From the Classroom

Science News

The Grade 5/6 students have been learning about the three states of matter, solids, liquids and gases. Matter is a substance made up of particles that has weight and takes up space. The Grade 5/6 students were asked the question, is air matter??? We know that air takes up space. It takes up space in our lungs, and in a balloon when we blow it up. But does it weigh anything? We did an experiment to find out! We taped two balloons to the ends of a ruler, and connected a piece of string to the middle. When we held up the ruler, the balloons weigh the same amount, so the ruler stayed balanced. But what if we filled one balloon up with air? What would happen to the ruler? Yep – you guessed it! The balloon filled with air dropped lower than the other, proving that air does have weight, and therefore, air is matter! Well done Grade 5/6M on your teamwork and collaboration during this experiment.