Matter

Is Oobleck Solid or Liquid?

For this experiment Mrs. Vick’s class used the text, Bartholomew and the Oobleck” to discover the characteristics of solids and liquids.

A King’s Mishap

Mrs. Vick had begun the activity by reading Dr. Suess’s book, “Bartholomew and the Oobleck.”  Students listened to a story involving a king’s mishap.  The mishap occurs when his magicians make a new creation called Oobleck.  Oobleck becomes a royal mess!

Make a Prediction

Once Mrs. Vick had finished reading, the students had made predictions as to what they think will happen when they mix the ingredients to form Oobleck.

Let the Fun Begin

Students mixed all the ingredients: water, cornstarch, and food coloring.  They then as a group described their Oobleck concoction with their senses. 

What a Fun Mess

Students quickly realized the characteristics of Oobleck.  If the students had held it still, it behaved like a liquid.  However, if students attempted to roll it up, it had behaved like a solid.

Students had discovered the ingredient cornstarch is made up of long chains of atoms.  When the students had moved it slowly past one another, it had flowed like a liquid because it was able to easily slide past each other.  However, when they had squeezed, rolled, or stressed it, the “atom chains” had intertwined and formed a solid. 

This is known as, “Non-Newtonian Fluids,” it does not have the typical properties of either solids or liquids.

Once the students were finished playing with their Oobleck creation they were able to discuss their findings with their group.  The students then filled out their recording sheet to show what their creation had looked like as a solid form and a liquid form.

As you can see they had quite a bit of fun playing with this gooey Oobleck mess.