Matter

The concept of matter may not seem difficult to grasp, but for many children it can be. Without interaction with our environment many scientific concepts are easily misunderstood. Textbook definitions can seem very confusing and the photos often used in these textbooks show images that children cannot relate to. ESL students and visual learners can benefit from the use of pictures. Although there are many objects in the classroom that can be used to illustrate the idea of matter, having students look through a magazine helped broaden their perspective. Each student looked through magazines and cut out pictures. They had to decide whether it was a solid or a liquid and glue it in the appropriate column. This activity helped strengthen their understanding of matter because it reinforced the idea that everything in nature is made up of matter, not just the pencils, desks and water.