Will a Liquid Always Become a Solid When Put In The Freezer? Let’s Find Out!

If a liquid is put in a freezer, will that always make it a solid? While it seems like a no-brainer when considering the basic properties of liquids, it’s actually a surprising fact that many liquids won’t freeze when the temperature is lowered. This year, we’re excited to help you amaze and astound your students with a hands-on study looking at this unusual phenomenon. That’s why we’ve put together this handy Changing States of Matter Science Experiment!

Will It Freeze? A Changing States of Matter Science Experiment

This printable resource is designed to engage your students in scientific inquiry and surprise them with a phenomenon that goes against everything they’ve been taught about the properties of liquids. In this experiment, students will discover that not all liquids freeze when heat is removed by mixing substances, recording data, observing, and reporting their findings. To complete this activity, students will

1. Complete the Test Design and Hypothesis section of the experiment worksheet.
2. Pour ½ cups of water into a container, beaker, or glass. Use the marker to record the water level on the outside of the container.
3. Do the same for the milk and the cooking oil.
4. Place the liquids into the freezer. For the best results, leave them there for as long as possible, e.g. the length of a school day or overnight.
5. Observe the state of matter of the liquids after the allotted time. Record the observations in the Results section.
6. Check the level of the substance against the mark on the container. Record this observation in the Results section as well.

Using the included data collection sheet, students will participate in the following steps of the scientific method:

• Identifying an independent variable
• Identifying a dependent variable
• Identifying the constants in an experiment
• Creating a hypothesis
• Making Predictions
• Performing a fair test and recording observations and results
• Summarizing and explaining the results of an experiment.

Download and Print!

This resource can be downloaded as a printable PDF or an editable Google Slides resource file. Click the dropdown arrow on the download button to select your file today!

This resource was created by Brittany Collins, a teacher in Indiana and Teach Starter collaborator.

Don’t stop there! Make sure you check out even more of our Matter resources to boost those science skills in the classroom!

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