Olaf & The States of Matter

ImageThis is a future teacher post. Sorry bout it!

I know Frozen has been a little bit overdone lately. I love the movie, of course, but I have really tried my best not to become obsessed. BUT…as I was watching it tonight, my teacher side came out. When Olaf started singing his summer song, I was thinking about how funny the whole thing is. Then I wondered if kids would even get the irony of the song. And THEN I realized that this could be a Science lesson on the states of matter!!!

Olaf’s summer song.

So I created this very quickly. It’s really just a rough draft of something that could be used in the future for a second grade class, or really any younger grade. I just used a second grade standard because we went over the states of matter in my second grade class last semester at Winterville! I kept the focus on liquid & solid matter for this lesson, and would use it to lead into gas.
When filling out the worksheet, I would start by having the class put in water in it’s different forms–you could even write Olaf in the solid category, and then go from there.

Google Doc


S2E3. Students will observe and record changes in their surroundings and infer the causes of the changes.
a. Recognize effects that occur in a specific area caused by weather, plants, animals, and/or people.
EQ: What causes ice to melt? What causes water to freeze?

  • When ice is warmed to its melting point, it will melt into water.
  • When water is cooled to a temperature known as the freezing point, it will freeze and become solid ice.

Vocab: freezing point, melting point

Why is this video silly? Do you know what is going on that might be wrong? What would really happen to Olaf in summertime? (Compare to ice, popsicles, etc.)

Work Period: Discuss the states of matter with whole class. This should be an interactive time where students are identifying different states of matter that they see in their everyday lives. The States of Matter chart can be handed out and then worked on together as a class.

Quick Assessment: Students answer the following question on a sticky note on their way out the door: What state of matter is Olaf in? What would happen to him in the summertime?