Astronomy States of matter For this activity, you will explore your immediate surroundings—those items you interact with on a daily basis—and think about their atomic structure, including what state of matter the object is in and what kind of atomic elements it is composed of. Then you’ll create an infographic showcasing your findings in order to share with your friends how exciting everyday science can be.

Step 1: Choose an Item
Select an item from your everyday life. It can be made out of any substance but needs to be tangible. Think about things like your toothbrush, coffee cup, or even the steering wheel on your family car.

Step 2: Determine State of Matter
Is your item in solid, liquid, gas, or plasma state?

Step 3: Establish Element(s) + Spectrum Emission(s)
Next, you’ll need to come up with at least one element that the item is composed of. You can do this by examining the item and perhaps doing a little research yourself, as some substances (like, for example, the rubber or plastic on a toothbrush) are actually molecules that are themselves made of several constituent elements. When you have identified at least one element, do a quick internet search for the electromagnetic spectrum it emits.

Step 4: Create Infographic
Finally, get creative and design an infographic that includes:

a catchy title
the name of your item
the state of matter of your item
at least one element your item is composed of, with accompanying illustration of an atom of that element
an image of the emission spectrum the element produces during spectroscopy
You can use poster board to create your infographic by hand or use a free resource like Canva to create your activity online. If you design your infographic by hand then take photos of the final product and submit the digital photos to your teacher for grading. If you use an online program to create the infographic, take a screenshot of your final product and submit that to your teacher for grading.