Classroom Programs: Slime Time
Students create and perform a variety of experiments on this oozing, gooey, bouncy slimy polymer, and then get to take it home!
What do Styrofoam, Legos, and the bottom of your shoe have in common? Discover the properties of polymers and then create one – slime! Students will then perform hands-on experiments to test whether this polymer is a solid or a liquid.
“Slime Time!” aligns with the following points of the Maryland State Voluntary Curriculum:
Skills and Processes
Grades K, 1, 2
- Describe what can be learned about things by just observing those things carefully and adding information by sometimes doing something to the things and noting what happens. Seek information through reading, observation, exploration, and investigations. Suggest things that you could do to find answers to questions raised by observing objects and/or phenomena. (A.1abf)
- Develop reasonable explanations for observations made, investigations completed, and information gained by sharing ideas and listening to others’ ideas. (B.1b)
- Describe things as accurately as possible and compare observations with those of others. (C.1a)
- Explain that something may not work if some of its parts are missing. Explain that when parts are put together, they can do things that they couldn’t do by themselves. (D.2bc)
- Explain that a model of something is different from the real thing but can be used to learn something about the real thing. (D.3a)
Grades 3, 4, 5
- Gather and question data from many different forms of scientific investigations which include reviewing, observing what things are like or what is happening somewhere, collecting specimens for analysis, and doing experiments (A.1a)
- Review different explanations for the same set of observations and make more observations to resolve the differences (B.1c)
- Make use of and analyze models such as tables and graphs to summarize and interpret data. (C.1a)
- Explain that something may not work as well (or at all) if a part of it is missing, broken, worn out, mismatched, or misconnected. (D.2b)
- Explain that a model is simplified imitation of something and that model’s value lies in suggesting how the thing modeled works. (D.3ab)
Chemistry
Grade K
- Based on data, describe the observable properties, such as size, shape, color, and texture of a variety of objects. (A.1b)
Grade 1
- Provide evidence from investigations that things can be done to materials to change some of their properties. Based on evidence from investigations describe that materials are not changed by certain actions, such as reshaping or breaking into pieces. (B.1a)
- Provide evidence from investigations to identify processes that can be used to change physical properties of materials. Based on investigations, describe what changes occur to the observable properties of various materials when they are subjected to the processes of wetting, cutting, bending, and mixing. Compare the observable properties of objects before and after they have been subjected to various processes.Ask and seek answers to “What if” questions about what might happen to the materials if different processes were used to change them. (D.1abc)
Grade 2
- Identify ways to classify objects using supporting evidence from investigations of observable properties. Classify objects based on their observable properties. Provide reasons for placing the objects into groups. Compare classifications with those of others. (A.1abc)
Grade 3
- Identify and describe structures of objects too small to be seen clearly with the unaided eye (A.2)
Grade 4
- Provide evidence to support the fact that matter has observable and measurable properties. (A.1acd)
Grade 5
- Provide evidence to illustrate that when a new material is made by combining two or more materials, its properties are different from the original materials. Share data gathered and construct a reasonable explanation of the results. (D.1c)