The Museum of Moving Particles: gallery walk posters
Setting up the gallery walk
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 The Museum of Moving Particles on devices to solve each exhibit's challenge, or discuss the "After the walk" question as a class.
Exhibit AThe Museum of Moving Particles · Enrichment · not in IN 2023 Gr 6
The Food Coloring Race
Hot water vs. cold water
123
Look closely
Fast spreading: In hot water, particles move faster, so the color spreads through the beaker in about a minute.
Slow spreading: In cold water, particles move slowly, so the color stays bunched up for more than ten minutes.
Diffusion: Particles move from where they are crowded to where they are less crowded.
Placard
A drop of food coloring was placed in two beakers at the same time. One held hot water (80 °C) and the other held cold water (5 °C). Within one minute, the color spread through the hot water. In the cold water, it took more than ten minutes.
This spreading is called diffusion: particles moving from where they are crowded to where they are less crowded.
Exhibit BThe Museum of Moving Particles · Enrichment · not in IN 2023 Gr 6
The Perfume Puzzle
A bottle opened across the room
123
Look closely
Evaporation: The liquid perfume evaporates: particles escape and become a gas.
Spreading out: Gas particles move randomly and spread from crowded to less crowded areas.
Smell it: Minutes later, particles reach the far side of the room, even with no fan.
Placard
A museum worker opened a bottle of perfume at one end of the room. A few minutes later, visitors on the far side could smell it, even though no fan was on.
The perfume's liquid particles evaporated into a gas and spread out through the air by diffusion.
Exhibit CThe Museum of Moving Particles · Enrichment · not in IN 2023 Gr 6
The Mixing Mystery
50 mL + 50 mL = 96 mL?
123
Look closely
Big particles: Imagine water particles as marbles with gaps between them.
Small particles: Alcohol particles are like sand: they can slide into the gaps.
Less than 100 mL: When mixed, particles fill spaces, so the total volume is about 96 mL. There is space between particles!
Placard
Scientists mixed 50 mL of water with 50 mL of rubbing alcohol. You might expect 100 mL. But the measuring cylinder showed only about 96 mL!
A model helps explain it: imagine mixing a bucket of marbles with a bucket of sand. The sand fills the spaces between the marbles.
Exhibit DThe Museum of Moving Particles · Enrichment · not in IN 2023 Gr 6
The Expanding Bridge
Expansion joints on an Indiana highway
123
Look closely
Expansion joint: Gaps let the bridge get longer in summer and shorter in winter without cracking.
Heat: Heated particles move faster and push slightly farther apart, so the steel expands.
Particles don't grow: The particles themselves never get bigger; only the space between them changes.
Placard
A model of an Indiana highway bridge shows gaps called expansion joints. On hot summer days, the steel and concrete expand (get slightly longer). In winter, they contract (shrink). Without the gaps, the bridge could crack or buckle.
When heated, particles move faster and push slightly farther apart. The particles themselves don't get bigger.
Exhibit EThe Museum of Moving Particles · Enrichment · not in IN 2023 Gr 6
Build a Model
What a good particle model shows
123
Look closely
Arrangement: In a solid, particles are packed in a fixed pattern.
Space between: In a liquid, particles are close but can slide past each other.
Motion arrows: In a gas, particles are far apart. Arrows show they move fast in all directions.
Placard
Scientists use models to explain things too small to see. A good particle model shows: the particles, the space between them, their arrangement, and their motion. Arrows can show how fast particles move.