Nothing gets a child more excited than a slime activity!
For my third project, I wanted to give the kids a project I knew would be simple, engaging, and fun! I decided to elevate the project from being ~just~ slime by incorporating a lesson on non-newtonian fluids and reading the kids Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss. Caretakers aren't always over the moon about slime, so I made sure to give each child a paper explaining the scientific aspect of slime to hand to their parent/guardian.
Materials
school glue
borax
food coloring
water
bowls
cups
spoon
containers or plastic bags for storage
Directions
1. In one bowl, pour around a half cup of glue. Add food coloring of the desired color and mix.
2. In a separate cup, mix around a cup water and a teaspoon of borax.
3. Pour a small amount of the borax mixture into the glue bowl. Mix. Depending on the consistency, spoon some more borax mixture into the bowl (small amounts) and continue mixing. The more borax, the firmer the slime will be.
SCIENCE
Slime is a type of non-Newtonian fluid. In a Newtonian fluid, viscosity (ability to flow) is only affected by temperature. Typically, if you cool a fluid down, it flows more slowly. In a non-Newtonian fluid, other factors besides temperature affect viscosity. Slime viscosity changes according to pressure and shear stress. So, if you squeeze or stir slime, it will flow differently than if you let it slide through your fingers.
Lessons Learned
This project could not have gone smoother! Most of the kids were familiar with how to make slime, but for a lot of them, they weren't allowed to at home. Tying in the science lesson added some substance to the activity, and I think the kids found it quite interesting! I would definitely recommend doing this project first if you are beginner teacher. This will help you practice leading a class without coming across many hiccups. Overall, it was a success!
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