OObleck - a Non-newtonian fluid

This demo is an easy one to have some messy fun. All you need is cornstarch and water and you can make some amazing stuff. We call it oobleck, because it resembles the story by Dr. Suess. Oobleck is wierd stuff, if you move (or work) it quickly it behaves like a solid, but if you allow it to move slowly it behaves like a liquid.

Sometimes it is hard to get just the right proportions of corn starch and water to have this work (when I made it on live television it wasn't the best batch I ever had, for example). Generally it makes the most sense to start out with about 2 parts cornstarch and one part water then add water slowly until you have the oobleck that you want. Remember - it's going to be messy no matter what!

Here's some links...

Brief Lesson Plan - Here's a short lesson plan for using oobleck

Multiple Slime - Directions and lessons for all kinds of slime - including oobleck

Gooey Science - Perhaps the most slimy site on the web!