Professor Mix-a-Lot stood at the center of the room, a twinkle in his eye as he welcomed the students. "Today, we're making the perfect magical potion," he announced, "but we must follow the fractions recipe exactly, or it might go wrong! Let's learn about materials and changes as we mix!" The students buzzed with excitement, ready to embark on their journey of discovery.
"I'm a solid—my particles stay in place! But if you add me to water, I’ll dissolve and mix evenly!" Solid Sam declared proudly. Professor Mix-a-Lot took a cup of water and mixed in half a cup of sugar, swirling it around. "What fraction of the mixture is sugar now?" he asked, watching the sugar disappear into the water, demonstrating a reversible change.
"I was solid chocolate, but when you heated me up, I melted into liquid! And if you cool me down again, I’ll turn solid once more!" Professor Mix-a-Lot broke a chocolate bar into four pieces and melted three-quarters of it, leaving one-quarter as a solid. "What fraction of the chocolate is still solid?" he inquired. Lucy added the melted chocolate to the potion, showcasing the change in state.
"This dough is soft now, but what happens if we bake it?" he mused, placing it into the prop oven. Moments later, a student triumphantly pulled out a loaf of bread. "Once baked, this change is irreversible! We can't turn bread back into dough." He divided the loaf into eight slices and posed a question: "If we eat three slices, what fraction of the bread is left?"
"When you heat water, it evaporates into gas! But if you cool it down, the gas turns back into liquid water!" he explained, guiding students in their enactment. Their lively movements brought the concept to life, revealing both reversible and irreversible changes.
Professor Mix-a-Lot beamed with pride. "We’ve learned about solids, liquids, and gases, and reversible and irreversible changes. Thanks to fractions, our potion is perfect!" As if by magic, the potion changed color, a stunning display of their teamwork and newfound knowledge. Together, they recited a closing rhyme: "Solids, liquids, gases too, Changing states is what they do. Fractions help us count and share, In science, math, and everywhere!"
