EC400 Assignment 04

Part 1

Title of Lesson: Monster Slime

Topic/Lesson Essential Question: What happens when we mix a solid and a liquid?

Standards:

 5.1.P.A.1 Preschoolers display curiosity about science objects, materials, activities, and

longer-term investigations in progress.

 5.2.P.B.1 Preschoolers explore changes in liquid and solids when substances are

combined, heated, or cooled.

Learning Objectives Assessments

liquids. the opening activity. While making

monster slime, teacher will ask students

which materials are liquids and which are

solids.
Students will explore what happens when Teacher will watch as student’s mix the

a solid and liquid are mixed together. slime together using their hands. Teacher

will ask whether the mixture feels like a

solid or liquid.

Materials

 Opening Activity Materials: Bowl of water (one per set of partners), block (one per

student),

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 Main Activity Materials (for all groups): School glue (1.5 cups), Borax powder (3

teaspoons), hot water (4.5 cups), glitter, googly eyes, neon food coloring, liquid

measuring cup, teaspoon, wooden spoon, medium bowl, zip lock bags, marker

 Materials for monster slime will be pre-measured for each group

Advanced Preparation: Students will have been introduced to the day’s science theme through

a book about a monster. Students have no prior experience with solids and liquids from class.

Procedure: Student’s will be split into three groups of two. The groups will be rotating through

centers. The following steps will occur within each group at the monster slime center:

i. The teacher will do the opening activity with the student’s, allowing them to explore

liquids and solids.

ii. The teacher will tell the students that they will be making monster slime using solids

and liquids. The teacher will name each of the materials for the students and explain

that we will be mixing together solids and liquids to create slime.

iii. The teacher will ask one student to put the borax into the hot water in the liquid

measuring cup. First, the teacher will ask students whether the borax is a liquid or

solid and whether the water is a liquid or solid. (For some groups, the teacher will

tell the student’s that borax is a solid).

iv. The teacher will add the food coloring to the water and borax mixture.

v. The teacher will have a student pour the pre-measured water into the bowl.

vi. The teacher will have a student help squeeze the glue into the bowl.

vii. The teacher will have a student add glitter to the water and glue mixture.

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viii. The teacher will pour the borax and water mixture into the bowl with the glue mixture

and have the student’s mix with their hands. Teachers will ask the student’s what the

mixture feels like.

ix. The teacher will remove the slime from the bowl and allow the student’s time to play

with the slime by adding googly eyes to it and exploring its properties with their

sense of touch.

x. The teacher will do the closing activity.

Closure: The teacher will ask the student’s if the slime is a liquid or solid, then explain how

it’s a “silly slime” and has properties of both liquids and solids. Finally, the teacher will put

each child’s slime in a zip lock bag and write his/her name on it. The children will put the

slime in their backpacks then go to the bathroom to wash their hands. The group will rotate

and the teacher will do the activity with all three groups.

Safety Precautions: None of the materials are hazardous, however the student’s will be

encouraged to keep their hands out of their mouths.

Extension

Interpersonal

Have a class discussion with your students about what they learned from working with each

other. Ask questions like, “Did you learn anything new from your partner?”, “Was there

anything hard about working with your partner?”, “Did you solve any problems together?” “Did

you like working with a friend?” “Would you rather work by yourself, if so why?”

Talk to them about what they learned from working with a friend. Did they learn more from

working collaboratively? What worked and what didn’t work?

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Naturalist

Children take the slime and classify the slime using categories by using descriptive words such

as, bumpy, smooth, soft, slimy exc. Give children three different cups of materials one with hard

items such as, beads, the second with soft items such as, cotton balls, and a third with liquid such

as, liquid dish soap. Children will now take turns adding these materials into their slime and

classifying the slime into the three different categories based on what they feel.

Part 2

Looking back at my academic years, the most exciting science unit I was exposed to would have

to be during the second grade of elementary school. We reviewed the life cycle of a plant, and

the life cycle of a butterfly. This unit in particular was very exciting for me as a child because it

was hands on. I remember our teacher assigning each student their own pot and taking turns

picking out a bean or two to plant. Every day we came into class we had to water our plant and

document in our science journals how the bean was changing throughout the week and if the

bean had sprouted. After a few weeks we got to measure whose bean was the tallest and then we

were able to take our plants home to show our families. The second unit I found particularly

fascinating was the life cycle of a butterfly. Our classroom received monarch caterpillars, which

were displayed in the front of the room in tiny cups filled with food. Every day we were able to

look inside the cups and watch our caterpillars grow bigger and eventually wrap into a chrysalis

and transform into butterfly’s. These units were memorable, fun and exciting for young children

because they were hands on and offered the students a sense of independence and responsibility.

These units were engaging because they gave students the opportunity to learn outside the

classroom, applying the unit to real- life and getting fresh air helped me learn more effectively.

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As I grew older and entered middle/high school our science classes became less engaging. The

units we studied were very dry and instead of hands on experiments we were offered lectures,

PowerPoints and excessive note taking. One unit I struggled the most with was understanding

chemical formulas my sophomore year of high school. This unit was miserable and very

difficult for me. I found it not only boring and completely uninformative, but also very stressful

and overwhelming. This unit was very confusing and difficult, it took a lot of discipline and

studying to fully grasp the concept. The second unit I found to be rather dull would have to be

the scientific method. I found this to be extremely boring and dry because it was focused on the

writing aspect of a science experiment. You review how to make a hypothesis, how to analyze

your results and how to finalize your conclusion. This unit was very similar to taking another

English or literacy class.