EDUC 554 Session 12 - A

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Mercy College *

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554

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English

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Jan 9, 2024

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docx

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Mercy College EDUC 554 Session 12 Childhood Science Through Experimentation Experiment - Slime Sculptures For this experiment, I worked with three children between the ages of three to five years old. I wanted to engage them with an experiment using an item they are very familiar with, such as slime. From the Steven Spangler science website, I chose the slime sculptures experiment, where students would use different pieces of colored slime to mix together, then layout on a surface to dry. As it dries and hardens, students can lift the slime and bend or mold it into a shape to create a standing sculpture. To begin the experiment, I asked the three scientists to describe what we were using such as how it feels, what it looks like, and explain the color and texture. Some of the responses were: “slime is sticky and goopy”, “slime goes everywhere”, “slime is wet and cold”, and “slime is stretchy”. Next I asked the scientists, what a sculpture was, given their age, I assumed they would not know the meaning, and I showed them pictures of different student made clay sculptures. I explained that a sculpture is a piece of art made out of a material that is hard so that it stands up or stays in one spot on its own. They were very interested and wanted to attempt making their own. I then asked the students to think about how we can make the slime hard and how we can make the slime stand on its own while we were mixing the slime pieces together. We used two different types of slime in 6 different colors such as neon slime, slime mixed with confetti pieces and then slime made with glitter. Lastly, I asked the students what they thought could dry the slime the fastest based on three options: a fan, hair dryer or placing it near an open window. They agreed that they thought the hair dryer would work fastest because more air came out of the dryer compared to the fan. What were your predictions, what happened during the actual experiment, and why do you think that? As we began the experiment, I predicted that the students would be able to create their own sculptures by lifting the sides of the slime as it dried. However, during the actual experiment, we noticed that the slime felt very wet. We also noticed that the slime did not all feel the same. The confetti and glitter slime did not stretch out easily compared to the neon slime. All the different types of slime were also difficult to mix together, except for the two different colored neon slimes. The students however were able to mix the slimes together and then moved on to drying. Students took turns using the hair dryer over their slime on cool heat, however they noticed that the slime felt colder not drier. One student then suggested we use the fan to dry the slime, however we noticed that after 15 minutes, the slime was more solid but still very fluid and would not stand on its own. I then asked the students to think how we could get the slime to dry and stand on its own. One student suggested using sticks and another suggested cups. After using the sticks, they noticed it did not work and the stick went through the slime. However, the cup

helped to give the slime shape as the slime was placed over the bottom of the cup to dry. After about 30 minutes, the slime was significantly drier and the cup was then removed. The piece where the cup was stood on its own, however the rest of the slime after molding it would return to a more fluid state. I believe this happened from using different types of slime, since they were different consistencies they were probably not made from the same materials, therefore causing the different pieces of slime to dry differently. I also think that the areas that were thicker with slime did not dry enough because it should have been spread out more thinly. However, the students enjoyed it and wanted to repeat the experiment again with one type of slime only, such as the neon slime which dried the best. How can you extend this experiment for your students? This experiment could be extended to school age students by engaging them in creating their own slime that they think would work best to create a sculpture. By doing so, students can research the different types of slime and different ingredients that can be used for slime. Students can develop a hypothesis on the ingredients they think would work best to create a slime sculpture and explain why they believe those ingredients would work best over others. Students can then engage in design ideas about the kinds of sculptures that could be made with slime, or like our experiment, what additional tools could be used to form the slime into a sculpture. This extension can involve an engineering element to the experiment as well as an artistic component. Photos:

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