Last Updated on 15.08.2026 by Zulfahmi M
SECTION
1. Quickie
Starters and Guided. Discovery Activities for Physical
Sciences
MATTER AND ENERGY
Quickie Starters
Where Did the Water Go?
Materials:
Sponges, paint brushes, dish cioths. This should be done
on a hot day, outside the classroom
Opening
Questions:
- What will happen to water if you brush it on different
things outside? - How can you find out?
- Where do you think the water will disappear first?
Why?
Some Possible
Activities:
Invite the children to take a paint brush, dip it in
water, and brush it over several places to see what happens. Have them play a
game to see whose water will disappear first Have them feel the places where
the water disappears rapidly and compare it with places where it doesn’t seem
to disappear as fast for example, on hot sidewalks and in the shade. Have them
repeat the activity but use sponges and washcloths instead of brushes. Have
them place wet sponges on different places and determine which ones dry first
How Can We Dry Clothes Faster?
Materials:
Paper towels, different pieces of cloth (some that are
thin and some that are thick like a towel), sponges, twine to’hold the cloth,
clothespins
Opening
Questions
- How can we make these wet?
- How can we dry them?
- How can we use the twine and clothespins to dry them?
- Where is the best place to put the clothesline? Why?
- Which things do you think will dry first?
Some Possible
Activities
Ask the children to make the clothesline. Have them dip
various things in water, drain them, and place them on the clothesline with
clothespins.
Why Does Water Roll Off Some
Things?
Materials
Waxed paper, paper towel, napkins, typing paper, plastic
wrap, eye dropper, food coloring
Opening
Questions
- What will happen when you drop droplets of water on
these different kinds of paper and plastic? - How can you find out?
- What paper will hold the water the best? What paper or
plastic will water run off of the easiest?
Some Possible
Activities
Have the students find which paper and plastic absorbs
the water the best and the least Have them play Water Droplet Chase. Usa red
food coloring to make some red drops and blue food coloring to make some blue
drops. Drop the water into separate droplets distant from each other on wax
paper or plastic wrap. Place one red drop and several blue drops on the paper.
Invite the students to capture all the blue drops, one at a time, with the red
drop. Have the students make drop slides of the same lengths and inclinations.
They can vary the material they use for the slide. Two students should compete
with each other to see which slides the drops will move down the fastest
Guided Discovery Activities
What Are Water Molecules and How Do They Affect Each
Other? (K-8)
What Do I Want Children to Discover?
- The deeper the water, the greater the pressure.
Water has cohesive force.
- A force is defined as push or pull on an object
- Molecules of the same substance tend to stick to each
other because they are attracted by an invisible force. - Each molecule of the substance pulls other atoms to it
The force of attraction between molecules of the same kind is called cohesive
force.
What Will I Need?
- Quart milk carton
- Water (enough to fill containers as desired)
- Pencil or nail
- Ruler
- Glass.or plastic tumbler
- Medicine dropper
- Pan or bowl
- 12-inch squares of wax paper
What Will We Discuss?
- Why does a drop of
water hold together as it runs down a window-pane? - Why are beads of
water hemispherical, especially or. a well-waxed automobile? - Why can some bugs
walk on the top of water? - Why do you think
drops of water from a medicine dropper are hemispherical?
PROCESSES*
PART I
What Will Children Do?
- Obtain a 12-inch square of wax paper. Using a medicine
dropper, place three or four drops of dean tap water on your wax paper. How
would you describe the shape of the water? What is its color? - Push the drops of water around with a pencil point.
Observing Hypothesizing
- What happens to the
water when you push the pencil point into c water droplet? - What happens when
you push several droplets near each other? - Why do you think
this happens?
Note: Processes in these activities refer to the
italicized words that appear in the left-hand column.
PART II
Hypothesizing Designing an investigation
- Obtain a glass or plastic tumbler and place it in a bowl
or dish. Fill it completely full of water, until some water overflows. - Do you think you can add any more water to the glass
tumbler? Can you think of how you might test your hypothesis or guess what will
happen?
Test your hypothesis or try this one.
- Using a medicine dropper, slously drop water into the
glass from about l/z inch above the water level of the glass. (See diagram.)
Measuring Observing
- How many drops of water car. you add after the glass is
“full”?
Inferring Observing
- How would you describe the shape of the water above the
rim of the glass?
Inferring
- Why does the water rise above the rim of the glass?
- At what point does the water run over the rim of the
glass? - Why do you think the water finally runs over the rim of
the glass?
PART III
Hypothesizing
- If the side of a milk carton were punctured with holes
(one above another) and the canon filled with water, what do you think would
happen to the water in it? How would the water pour out of the holes?
PART IV
Hypothesizing
- Puncture holes in the bottom cf the canon about 2-3 cm or
1 inch each apart as shown in the diagram. Put masking tape over holes. Caution:
Do not make holes too large and make holes very dose together. - What do you think will happen when uxtter is poured
into this carton and the masking tape is removed? - How many jets of water will you get coming out of the
holes in the bottom of the carton?
Observing Designing an investigation
- Pour water into the carton.
- How many jets of water come out?
- What should you do to the water pouring out of the carton
at the - bottom so you could only get one jet of water without
plugging any holes?
Test your hypotheses
- Try the above using gallon or half-gallon cartons.
What Must I Know?/ Where Do I Find It?
The children should pour water into the carton and pinch
the jets of water together with their fingers just as though they were going to
pinch someone. The jets will form one stream. If the water comes out in one jet
there must be some kind of force holding the water to-gether. The force that
holds similar molecules to each other is called cohesive force. Each molecule
of water has cohesive force that pulls and holds other molecules of water to it
See the diagram that represents how molecules of water are held together to
form a water droplet due to cohesive force. The pinching of the water brings
the jets of water in contact allowing cohesive force to hold together. This is
true because the cohesive force between two substances increases as the
distance between them decreases.
How Will Children Use or Apply What They Discover?
- Why do you think a dam is buik with very thick walls at
the bottom and thinner walls at the top? - Why do your ears sometimes hurt when you dive deep in a
swim ming pool? What pushes in on your ears as you go deeper? - Why are the walls of a submarine so thick and strong?
- What would happen to the water escaping from two of the
holes of a can if you stopped one hole? - What will happen to the water coming out of the bottom
hole as the water gets lower in the con? - Why do many towns have water storage tanks towering high
above the city or buih on a hill?
Sumber: Materi Pelatihan Guru Implementasi Kurikulum 2013 Smp – Bahasa Inggris. Badan Pengembangan Sumberdaya Manusia Pendidikan Dan Kebudayaan Dan Penjaminan Mutu Pendidikan Kementerian Pendidikan Dan Kebudayaan. 2013
Mengajar di MTs Muhammadiyah Lima Kaum 2001-2019, SMPN 5 Batusangkar 2017-2019, SMA Muhammadiyah Batusangkar 2014-2017 , STAIN Batusangkar 2005-2019, MTs Balah Aie Padang Pariaman 2021-2026. Admin: Ajoefahmi Course (www.zulfahmi.blog) Pustaka E-Book Ajoefahmi (www.zulfahmi.my.id)