strength of different shapes. Students engage in the engineering design process to plan, build, test, improve, then re-test their bridges to see what shape can hold the most weight.
TEACHER INFORMATION
NEXT GENERATION SCIENCE STANDARDS
2-PS1-1: DCI PS1.A, SEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Data, CC: Patterns
K-2-ETS1-3: DCI ETS1.C, SEP: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
COMMON CORE
Structure and Function
ELA: SL.2.1, W.2.7, W.2.8
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