Oobleck

An example of a mixture which is a colloid and is fun to make and experiment with is Oobleck. The ingredients and proportions are 1 box of cornstarch, 1 2/3 cups of water and 4 drops of green food coloring. After mixing the ingredients try experimenting with it. Explore its properties by heating, freezing, squeezing or just touching it.

There is a publicaton put out by Great Explorations in Math and Science (GEMS) from the Lawrence Hall of Science at UC Berkeley that has several projects involving Oobleck. One of them is to consider that you will land on a sea of oobleck on some other planet and to design a space ship that will be able to land successfully and take off again. To contact GEMS, you can write or call to GEMS, Lawrence Hall of Science, Univ of California at Berkeley, CA 94720. (510)642-7771.

Home Page of Poseidon Software and Invention