Thursday 4/2: Pudding Slime!

“We LOVE slime!”

Nowadays everyone knows about slime. Ask any kid how to make slime and it’s slightly surprising that “borax” and “liquid starch” and “contact lens solution” are common place in their vocabulary. Slime is mesmerizing and fun to make and play with, but it also involves a lot of science. Slime naturally occurs in nature. Some organisms use it to help them: slugs use it to move, opossums use it for protection when they are “playing dead” and parrotfish use it to make themselves a blanket before they sleep. Slime can also live on ponds, in a garden of in the forest. The slime that doesn’t occur naturally in water– the brightly colored king with glitter :)– also involves science. Slime is a kind of polymer, a long strand of repeating molecules. The properties of different kinds of slime are also tied to scientific principles like Non-Newtonian fluids (this should sound familiar to you) and viscosity.

Today we will be making slime– breathe mom & dad, it will be okay, I promise. But I can almost guarantee that very few of you have made this kind of slime before. This slime includes only three ingredients: corn starch, water and instant pudding mix. Now with the first two ingredients, you probably thought back to the first week when we made Oobleck. It’s similar, but the pudding mix is going to make the difference. It’s going to cause a chemical change. Because of the thickening agents in both the pudding and the cornstarch, adding the water (or milk if you were actually making the pudding) causes the change on the chemical level. Today’s resources will include some on slime (of all kids) and also on chemical changes. After checking out the resources, join me to make some pretty unique slime!

Snails, Slugs, and Slime– Primary & Intermediate

Hagfish Slime– Primary & Intermediate

 

Study Jame: Physical and Chemical Changes of Matter– Primary & Intermediate

Chemical vs. Physical Changes– Intermediate (3-5)

 

Who is ready to make Pudding Slime?!?!

Better yet, who’s ready to make a chemical change?? 🙂 The recipe is super easy, and it’s going to smell pretty good. Although this slime is edible, it doesn’t taste very good. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try 🙂 The nice part is that because this slime is edible, it’s great for younger kids because it doesn’t use ingredients that could be dangerous if they accidentally ate. Materials: corn starch, water, instant pudding mix, 1 cup and 1/4 cup measuring cup