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Webquest · High School Physical Science · SPS5

States of Matter & Gas Laws Webquest

Particles, Phase Changes, Boyle's Law and Charles's Law

Work through the stops in order. Each button opens in a new tab: finish that stop, answer on your webquest sheet, then come back to this page for the next one.

Start with Stop 1 ↓For teachers ↓
Students

How it works

1. Get your sheet

Your teacher gives you the webquest sheet (paper or digital). Every answer goes on it.

2. Open each stop in order

Each stop opens in a new tab. Use the sliders and buttons on that page — your answers come from what you see.

3. Come back here

Close the tab, tick Done, and open the next stop. Finished early with a partner? Play the bonus.

The webquest

Stops

  1. Stop 1 · about 12 min · your sheet: page 2, questions 1–5

    States of Matter Unit Intro

    Read the chip bag puzzle, pick a big question, and play two explore activities.

    Open Stop 1 The chip bag puzzleBig questionsExplore activities
  2. Stop 2 · about 8 min · your sheet: page 3, questions 6–11

    Simple Science Video: States of Matter

    Watch the one-minute States of Matter video twice and fill in the table.

    Open Stop 2
  3. Stop 3 · about 10 min · your sheet: page 4, question 12

    Vocabulary

    Flip the Word Wall cards and read the gas law vocabulary. Define 13 words in your own words.

    Open Stop 3 Word Wall (unit intro)Gas law vocabulary
  4. Stop 4 · about 12 min · your sheet: page 5, questions 13–20

    Gas Laws Part A: Gas Basics and Boyle's Law

    Find out where pressure comes from, then squeeze a gas and record its pressure (Boyle's law).

    Open Stop 4 Part 1: Gas basicsPart 2: Boyle's law
  5. Stop 5 · about 14 min · your sheet: page 6, questions 21–27

    Gas Laws Part B: Charles's Law, Pressure & Temperature, Density

    Heat and cool a gas under a piston and in a steel tank, then see what happens to its density.

    Open Stop 5 Part 3: Charles's lawPart 4: Pressure & temperaturePart 5: Density
  6. Stop 6 · about 14 min · your sheet: page 7, questions 28–32

    Gas Laws Part C: Run an Investigation and Worked Examples

    Plan and run your own gas investigation, then work through three examples step by step.

    Open Stop 6 Part 6: Run an investigationPart 7: Worked examples
  7. Stop 7 · about 12 min · your sheet: page 8, questions 33–34

    Gas Laws Part D: Real Life, Myths, and Practice

    Match real-life events to the right gas law, bust gas myths, and finish one practice set and the sort.

    Open Stop 7 Part 8: In real lifePart 9: Myth or factPart 10: Practice
  8. Wrap-up · your sheet: page 8, questions 35–36

    Wrap-up: Solve the chip bag puzzle

    Go back to the puzzle at the top of the unit intro and explain it with what you learned about particles.

    Open the chip bag puzzle
  9. Bonus · for partners who are both finished

    Bonus: 1v1 Matter & Gas Laws

    1. Only when you and a partner have both finished every stop.
    2. One computer, two players: Red uses the W A S D keys and Blue uses the arrow keys. It needs a keyboard, so it will not work on a phone.
    3. Press Enter the Arena, pick a game, and play to 3 wins.
    Open the 1v1 game
Teachers

For teachers

Post this link for your students

https://www.tobinscience.com/webquest-gas-laws.html

A webquest in two halves over five free tobinscience.com resources. States of matter first (SPS5a, Stops 1–3): the unit intro's Particle Heat Lab and phase-change sort, the one-minute Simple Science video, and the unit vocabulary. Then the gas laws (SPS5b, Stops 4–7): the full Gas Laws section, Parts 1–10 (simulations, a plan-and-carry-out investigation, worked examples, real-life cards, myth or fact and practice), with a 1v1 review game for early finishers. Everything is predict-and-explain: there are no gas law equations.

SPS5 · Obtain, evaluate, and communicate information to compare and contrast the phases of matter as they relate to atomic and molecular motion. SPS5a (Stops 1–3): compare and contrast models of the particle arrangement and motion in solids, liquids, gases and plasmas. SPS5b (Stops 4–7): plan and carry out investigations to identify the relationships among temperature, pressure, volume and density of gases in closed systems.
Time: about 80–85 minutes (two 45-minute periods, or one block)

What students need

  • One Chromebook or computer per student (the 1v1 bonus needs a keyboard and two students on one computer)
  • Headphones are optional (the video is about one minute)
  • No student accounts or sign-ins; nothing to install

Every stop at a glance

Good to know

  • The practice set, the sort and the investigation trials are randomized, so those scores and numbers vary from student to student. The simulation readings in the data tables are exact, so those match the key.
  • Stop 1 activities award kilopascal (kPa) points that are saved only on that device; students write their score on the sheet.
  • The 1v1 bonus is for pairs who have both finished. It is head-to-head review of the whole matter and gas laws unit.
  • The unit intro page also has a "What Do You Already Know?" quiz and a Gas Law Lab that use Kelvin and gas law math. The webquest does not send students to either one; if a student wanders in, nothing on the sheet depends on them.
  • Short on time? Stops 1–3 make a good first day and Stops 4–7 a second day.
  • The printable student webquest and its answer key come with the Word / PDF webquest download. This page holds no answers, so it is safe to post.