Silly Putty

Supplies

2 parts school glue
1 part liquid starch (Target sells a non aerosal spray starch; remove sprayer to pour)
Ziploc bag

Procedure: In a Ziploc bag pour 1/4 cup of glue and 1/8 cup of starch. Seal Ziploc bag and massage with fingers for a few minutes.

Alternate Recipe

1 Tbsp. school glue
1 tsp. water
1 Tbsp Borax and water mixture
Ziploc bag

Procedure: Place 1 Tbsp. school glue and 1 tsp. of water in a Ziploc bag. Keep down at bottom of bag. Take 1 cup of warm water and place in an empty plastic bottle. Add 1 Tbsp. of Borax to plastic bottle and shake until all is disolved (use funnel to help pouring water and Borax). Add 1 Tbsp. of Borax/water solution to the Ziploc bag and massage with fingers for a few minutes.

Concept: Creating a polymer. An elastomer, is any of the elastic (returns to original shape after being deformed) polymers, which have the elastic properties of natural rubber.

Extension: Have students find an old newspaper and transfer the picture of a cartoon from the comic section onto the putty and enjoy distorting the cartoon's imaging by stretching the silly putty.

Application to the Real World: Silly Putty (Dow Corning patent 3179) was origninally created in 1943. Initial intentions were for industrial use as a sythetic (artificially made) rubber. It was unusable for this purpose, since it was not as firm as rubber. However, in 1949 an unemployed advertising executive thought would be good to market as a toy. He packaged it in plastic eggs and it has been an American toy ever since. Because of this polymer's or elastomer's natural flexibility, it can be stretched and absorb mechanical energy in a similar manner as rubber.

Flubber

Supplies

1 1/2 cups glue
4 Tbsp.Borax (laundry detergent aisle)
4 cups water

Concept: Creating a polymer. A polymer is a large molecule (macromolecule) composed of repeating structural units typically connected by covalent (The number of electron pairs an atom can share with other atoms) chemical bonds.

Procedure: Mix 2 cups of water and the glue in a bowl. In a empty plastic bottle use a funnel to add 2 cups of warm water and 4 Tbsp. of Borax. Shake bottle till Borax is dissolved. After it's dissolved, pour the Borax mixture a little at a time into the glue mixture and stir. You may not need all of the Borax mixture.

Extension: Make other sensory substance like mud, playdough, slime, and silly putty and test each substance for bounce, stretch, and stickiness. Have students document results.

Application to the Real World: Polymers play an essential role in our daily life's. They range from sythetic plastics(synthetic rubber, Bakelite, neoprene, nylon, PVC, polystyrene, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyacrylonitrile, PVB, silicone), to natural bipolymers like DNA, nucleic and proteins. Natural polymers include cellulose, natural rubber, amber, and shellac.

Worms

Supplies

Worms (in LA: Purfield's Pro Tackle 12512 Washington Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90066
(310) 397-6171)

Concept: Hands on exploration with Earthworms. Use your sense of touch and sight to observe worm head and tail movement. Can you identify the head/tail? What is the small section on the worm that is different than the rest? Can they survive being split in two?

Extension: Compare these invertebrate (have no backbones) to other invertebrates.

Wormy Facts: Earthworms bodies are made up of ring-like segments called annuli. The segments are covered in setae(small bristles), which the worm uses to move and burrow. The worm's first segment contains its mouth. Earthworms breath through their skin. They also have a brain,5 hearts, and mouths. Worms eat a third of their body weight daily. The familiar-looking bulge seen near the first third of the earthworm’s body is clitellum. The clitellum is a series of segments that are swollen to form a saddlelike structure in the anterior portion of the oligochaete. The function of the clitellum is mucous secretion during copulation and cocoon formation after copulation. Lastly, contrary, to the common myth; if split in two, two will not grow.

Application to Real World: While burrowing worms consume soil and extract nutrients from decomposing organic matter (leaves and roots). Earthworms are crucial to soil health since they carry nutrients and minerals from below to the surface through their waste and their tunnels aerate (air/ventilate) the ground. Earthworms are a source of food for many animals (birds/rats/toads). They also are frequently used in residential composting and as bait in commercial and recreational fishing.

Oobleck

Supplies

newspaper
measuring cups
1 c. of dry cornstarch
large bowl
green food coloring
1/2-1 c. of water

Procedure: Cover you table or counter with newspaper (if possible complete experiment outside). Put the cornstarch into the bowl or pan. Add a few drops of food coloring. Add the water slowly, while mixing. Continue to add water until all of the oobleck feels like a liquid when your mixing it. You will have perfect consistency when you can tap on the surface of the oobleck and it feels like a solid. If too powdery, add more water. If too wet, add more cornstarch. Play and experiment. What happens when you squeeze a handful?

Extension: Make other sensory experiments (flubber, play dough, silly putty, mud, handmade sand).

Application to Real World: Discuss matter and various solids, liquids, and gases we have/use in our daily life's.