Exchange: Oobleck, Slime, and Playdough Materials Engineering for the Elementary Classroom
- Conference
- Location
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Vancouver, BC
- Publication Date
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June 26, 2011
- Start Date
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June 26, 2011
- End Date
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June 29, 2011
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
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Thinking Outside the Box! Innovative Curriculum Exchange for K12 Engineering
- Tagged Division
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K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
- Page Count
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7
- Page Numbers
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22.666.1 - 22.666.7
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--17947
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/17947
- Download Count
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874
Paper Authors
Gail Ellen Gerdemann Oregon State University
Elementary classroom teacher for over 30 years including teaching junior high science as a Peace Corps volunteer in Montserrat, West Indies, 6th grade in Virginia, primary and intermediate grades in Albany and Corvallis, Oregon. K-5 STEPs Coordinator at Oregon State University funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant since 1994 working with classroom teachers and university/community scientists developing STEM curriculum and training teachers. Currently also employed by Corvallis School District to develop, pilot, manufacture materials kits, and inservice teachers for a complete K-5 engineering curriculum to meet Oregon's new standards.
Willie (Skip) E. Rochefort Oregon State University
Skip Rochefort is currently an Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Director of OSU Precollege Programs (http://oregonstate.edu/precollege) and the Center for Outreach in Science and Engineering for Youth (COSEY) at Oregon State University. He has degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts (B.S., 1976), Northwestern University (M.S., 1978) and the University of California, San Diego (Ph.D., 1986). He has held several industrial research positions (Dow Chemical, Kodak, AT&T Bell Labs), and since 1993 he has been on the faculty in the OSU Chemical Engineering Department. He is an OSU Honors College faculty and has been recognized for his teaching and advising activities by ASEE, AIChE, the College of Engineering, and Oregon State University. His research interest for the last 35 years has been in all areas of polymer engineering and science, and for the last 18 years in engineering education. His passion is K-12 outreach for the recruitment and retention of women and minorities into engineering, with the current focus on introducing engineering science at the middle school and high school levels. His K-12 outreach activities can be found at http://cbee.oregonstate.edu/education/.
Abstract
EXCHANGE: Oobleck, Slime, and Playdough Materials Engineering for the Elementary ClassroomOne aspect of Materials Engineering that is accessible to young children is the opportunity tovary a "recipe" and see how that affects the properties of a substance. Children enjoy playingwith materials with interesting properties; oobleck (cornstarch and water), slime (glue, borax,and water), and playdough (flour, salt, and water) fascinate. Just interacting with thesesubstances is a great way to develop scientific descriptive vocabulary, but take it a step furtherwith an engineering challenge. This can be approached from two angles: (1) start with a problemto be solved, perhaps from children's literature, and challenge students to adjust the process tomeet the criteria for success OR (2) start with the strange properties the substance has and comeup with a problem the substance solves. This presentation will demonstrate some of theengineering design projects students can do with oobleck, slime, and playdough. All lessonshave been tested in elementary classrooms by the author and other classroom teachers.Starting with children's literature, for example Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss,challenge students to design a moat around the castle to keep out those who don't know the"trick" for crossing OR a moat that traps those trying to get to the castle. What proportions ofcornstarch and water create the most solid support (if you know how to move on it) and which"recipe" might be sticky enough to trap intruders? Can you make up a variation of the story tomatch your oobleck's properties?Designing a "toy" with certain properties is another way to start the engineering designchallenge. Allow students to spend time exploring the properties of slime to see what fun thingscan be done with it. Ask them to vary its recipe to maximize bounciness or its ability tomaintain its shape. Write an ad for this new toy describing the properties that make it fun.Starting with criteria for success is another way to launch a materials engineering designchallenge. Playdough is a familiar childhood material. Can students design tests (snake test orcookie cutter test) to check the quality of playdough they mix? Can they find different waysplaydough can be used depending on the recipe?This presentation will provide an opportunity to experiment with two versions each of oobleck,slime, and playdough and allow participants to deduce their recipes. Fun for materials engineersof all ages!
Gerdemann, G. E., & Rochefort, W. S. E. (2011, June), Exchange: Oobleck, Slime, and Playdough Materials Engineering for the Elementary Classroom Paper presented at 2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Vancouver, BC. 10.18260/1-2--17947
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