Matter Lab: Solid, Liquid, or Gas?

What Matter Lab teaches

Five stations for kindergarten through second grade. Sorting Station classifies everyday things as solid, liquid, or gas using one property test each. Particle Viewer shows the particle model in kid words. Heat Lab uses real transition temperatures at standard atmospheric pressure: water freezes and melts at 0 °C, that is 32 °F, and boils at 100 °C, that is 212 °F. Matter Hunt practices finding every match. Sorting Rush is an opt-in 60 second race with no lives and no penalty.

NGSS 2-PS1-1: classify materials by observable properties.

Fog, water vapor, and the Sun

Fog contains tiny liquid water droplets suspended in air. The game asks about those droplets and grades them as liquid. Water vapor is invisible water gas; the visible white mist often called steam is made of tiny liquid droplets. Air inside a balloon is gas; the balloon itself is solid.

The Sun is predominantly plasma, a state with electrically charged particles. It does not belong in this three-state sorting game. Explore it as an extension with NASA Sun facts. See the National Weather Service fog guide for the droplets explanation.

The Heat Lab is a simplified model of pure water at standard atmospheric pressure. At 0 °C and 100 °C, two states can coexist during a change; the dial displays liquid at those exact marks. Evaporation also happens below boiling. Observe room-temperature water and ice with an adult; never use boiling water for this activity.

How to use the print sheet

"Print a sort sheet" prints nine picture rows to circle plus an answer key on page two. "Classic nine" is the same set the game opens with, so a child can play a round and then do it on paper. "Surprise nine" draws a fresh set from the bank with at least two of each state. Names are printed beside every picture, so a black and white printer works fine.

Privacy and progress

Stations played, beakers filled, and your best Sorting Rush count are saved only in this browser. There is no account, no sign in, no purchase, and nothing personal is stored or sent anywhere. Clearing site data clears the progress.