2.16.2009

Do try this at home

Ivy is enjoying some freedom from curriculum science, having ground her way through the required elements of her unit on "Matter". We found a fun science book at the library on the weekend and she has read a lot of it already. I love seeing her engaged in learning and watching what she gravitates towards. Often it's a matter of having information easily available in the right format and making it optional. Of coures we all love optional. She came to me this morning with recipes for gluep & ooblek. It was a smashing success and we had a lot of fun doing it. The gluep was really fun and the ooblek was just...odd.

Gluep
Dissolve 1 tsp borax in 6 tbsp water. In separate bowl mix 1 tbsp white glue with 1 tbsp water. If you want it coloured, add one or two drops of food colouring to the glue mixture. Add 2 scant tsp of the borax solution to the glue. Mix until it turns into gelatinous goo and then play with it.

Ooblek
This was was a little trickier as the instructions were vague. Fill a small bowl half full of cornstarch and add water. There's a magic sweet spot where it's in limbo between solid and liquid. If you try to stir quickly it chunks up like a solid, but when you put it back down it oozes together. Ivy's assessment was that it was like it was "...on a timer for solids. It's solid for a few seconds and when time runs out it turns into a liquid".


From the book: Science Smart: Cool projects for exploring the marvels of the planet earth, Gwen Diehn, Terry Krautwurst, Alan Anderson, Joe Rhatigan, & Heather Smith

3 comments:

Ang said...

hee hee, we tried oobleck when Em was little.
As for gluep, is borax some mega detergent? I'm not sure some of us sensitive types could handle it but i'd like to try it.
Have I mentioned I can't believe you have a busy 1.5 year old and you're home schooling 2 geniuses?

Tannis said...

I know you're more sensitive to stuff than I am, but I've never had trouble with borax. I used to use it as some sort of "laundry booster" because I couldn't handle too much regular detergent. I don't really remember the details and it sounds odd now. Most likely you'll be fine as long as nobody starts snorting it. It's pretty cheap and should be in the detergent section of the grocery store. The brand I have is in a green box with a cowgirl on the front. Why?

Ang said...

awesome, we'll give it a shot.