Observable Properties and Crayon Art

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Students will be able to compare the observable properties of objects or materials before and after various processes are applied.

Big Idea

Students will create crayon art by melting crayons and identifying how the properties have changed.

Warm Up

10 minutes

I will begin the lesson with a whole group discussion. I will review with the students the difference between dissolving. mixing, heating, and cooling. I will ask the students to think about how these processes can be used to meet the needs and wants of humans. I will allow the students time to think, pair, and share with one another.

Students will share their ideas with the class. We will discuss how all three processes help to meet the human need of food. People heat their food to make it taste better, people add ice to their drinks to make it more refreshing, and dissolving is used to make drinks like hot chocolate to help warm up a person if they are cold.


25 minutes

While students are engaged on the carpet, we will transition to reviewing the objective for the lesson. I will inform students that sometimes artists use the processes of heating, cooling, mixing, and dissolving to create artwork. I will share examples with the students such as ice sculptures, mixing paints to make new colors and dissolving water color as examples. 

I will inform the students that we will be creating art today by changing the observable properties of crayons. I will allow the students time to predict how they believe we can change the properties of the crayon and make art at the same time. 

Next, I will inform the students that we will be using a blow dryer to melt the crayons to create crayon art. Student groups will receive crayons, a blow dryer, and a sheet of white copy paper each. I will inform students that they will use the blow dryer to melt the crayons over the copy paper. As the crayon melts,  it will create a design on the white paper. I will encourage the students to choose different colors and to keep a constant motion as they are melting the crayons. 

As the students work, I will circulate the room to monitor the students. As the students use the blow dryer, I will ask questions such as, "How does the process you are applying affect the observable properties of the object and the ways you use the material?" Asking questions allows me to identify which students have a true understanding of observable properties and the changes that are occurring as a process is applied.



Wrap Up

10 minutes

To conclude the lesson, I will provide time for students to share their creations and explain how the observable properties of the material changed and could be used after each process was applied.

At the end of the presentations, students will be given the Crayon Art Exit Card to complete.