Dry Ice Stimulates Fourth Graders

Montshire Museum Teacher Mike Fenzel came to Westshire on November 14 to present a captivating lesson on the properties of dry ice. The session also was the final lesson in our States of Matter Unit. After having experimented with some basic changes of state in which heat drives the changes (ice to water to gas (melting and evaporation) and then reversing the process by using ice water to show condensation (vapor to liquid) and then building mini-freezers to turn water to ice (freezing), students were confronted with a solid (dry ice) that skipped the liquid phase entirely and turned right into a gas. Students learned that this process is known as sublimation. They were fascinated by the process and enjoyed observing the various experiments.