5.5A: Classifying Matter
Matter and Energy
Matter Guessing Game
Project:
Create your own matter
guessing game!
Materials:
- Colored Pencils
- Index Cards (30)
Instructions:
1. Brainstorm: Begin by thinking about how matter is classified. You are going to
make your own matter guessing game! This game will be like the party game,
Taboo. Begin by making a list of the different forms of matter that you learned
about in this lesson. Try to think of at least 30.
2. Label: Now transfer your list to index cards by writing one form of matter at the
top of each card. Underneath this title, provide information about the physical
properties of each form of matter including: mass, magnetism, physical state,
relative density, solubility in water, and electrical conductivity.
Here is a sample card:
Iron (Fe)
- Gray
-Metal
-Magnetic
-Solid
-Soft / Ductile
-Not Water Soluble
-Good Conductor of Heat and Electricity
5.5A: Classifying Matter
Matter and Energy
Matter Guessing Game
Instructions (continued):
3. Decorate: When you are finished with these descriptions, turn your index cards over
and draw a question mark on the back of each card. Then use your colored pencils to
decorate the background. You can draw whatever you want. Just make sure that your
design is consistent from index card to index card so that you will not be able to tell
which card is which.
4. Play: Your deck of cards is ready! Begin by dividing your players into two teams.
You can play this game with as many people as you can find! Each team will take
turns nominating someone from their team to be the ‘giver’. This person will draw a
card from the deck and try to get their team to identify the matter listed on this card
without using the matter’s name. They are allowed to draw from the information that
you provided on each card as well as their own personal knowledge. If the team
correctly identifies the matter, they receive one point, and if the giver says the name of
the matter by accident, the team will lose one point. Each giver will have 60 seconds to
go through as many cards as they can and then it will become the other team’s turn.
Once all of the cards have been used, the game is over and the team that has
identified the most cards correctly wins!
You can use this game to review the material from this lesson, study for a test, or just
have fun with your friends!