By bringing everyday phenomena into the classroom, teachers can more readily engage students in authentic scientific inquiry. When working with young children, the best phenomena are those that students can directly experience and investigate. Meaningful phenomena can be identified by watching children at play, listening to the conversations they have with peers, and observing the local environment. This article describes a 5E learning sequence on properties of materials in which the learning is driven by the phenomenon of a bouncy ball. Second-grade students explore what makes a bouncy ball so bouncy, gathering evidence and using scientific reasoning to develop a written explanation for this everyday phenomenon. The lessons are aligned to "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") 2-PS1-1, Plan and conduct an investigation to describe and classify different kinds of materials by their observable properties, and 2-PS1-2, Analyze data obtained from testing different materials to determine which materials have the properties that are best suited for an intended purpose (NGSS Lead States 2013). The article concludes with a discussion of the value of crosscutting concepts and how we use them to support student sensemaking.