Oobleck and Slime - Liquid or Solid???

Today was such exciting afternoon!

After a previous discussion on the characteristics of 

solids, liquids and gases,

some students were wanting to know if slime would be a solid 

or a liquid.

We decided we wanted to explore this further.

One student was so helpful in bringing in 3 containers of slime for us to explore!

Thank you to this student!

Ms. McCullough decided to add in Oobleck to the experiment as well.

We described both the solid and liquid characteristics of slime and oobleck then wrote a conclusion on whether it should be classified as a solid, liquid or both and explain why.

Through some research online,

Ms. McCullough found out this information online:

What Is Oobleck?

Oobleck isn’t a liquid or a solid, it’s a "non-Newtonian fluid". At times, it may seem like a solid or a liquid but it acts differently than a normal solid or liquid. Making oobleck is a great science experiment to show how changes in pressure can change the properties of some materials. Sort of like how temperature changes the properties of water. Cold or freezing temperatures turns water into ice. Whereas warm temperatures melts ice and turns it into a liquid.

Students really loved the Oobleck so I thought I would share the recipe as well.

Here it is:

• 2 cups cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• Food coloring (optional)