This Science video introduces teachers to how children will learn about changes of state between solids, liquids, and gases, using water as a key example. An ice cube, a solid with a fixed shape and volume, melts into a liquid at 0°C. The liquid water takes the shape of its container and flows, and children will investigate how different temperatures affect how quickly ice melts. They will also observe how melting lowers the surrounding water’s temperature. This process can be reversed by freezing the liquid below 0°C.

This video is part of Kapow Primary’s Science scheme – matter. It supports teachers in guiding pupils through evaporation and condensation. Heating water above 100°C causes it to boil and evaporate into water vapour, while cooling it again causes condensation. Pupils will explore how factors like wind and temperature affect evaporation, and observe condensation by blowing on a cold surface. The lesson connects these reversible changes to wider global issues such as water scarcity and introduces real-world applications like atmospheric water generators. Pupils will build on this knowledge in later lessons when studying the water cycle.

Science, Lower key stage 2, Year 4, Materials: States of matter, Lesson 4: Condensing and evaporating