Video Lessons

How are New Materials Invented?

Summary

Grade Range

5th

Group Size

2 students

Active Time

1 hour 30 minutes

Total Time

1 hour 30 minutes

Area of Science

Chemistry

Key Concepts

Material properties, chemical reactions, engineering design process

Credits

Sabine De Brabandere, PhD, Science Buddies Alumni

Video narration by Jennifer E Paz

Pricing

Free for a limited time thanks to individual donors

Video Lesson

Overview

New materials often involve chemical reactions, and slime is no exception. In this lesson, students will use the engineering design process to design a slime product. They will need to decide on the desired properties for their slime and then experiment to find the best recipe.

Learning Objectives

Define criteria and constraints for creating a new slime as part of the engineering process.
Look for a change in properties to see whether a chemical reaction occurs and a new substance is formed.
Know that chemical reactions create new materials.

Materials

For the class:

An assortment of additives that will allow students to change the properties of their slime, like:
- Food coloring (colored slime)
- Glitter (sparkly slime)
- Iron filings (magnetic slime)
- Glow-in-the-dark paint (glow-in-the-dark slime)
- Thermochromic pigment (color-changing slime)
- Tonic water (glow-in-black-light slime)
- Foam shaving cream (fluffy slime)
- Fragrance oils or extracts (to make scented slime)
- Baking spices (to make scented slime)
Table or area to display the student's slime creations.

Per group:

Washable PVA school glue (like Elmer's®) (1 cup or 8 fl oz)
Water
Baking soda (1 tsp)
Contact lens solution (must contain both boric acid and sodium borate in ingredients) (4 tbsp or 2 fl oz)
Measuring spoons (tablespoon and 1/4 teaspoon)
Measuring cup (1/4 cup)
Resealable plastic bags, sandwich size

Per student:

Student worksheet

Prep Work

Preparations: Place all the materials students will use to make their slime on a table that is easily accessible for students.

If the Explore section cannot be completed in one lesson, take a break after the background research is completed (13:40 in the Whole Lesson video, or 8:18 in the Explore video). Make sure the students describe the properties of the basic slime they created before taking a break as the slime might change and become more rubbery overnight.

Engage (10 minutes)

In this video, students reflect on how materials are invented. They see examples of accidental inventions, and are introduced to deliberate experimentation and engineering with the goal of inventing new materials. The video also showcases the role of chemical reactions in creating new materials.

Explore (1 hour 10 minutes)

In this video, students start by making a basic slime. This is considered their background research and allows them to explore how a chemical reaction happens and the products differ from the reactants. Next, students follow the engineering design process to invent their own slime, and evaluate how well their engineering process went.

Reflect (10 minutes)

In this video, students reflect on the methods they used to invent their own slime. The video ends by reiterating how chemistry is involved in inventing new materials.

NGSS Alignment

This lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:

3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
5-PS1-4. Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

This lesson focuses on these aspects of NGSS Three Dimensional Learning:

Science & Engineering Practices

Asking Questions and Defining Problems. Define a simple design problem that can be solved through the development of an object, tool, process, or system and includes several criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost. (3-5-ETS1-1)

Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions. Generate and compare multiple solutions to a problem based on how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the design problem. (3-5-ETS1-2)

Disciplinary Core Ideas

ETS1.A: Defining and Delimiting Engineering Problems. Possible solutions to a problem are limited by available materials and resources (constraints). The success of a designed solution is determined by considering the desired features of a solution (criteria). Different proposals for solutions can be compared on the basis of how well each one meets the specified criteria for success or how well each takes the constraints into account.

PS1.B: Chemical Reactions. When two or more different substances are mixed, a new substance with different properties may be formed.

Crosscutting Concepts

Stability and Change. Change is measured in terms of differences over time and may occur at different rates.

Cause and Effect. Cause and effect relationships are routinely identified and used to explain change.

Assess

The student worksheet can be used to evaluate students' understanding of the activity and basic concepts. A quiz is available as a summative assessment.

Project Guide

Engineering Design Process

Project Resource

What is the Engineering Design Process? The engineering design process is a series of steps that engineers follow to come up with a solution to a problem. Many times the solution to a problem involves designing a product (like a machine or computer code) that meets certain criteria and/or accomplishes a certain task. This process is different from the Steps of the Scientific Method, which you may be more familiar with. If your project involves making observations and doing… Read more

Blog

Teach Chemical Reactions - 20+ Chemistry Lessons and Activities

Blog Post

Use these free chemistry lesson plans, experiments, and activities to teach and explore chemical reactions with K-12 students. A chemical reaction occurs when two or more substances (reactants) are mixed together and result in one or more new substances (products). When teaching about chemical reactions, educators show chemical reactions in action and, when possible, let students get hands-on exploring reactions. With classroom science experiments,… Read more

Careers

Chemical Engineer

Career Profile

Chemical engineers design many of the products we use every day, like soap and shampoo. They might experiment to find the best recipe for something or the best way to mass-produce it in a factory. If you enjoyed experimenting with different ways to make slime, you might want to learn more about chemical engineering! Read more

Materials Scientist and Engineer