INTRODUCTION

IN THIS LAB, YOU WILL RESEARCH AND EXPLORE POLYMERS. ONCE YOU HAVE DISCOVERED THE TRUTH BEHIND THIS CRAZY ASPECT OF CHEMISTRY, YOU WILL CREATE A VISUAL DISPLAY OF HOW POLYMERS ARE EVERYWHERE IN OUR LIVES!!

IN THIS LAB YOU WILL USE:

Ø POLYVINYL ALCOHOL

Ø BORAX

Ø CORN STARCH

Ø WATER

PROCEDURES - RESEARCH

VISIT THE FOLLOWING WEBSITES TO HELP YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND POLYMERS.

TAKE NOTES AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS UNDER EACH WEBSITE ON A SEPARATE SHEET OF PAPER TO HELP PREPARE YOU FOR THE LAB.

http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/index.htm

Ø How would you describe a polymer? Does it have any other names?

http://www.psrc.usm.edu/macrog/floor1.htm

Ø Choose 5 stores to visit. Record which stores you and your partner chose and tell about the type of polymer that could be found in each store. What can you say about how polymers are used in your life?

PRE-OBSERVATIONS

MAKE A PRE-OBSERVATION CHART DESCRIBING THE CHARACTERITICS OF ALL THE INGREDIENTS USED (EXCEPT WATER). YOUR CHART MUST INCLUDE: COLOR, TEXTURE, SMELL AND ONE OTHER OBSERVATION OF YOUR CHOICE (NOT TASTE)

	Color	Texture	Smell	Your Choice
Borax
Corn Starch
Polyvinyl Alcohol

EXPERIEMENT – PART I

NOW YOU’RE READY TO EXPLORE WITH ONE TYPE OF POLYMER…SLIME! MAKE A CHART SIMILAR TO THE ONE BELOW ON YOUR OWN PAPER AND RECORD THE RESULTS OF YOUR EXPERIMENTS. KEEP ALL SLIME ON YOUR TABLE AND OFF OF THE FLOOR. HAVE FUN!

TO MAKE THE SLIME, YOU WILL NEED TWO DIFFERENT LIQUIDS. Put 40 mL of Polyvinyl Alcohol solution into one side of a growth plate. Put 10 mL of Borax solution in another growth plate. Pour the Borax solution into the Polyvinyl Alcohol and stir with a stirring rod. Pour out the mixture into your hands begin to perform the activities.

ACTION OBSERVATION

Squeeze the slime. Let it run through your fingers and observe what happens.
Shape it into ball.
Roll it into a snake-like shape.
Gently bang on it with a spoon.
Place a tiny object like a paper clip on top of it.
As you pour slime into another container, try and cut it with a pair of scissors.
Make up an action of your choice
Make up an action of your choice

EXPERIMENT – PART II

BEFORE YOU CAN BEGIN PART II, YOU MUST MAKE SURE THAT YOU HAVE CLEANED UP AND RECORED ALL RESULTS FROM PART I. WHEN YOU HAVE, FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS BELOW

FIRST, YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE ANOTHER CHART JUST LIKE YOU DID FOR SLIME. YOU WILL BE CONDUCTING THE SAME EXPERIMENTS AS BEFORE WITH THE NEW MIXTURE.

THIS PART OF THE EXPERIMENT REQUIRES THAT YOU MAKE THE POLYMER YOURSELF! YOU MUST FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS CAREFULLY AND ACCURATELY. IF YOU NEED HELP, ASK!!!

Ø Put ½ cup cornstarch into a beaker

Ø Add ¼ cup water to the cornstarch

Ø Stir water and cornstarch

THIS NEW MIXTURE IS CALLED OOBLECK. YOU SHOULD CONDUCT THE SAME EXPERIMENTS AND RECORD THEM IN A TABLE.

CLEAN UP EVERYTHING BEFORE MOVING ONTO THE NEXT PART!!!!!!

SHOW YOUR UNDERSTANDING

TOGETHER, YOU AND YOUR PARTNER WILL DESIGN A ONE-PAGE POWERPOINT SLIDE THAT WILL VISUALLY DISPLAY YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF POLYMERS. IT SHOULD BE A COLLAGE OF PICTURES WITH A CATCHY TITLE.