Properties of Materials Phenomena Poster Set

Help students investigate the world around them with this engaging Properties of Materials science resource. This collection uses visually rich phenomena, real-world examples, observation prompts, vocabulary, and scientific reasoning opportunities to help students explore how different materials have different properties and how those properties make materials useful for particular purposes.

Instead of simply giving students information to memorize, the posters encourage students to observe, compare, question, and explain what they see. Each phenomenon becomes a starting point for meaningful science discussion and evidence-based thinking.

What’s Included

This resource includes six individual full-color portrait phenomena posters.

Each poster includes:

A high-interest phenomenon question

A detailed science visual or real-world scene

“What do you notice?” observation prompts

“What do you wonder?” discussion questions

Key science vocabulary

A “Try This Thinking” activity or challenge

A CER Starter for Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning practice

A concise science statement reinforcing the main idea

Explore the Properties of Everyday Materials

Students encounter materials every day, but this resource encourages them to look more closely at why those materials behave differently.

The phenomena provide opportunities to investigate concepts such as hardness, flexibility, strength, texture, absorbency, and other observable properties. Students can begin connecting those properties to the ways materials are selected and used for different purposes.

These visual examples help make abstract science concepts concrete and accessible for young learners.

Encourage Students to Think Like Scientists

The Notice and Wonder sections help students develop observation and questioning skills while giving teachers an easy way to launch classroom discussions.

Students can examine the phenomenon, share what they notice, generate questions, compare ideas with classmates, and return to the poster as their scientific understanding grows.

The posters work especially well for encouraging students to explain not only what they observe, but why the properties of a material matter.

Build Academic Science Vocabulary

Each poster highlights important vocabulary connected to the phenomenon.

Because students encounter the terms alongside meaningful visuals and examples, vocabulary becomes part of the scientific investigation rather than an isolated list of words to memorize.

The posters can be displayed throughout the unit to provide students with an ongoing visual vocabulary reference.

Support CER Practice

Each poster contains a student-friendly CER Starter that gives students repeated practice with Claim, Evidence, and Reasoning.

Students can use their observations from the visual phenomenon to begin forming a claim, identifying evidence, and explaining how that evidence supports their thinking.

This makes the posters an easy way to introduce scientific argumentation and gradually build stronger written and oral explanations.

Great for Classroom Use

Use these posters for:

Whole-group science instruction

Phenomenon launches

Science focus walls

Notice and Wonder routines

Small-group discussions

Science centers

Vocabulary development

CER practice

Science notebook responses

Partner conversations

Review and reinforcement

Unit introductions

Classroom displays

Use Throughout the Unit

These posters are designed to be revisited, not simply displayed once.

Introduce a phenomenon before instruction and record students’ initial thinking. Then return to the same poster later in the unit and ask students to reconsider their explanations using new evidence and vocabulary.

This provides an easy way for students to see how scientific ideas can change and become more detailed as they learn.

A Visual and Discussion-Rich Science Resource

Properties of materials become much easier to understand when students can see real examples, compare what they observe, and talk through their ideas.

These posters combine engaging visuals with structured questioning and reasoning support to create an instructional resource that can be used throughout the entire unit.

Important Disclaimer

This resource is independently created and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or produced by Amplify Education. Any references to curriculum topics or unit terminology are provided solely to help educators identify where this independently created supplemental resource may fit within their instruction.