States of Matter Jeopardy
Solids, liquids, gases, and the changes between them in a free elementary science game. Put it on the projector and let students answer on phone buzzers.
6 categories, 30 clues, Final Jeopardy. Everyone buzzes in from their phone.
Hosting opens the presenter screen with a join code for everyone's phones. Either way the board is a copy of your own. Free, no account needed.
Every clue on this board
This page is public, so anyone can read the answers — copy the board and swap a few clues before game day.
Solids
- $200
This frozen form of water is a solid you can put in a drink.
What is ice?
- $400
Unlike a liquid, a solid keeps this even when you move it to a new container.
What is its shape?
- $600
The tiny particles in a solid are packed tightly together and can only do this in place.
What is vibrate?
- $800
This hard, see-through solid is used to make windows.
What is glass?
- $1,000
This is the amount of matter in an object, which we can measure in grams.
What is mass?
Liquids
- $200
A liquid takes the shape of this, like a cup or a bottle.
What is its container?
- $400
Bees make this sticky, sweet liquid, which pours very slowly.
What is honey?
- $600
A liquid keeps the same amount of this, the space it takes up, even when you pour it into a new container.
What is volume?
- $800
In science class, this measuring tool with lines on its side is used to measure liquids.
What is a graduated cylinder?
- $1,000
This silver-colored metal is a liquid at room temperature.
What is mercury?
Gases
- $200
We breathe in this mix of gases that is all around us.
What is air?
- $400
People and animals need to breathe in this gas to stay alive.
What is oxygen?
- $600
This light gas makes party balloons float up.
What is helium?
- $800
We breathe out this gas, and plants take it in to make food.
What is carbon dioxide?
- $1,000
Water in its gas form is called this.
What is water vapor?
Melting and Freezing
- $200
Chocolate left in a hot car turns from a solid into this state of matter.
What is a liquid?
- $400
You put water in this cold kitchen appliance to make ice cubes.
What is a freezer?
- $600
Water freezes at this temperature on the Fahrenheit scale.
What is 32 degrees?
- $800
Water freezes at this temperature on the Celsius scale.
What is 0 degrees?
- $1,000
This is the name for the temperature at which a solid, like ice, turns into a liquid.
What is the melting point?
Evaporation and Condensation
- $200
This star in our sky gives the heat that dries up puddles.
What is the Sun?
- $400
Wet clothes hung outside on this dry as their water evaporates.
What is a clothesline?
- $600
These tiny drops of water form on grass on a cool morning.
What is dew?
- $800
When water boils in a pot, you can see this rising from it.
What is steam?
- $1,000
These form in the sky when water vapor cools into tiny drops.
What are clouds?
Matter All Around Us
- $200
Matter comes in these three main states.
What are solids, liquids and gases?
- $400
Orange juice is a liquid, but a frozen juice pop is in this state.
What is a solid?
- $600
Blowing up a balloon shows that air takes up this.
What is space?
- $800
This tool tells us how hot or cold something is.
What is a thermometer?
- $1,000
All matter is made of these tiny pieces, much too small to see.
What are particles?
Final Jeopardy — Water Changes
Drops of water that form on the outside of a cold glass on a warm day come from this process, in which a gas turns into a liquid.
What is condensation?
How to run this board
Everything in the classroom is a solid, a liquid, or a gas, and this board uses that to make matter feel concrete. Students sort everyday objects, describe how each state holds its shape, and work through melting, freezing, evaporation, and condensation with examples like ice cubes, puddles, and foggy mirrors.
A quick demonstration before or after the game pays off: an ice cube melting on a plate, or a cold glass beading up with water. Pause after the Melting and Freezing column and ask students which change they can see happening on the desk.
Run teams by table and have them agree on an answer before buzzing, so the talking about why ice floats or where the puddle went happens out loud.
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Spotted a clue that's wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll fix the board. Or start from a blank board and write your own.