(
We're celebrating the opening of our NEW out-of-this-world exhibit, Alien Worlds and Androids, with an ooey gooey Saturday Science experiment! This week, our "Saturday Scientist," Becky Wolfe, taught viewers of WTHR's Weekend Sunrise how to make Alien Oobleck! Now, it's your turn ...
Materials:
- 2 different size food storage containers.
- Water
- Food coloring
- White glue
- Borax solution (ratio of about 1 Tbsp of borax to a cup of water)
Process:
- Fill the bottom of the larger container with white glue.
- Add a few tablespoons of water and stir.
- Add 2 or 3 drops of your favorite food coloring and stir.
- Add a squirt of the borax solution (possibly a bit more depending on how much white glue you used).
- Stir the mixture up and put it into the smaller container.
- After some time, the mixture should have putty-like consistency.
- This is when you’re Alien Oobleck is ready! Squish it between your fingers. Mold it into your favorite shape. Bounce it on the ground and send it soaring to another world!
Summary:
What made your Alien Oobleck so ooey and gooey?! Two things: polyvinyl acetate, a polymer found in glue, and sodium borate, a chemical, found in Borax. When you combine the polymer and the chemical together in a water solution, their molecules react and join together as one giant molecule. Because this new compound is able to absorb large amounts of water, an alien-like substance is formed.
Want more Saturday Science? See all of our at-home activities on the blog or on Pinterest.
