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Developers:
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Carolyn L. Minor
Steel School
Philadelphia, PA
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Dr. Trish Maxson
Applications Development Lab
Rohm and Haas Company
Spring House, PA
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Dr. Cheryl Martin
Modifiers Research
Rohm and Haas Company
Spring House, PA
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Topic Area:
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Plastics
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Grade Levels:
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3 through 5
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Discipline:
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Physical Science
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Goals:
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To have students use the skill of observation to determine the similarities and difference among several materials
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Objectives:
| Students will conduct tests to determine the properties of Color Dough®, Silly Putty®, and Super Balls®.
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Materials:
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For each team:
6 grams Color Dough®
6 grams Silly Putty®
1 small Super Ball®
centimeter ruler
record sheet
3 small, plastic bags
ice
4 paper cups
paper/tape
scissors
For teacher demonstration:
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Background:
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Properties describe an object and its material. Color, size, shape, odor, texture, etc. are properties of matter that we observe by using our senses. Properties help us to identify both objects and materials. Properties may change with changes in temperature.
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Management Suggestions:
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Divide the students into teams of four to balance cost with hands-on experience.
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Divide materials by weight.
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Duplicate record sheets.
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This experiment can be used in cooperatitve learning groups:
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One record sheet per group.
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Let the students decide who will record and who will do the experiement. The other two students will be the observers.
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For each experiment the students change roles.
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Discussion:
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What are some of the similarities and differences between the Color Dough®, the Silly Putty®, and the Super Ball®. (This information might be entered on a large, class, or individual chart).
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Silly Putty® is a kind of plastic. Can you name other things that are made out of plastic? How do they behave? Not all plastics behave in the same way.
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Which of the three materials might you use to make a basketball?
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Name two things that you could make without materials like those used in Color Dough®, Silly Putty® or Super Balls®.
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Procedure:
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There are four experiments so that each student will be able to perform each role.
All experiments will be done with Color Dough®, Silly Putty®, and Super Balls®.
Make certain that the observations are recorded as the experiment is being performed.
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Experiment One
For each material, have the students:
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Roll it between their hands.
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Stretch it.
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Twist it.
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Listen to it as it is moved.
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Squeeze it.
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Press it on a piece of paper.
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Press their finger into it.
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Experiment Two
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Drop a sphere of each material from a height of 10 centimeters.
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Drop a sphere of each material from a height of 100 centimeters.
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Experiment Three
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Put the Color Dough®, Silly Putty® and Super Ball® into three small plastic bags and seal them.
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Place the bags into cups of ice for 5 minutes.
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Remove the objects from the bag one at a time.
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Stretch them.
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Teacher Demonstration
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Place pieces of Color Dough® and Silly Putty® along with a Super Ball® on a piece of aluminum foil.
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Turn hair dryer on low and direct hot air toward the objects.
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Stretch the materials.
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Experiment Four
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Construct two paper cup towers.
[See Diagram measuring Sag Distance. See Extended Activities.]
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Form Color Dough® and Silly Putty® into a roll 10 centimeters long.
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Anchor the ends of each material to notches in the towers.
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Measure the sag distance (vertical distance from the bottom of the notch to the lowest point of the object) after 5 minutes.
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Extended Activities:
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What will happen to the materials if you dropped them from ceiling height? Building height?
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How much weight will equal amounts of the material support?
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Does the shape of the material affect its saf distance?
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