Slime Time

1. Invite child to imagine they are a chemist for a local circus:
   1. Their job is to test mixing a variety of chemicals to discover a new substance that can be used as a toy for visitors.
   2. Prepare a variety of safe chemicals to mix:
      1. Salt, sugar, warm water, cold water, cornstarch, shampoo, food coloring
      2. It will be messy—that’s the fun!
      3. Don’t forget safety glasses, gloves, and aprons.
2. Have child design an experiment to systematically test a variety of mixtures of the chemicals.
   1. Child should discover a interesting consistency with cornstarch and shampoo.
   2. Monitor your child’s progress and encourage efficient use of materials, but no direction!
      1. Ask child if they are losing, gaining, or maintaining material? It is is important for the circus to know.
      2. Child should investigate if they are maintaining, gaining or losing material (matter) as they mix.
         1. Child can measure mass as a means to determine the answer.

1. Discuss with your child the occurence of different results upon mixing substances.
2. Ask if there is a proper mixture of shampoo and cornstarch for a good consistency.
   1. Have your child work to find an optimal ratio (1/4 cup shampoo:4 cups cornstarch).
   2. Your child can create a table to keep track of measurements.
3. Ask child if their new substance creates or loses any material or if it stays the same?

NGSS CONNECTION:

5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

5-PS1-2. Measure and graph quantities to provide evidence that regardless of the type of change that occurs when heating, cooling, or mixing substances, the total weight of matter is conserved.

COMMON CORE CONNECTION:

ELA/Literacy

W.5.7 Conduct short research projects that use several sources to build knowledge through investigation of different aspects of a topic.

W.5.8 Recall relevant information from experiences or gather relevant information from print and digital sources; summarize or paraphrase information in notes and finished work, and provide a list of sources.

W.5.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

Mathematics
MP.2 Reason abstractly and quantitatively.

MP.4 Model with mathematics.

MP.5 Use appropriate tools strategically.

5.MD.A.1 Convert among different-sized standard measurement units within a given measurement system (e.g., convert 5 cm to 0.05 m), and use these conversions in solving multi-step, real-world problems.

DOK:
Level 2: Concept
Level 3: Strategic Thinking