Fun with Oobleck

Is it is a solid or a liquid?

Today in Ruma Piwakawaka in our science inquiry lesson we explored the substance - oobleck

We needed cornflour, water and we added food colouring to make it blue.

First we touched the cornflour to see what it felt like:

it is soft - Elizabeth

it feels tickly - Charlotte

it's dusty - Tui

it is smooth - Riley

Then we mixed in some water and the food colouring to make oobleck.

The oobleck behaves like a solid and a liquid depending on the forces or pressure applied to it. When you hold the oobleck loosely in your hands or slowly stir it, the water particles can easily mix with the cornflour particles, making the oobleck behave like a liquid. When you force the oobleck into a ball shape, the cornflour particles are pushed together so that the water can’t get in between. In this case, the oobleck acts as a solid.

We had so much fun investigating the oobleck!!