OOBLECK Liquid??? SOLID????

The layer of the Earth that is beneath the LITHOSPHERE is the ASTHENOSPHERE! The Asthenosphere is also known as the upper part of the Mantle! It is made of hot, molten material. This material has the property of PLASTICITY! This means it can flow easily. The plates (broken up pieces of the Earth’s crust) move on the putty-like material that forms the asthenosphere.

WHAT DO I NEED? measuring cups 1 cup of dry cornstarch large bowl or pan food coloring (if you want) 1/2 cup of water

Let's Get Started! 1) Put newspaper down on your counter or table top. 2) Put the cornstarch into the bowl. Add a drop or two of food coloring. (Use whatever colors you like.) Add water slowly, mixing the cornstarch and water with your fingers until all the powder is wet. 3) Keep adding water until the Ooze feels like a liquid when you're mixing it slowly. Then try tapping on the surface with your finger or a spoon. When Ooze is just right, it won't splash--it will feel solid. If you Ooze is too powdery, add a little more water. If it's too wet, add more cornstarch.

Play around with your Ooze! Push Test -- can you push into it? Pick-Up Test -- if you pick some up, does it all come up? Pour Test -- does it pour out smoothly, or does it just fall out in a clump? Shape Test -- does it keep the same shape?

Play around with your Ooze! Pick up a handful and squeeze it. Stop squeezing and it will drip through your Rest your fingers on the surface of the Ooze. Let them sink down to the bottom of the bowl. Then try to pull them out fast. What happens? Take a blob and roll it between your hands to make a ball. Then stop rolling. The Ooze will trickle away between your fingers.

As you found out when you experimented with your Ooze, this behaves strangely. When you bang on it with a spoon or quickly squeeze a handful of Ooze, it freezes in place, acting like a solid. The harder you push, the thicker the Ooze becomes. But when you open your hand and let your Ooze ooze, it drips like a liquid. Try to stir the Ooze quickly with a finger, and it will resist your movement. Stir it slowly, and it will flow around your finger easily. Smack water with a spoon and it splashes. Smack Ooze with a spoon and it acts like a solid.

THE LAWS OF OOBLECK! Oobleck is a solid and a liquid at the same time. If you make a ball and throw it up in the air, it loses shape and becomes flat in the air. Oobleck can be molded in a container and when taken out does not keep shape. If you fill a balloon with 0obleck, the air presses or forces the the oobleck back out. When you leave Oobleck in the sun, the color evaporates, it turns hard like cement on the top and like jelly on the bottom. When heated this also happens and it is sticky. Oobleck does not bounce.