Matter is what stuff is made of.
The physical properties of matter are things you observe using your five senses, which are seeing, touching, smelling, tasting and hearing. Following are descriptions of matter using each of your body’s five senses.
1. Sight: What does matter look like?
- Is it dull or shiny?
- What is its color?
- What is its shape, circular, square, cube, etc..?
- What is its size?
- Is it magnetic?
- Is it bouncy?
- Is it fragile or sturdy?
- Is it a solid, liquid or gas?
- Other words to describe what matter looks like: bloated, broken, bubbly, bulging, bumpy, clean, dirty, narrow, fat, feathery, flat, level, lumpy, narrow, oily, padded, skinny, sharp, slick, solid, thick, viscous, wide.
2. Touch: What does matter feel like? 
- Is it smooth or rough?
- Is it soft or hard?
- Is it cool or warm?
- Is it wet or dry?
- What is its shape, circular, square, cubed, etc..?
- Is it small or large
- Other words to describe what matter feels like: abrasive, bendable, broken, bumpy, damp, dented, dry, clamy, corrugated, cushioned, doughy, fat, feathery, flat, level, lumpy, narrow, oily, padded, skinny, sharp, slick, solid, thick, viscous, wet, wide
3. Smell: What does matter smell like?
- Is it sweet or sour?
- Is it stinky?
- Other words to describe how matter smells: antiseptic, aromatic, citrusy, earthy, fishy, flowery, fragrant, fresh, fruity, lemony, medicinal, metallic, mildewed, minty, moldy, musky, musty, odorless, peppery, perfumed, piney, reek, rotten, scented, sharp, sickly, skunky, smoky, sour, spicy, spoiled, sweaty, sweet, tart, vinegary, woody, yeasty.
4. Taste: What does matter taste like?
- Is it salty?
- Is it sweet?
- Is it bitter?
- Is it sour?
- What is umami? This the flavor of matter that is the sensory impression determined primarily by the chemical senses of taste and smell. In other words, umami is not simply a combination of the previous four tastes, instead it one or all of these tastes plus what matter smells like. Food has more of a bland taste when you have a cold and cannot smell your food. If you cannot smell, you cannot distinguish the taste of an onion from an apple.
5. Sound: What does matter sound like?
- Matter has no sound unless it vibrates. Guitar strings must be strummed in order for them to make a sound.
- Words to describe sounds of vibrating matter: bang, bark, beep, bong, boom, buzz, clack, clank, clap, cluck, clunk, crack, crackle, crash, creak, dingdong, drumming, fizz, glug, gnashing, grating, growl, grumble, gurgle, hiss, hoot, hum, jingle, knock, mew, moan, peep, pop, pounding, pulsing, purr, put-put, rap, rattle, ring, rippling, roar, rustle, scream, scrunch, shriek, sizzle, slam, snap, snarl, snort, splash, sputter, stamp, tap, tearing, thump, thunder, tick, tinkle, toot, wheeze, whine, whir, whisper, yap.
