Grade 2 Lesson plan
Frozen Paint Blocks: A Grade 2 Melting Water Art Lesson
A 45-minute grade 2 art lesson in which students paint with cubes of frozen colored water and argue from what they saw that melting and freezing repeat.
NGSS · Grade 2
2-PS1-4 Argue which heating and cooling changes can be reversed
Construct an argument with evidence that some changes caused by heating or cooling can be reversed and some cannot.
Clarification statement: Examples of reversible changes could include materials such as water and butter at different temperatures. Examples of irreversible changes could include cooking an egg, freezing a plant leaf, and heating paper.
Why water teaches this standard well
Water is the clarification statement's own example of a reversible change: freeze it, melt it, freeze it again. Ice-cube and puddle-evaporation investigations give students firsthand evidence for their arguments and lay the foundation for the water cycle in later grades.
Materials tagged with this code are written to the full standard , including its clarification statement , and each carries a written note explaining the alignment. See how we review materials.
7 materials aligned to 2-PS1-4
Lesson plans
Worksheets
Grade 2 Worksheet
The Birdbath at Tollerby Park: A Freeze and Thaw Record
Grade 2 students read an eight-day birdbath chart, count the icy mornings, match ice to cold air, and argue from the record that freezing can be undone.
Grade 2 Worksheet
Melt and Dry at Larchgate School: A Grade 2 Change Sheet
Grade 2 students follow ice and a puddle across a school week, choose inches or feet for each measurement, and decide which changes can be undone.
Labs & experiments
Grade 2 Lab / experiment
The Cold Cup at Dunnetts School: Where Did the Drops Start?
Grade 2 groups compare a cup of dyed ice water with a cup of dyed room-temperature water to find out whether the drops on a cold cup leaked through it.
Grade 2 Lab / experiment
Ashfield's Cold Pipe Wrap: A Grade 2 Insulation Test
A two-session grade 2 investigation comparing a paper towel wrap and a felt wrap on cups of ice, then refreezing the melted water to show the change reverses.
Grade 2 Lab / experiment
Sunny Windowsill, Shady Shelf: A Grade 2 Ice Melting Investigation
Grade 2 students measure two identical ice pucks with a ruler as they melt in sun and shade, then refreeze the water to test whether the change reverses.
Classroom activities
Grade 2 Classroom activity
Three Cups on the Windowsill: A Grade 2 Retell and Reason Activity
A two-day grade 2 activity where teams watch ice melt and refreeze in labeled cups, retell the change in order with temporal words, and argue that it can be undone.