December 8, 2010
Corn Starch + Water + Food Coloring = Oobleck!!
Because the book is a little lengthy for the amount of time needed to complete the activity, ask the reading teacher to read the book Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss in reading class prior to the experiment.
Questions: Based on it's properties, is Oobleck a solid, liquid or gas?
Is it an element, compound or mixture? Explain.
They begin the lesson by listing several properties about solids, liquids and gases. They create a hypothesis. Before the students begin the experiment, review how to make good observations and what that means. Then discuss how to record quality, detailed, and descriptive observations and why it is important for scientists to pay close attention to detail.
Students begin to test it out. Students must manipulate the Oobleck in a variety of ways and record their observations. After students have gathered enough data, students clean up their very messy work stations! Groups with the cleanest table get a baggy of candy! You should see how fast and how well they clean up. :)
Then students finish up the lab by answering the conclusion questions at the end of their worksheet. They justify which state(s) of matter Oobleck is, based on the information they gather.
Here is a good website about Oobleck with a video:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Oobleck/
