Print one poster per exhibit (letter or tabloid size, color if possible) and tape them around the room at eye level, spread out.
Print the Gallery Walk Viewing Guide PDF for each student.
Make groups of 3–4. Start each group at a different poster.
Set the lesson presenter timer for 4 minutes per poster. At the signal, groups rotate clockwise.
At each poster, students find every numbered detail, read the placard, and write I see / I think / I wonder.
After the walk (about 20 minutes), students open Museum of Marvelous Matter on devices to solve each exhibit's challenge, or discuss the "After the walk" question as a class.
Exhibit AMuseum of Marvelous Matter · 5-PS1-1–5-PS1-4
Is It Matter?
Display case with five objects
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Look closely
Solid matter: The rock has mass and takes up space. It keeps its own shape.
Liquid matter: Juice has mass and takes up space, but it takes the shape of its glass.
Gas is matter too: The air inside has mass and pushes the balloon outward. You just cannot see it.
NOT matter: light: Light has no mass and takes up no space. It is energy.
NOT matter: sound: Sound is energy moving through air. It has no mass of its own.
Placard
Matter is anything that has mass and takes up space. Solids, liquids, and gases are all matter, including the air you breathe. Things like light, sound, heat, and feelings are not matter: they have no mass and do not take up space.
Look closely at the display case: a rock, a glass of juice, a balloon, a flashlight beam, and a song playing from a speaker.
Exhibit BMuseum of Marvelous Matter · 5-PS1-1–5-PS1-4
The Property Wall
Three tests of matter
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Look closely
Conductor: Copper lets electricity and heat pass through easily, so it carries power in cords.
Insulator: Rubber and plastic block electricity, so they wrap around the wire to keep us safe.
Magnetism: A magnet attracts iron and steel, like the paper clip. It does not attract copper or plastic.
Solubility: Sugar dissolves in water: it spreads out so evenly that you cannot see it, but it is still there.
Placard
Scientists describe matter by its properties. Some you can observe with your senses: color, texture, shape, hardness. Others you test: magnetism, conductivity (does heat or electricity pass through it?), and solubility (does it dissolve?).
Copper wire is used in electrical cords because it is an excellent conductor. Rubber and plastic are wrapped around the wire because they are insulators: electricity does not pass through them easily.
Exhibit CMuseum of Marvelous Matter · 5-PS1-1–5-PS1-4
Measure Up!
Balance and graduated cylinder
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Look closely
Volume of a cube: Each side is 3 cm: 3 × 3 × 3 = 27 cubic centimeters (cm³).
Mass on a balance: The balance shows mass in grams: 52 g. Mass is how much matter is in the cube.
Read the meniscus: Water curves in the cylinder. Read the line at the bottom of the curve, at eye level.
Placard
At this exhibit, visitors measure a gold-colored cube. Each side is 3 cm long. Its volume is found by multiplying length × width × height. Its mass on the museum balance is 52 g.
Liquid volume is measured with a graduated cylinder. Read the line at the bottom of the curved surface, called the meniscus.
Exhibit DMuseum of Marvelous Matter · 5-PS1-1–5-PS1-4
Changing States
Water in three states
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Look closely
Solid: In ice, particles are packed tightly and vibrate in place. Ice melts at 0 °C.
Liquid: Liquid water takes the shape of its container. Its volume stays the same.
Gas: At 100 °C water boils into water vapor, a gas that spreads out to fill space.
Physical change: Changing state is a physical change: it is still water, and the mass does not change.
Placard
Water is the only substance you commonly see in all three states on Earth. Heating ice at 0 °C melts it into liquid water. Heating water to 100 °C boils it into water vapor (a gas). Cooling does the opposite.
Changing state is a physical change: the water is still water. Its mass stays the same even though its shape and volume can change.
Exhibit EMuseum of Marvelous Matter · 5-PS1-1–5-PS1-4
Mixtures & Solutions
Three ways to separate
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Look closely
Mixture: In trail mix, each piece keeps its own properties, so you can pick them apart by hand.
Separate with a magnet: A magnet pulls iron out of sand because only the iron is magnetic.
Evaporate a solution: Salt dissolved in water is a solution. When the water evaporates, the salt is left behind.
Placard
A mixture is two or more substances combined, where each keeps its own properties. You can often separate a mixture: pick out pieces, use a magnet, or pour through a filter.
A solution is a special mixture where one substance dissolves evenly into another, like salt in water. You can separate it by evaporating the water, leaving the salt behind.