What are you learning? How chemicals react--and occasionally produce some serious goop!

The Experiment
1. Using the spoon, mix the starch, glue, and a drop of food coloring in the center of the waxed paper. Keep stirring the materials until they form a substance that begins to separate from the waxed paper.
2. Allow the substance to stand on the waxed paper for 3 to 4 minutes. Then roll it into a ball and knead it for 1 minute by the timer. Ewww--slime! (Makes 2 teaspoons.)
3. Roll the slime into a ball and drop it on a smooth surface. What happens?
4. Set the ball of slime on a table and observe it for about 30 seconds.
5. Hold the slime in your hands and quickly pull the ends in opposite directions. Then try pulling it apart slowly too.

The Aha! Effect You've produced a chemical reaction! The molecules have mixed and interacted. VanCleave explains that the slime is an example of a polymer--a long, chainlike molecule.

Go One Step Further Check out how cold temperatures affect the slime. Slip it into a resealable plastic bag and close. Now place it in the freezer for 1 or more hours. Repeat the experiments on the cold slime to see if it will bounce and stretch. Test the slime again after it has warmed back to room temperature.

Adapted from JANICE VANCLEAVE'S 203 ICY, FREEZING, FROSTY, COOL & WILD EXPERIMENTS (John Wiley & Sons, 1999).