Learners' understanding and thinking about the states of matter

Some examples from ECLIPSE of what students have said relating to states of matter:

In a sponge, the particles are spread out more, so it can absorb more water

Iron is too heavy to evaporate (see also Iron turning into a gas sounded weird)

So if someone was stood here, we’d be a solid

When you vaporise something, it totally disappears

Evaporation is like fuming?: an example of a student-generated simile from the ASCEND enrichment project.

Condensing is like death?: an example of a student-generated analogy from the ASCEND enrichment project.

This is just one of a wide range of science topics that learners have talked about in ECLIPSE projects.


Return to ECLIPSE homepage

List of science topics


ECLIPSE logo
Exploring Conceptual Learning, Integration and Progression in Science Education

Dr Keith S Taber kst24@cam.ac.uk

University of Cambridge Faculty of Education

Personal Webpages

Faculty staff page