Time to make some slime

Ihave spent a great deal of time the past few weeks experimenting on my own to find the perfect slime recipes. It has been a lot of hard work, but worth it as I am excited to be able to share these experiments as Praxis partners with the Redcliff public Library on Tuesday, March 2.

I have been fortunate to work with them so we can deliver our first ever online session. It is going to be a great time, but you do have to preregister and space is

limited, so do not delay! Just in case you are not able to attend, here is another one of my favorite slime recipes that did not make the cut. Let’s get started!

Remember to ask an adult before doing this experiment.

Materials

• Kitchen scale

• Hot water

• Measuring cups

• Bowl

• Stirring spoon

• Whisk

• Glycerine (pharmacy section)

• Guar gum (health food stores usually have it)

• Borax (Laundry section of grocery store)

• Food colouring (optional)

• Goggles

Procedure

• Put on your safety goggles when doing any science experiment.

• Using a measuring cup, measure and add one litre of

hot water and carefully pour it into a bowl.

• Measure 10 grams of Guar gum. And add it to the hot water. Mix well. You may have to whisk it up as it may clump a bit.

• At this point, you can add food colouring if you wish.

• Measure 10 grams of glycerine and add, mixing well after your addition.

• Set this aside for a few minutes as you mix up the final solution of 10 grams of Borax in 100mL of water. Stir well to ensure all of the Borax has dissolved.

• Using a measuring spoon, add 10mL of the

Borax mixture to the bowl, stirring well after each addition. Continue to add this mixture until you have the desired consistency of slime.

• If you store your slime covered in the refrigerator when not in use it will last for quite some time.

• Remember to wash your hands after playing with the slime.

• DO NOT eat/ingest the slime. As with any science experiment, we should not eat or drink anything.

What is going on?

This is one of my favorite slime activities and I really like to do it around St. Patrick’s Day so I usually colour it green. As I think about it, another holiday would be Halloween as it kind of looks like boogers or alien slime...it is so stringy and slimy! Play with the mixture, making it much more slimy or more rubbery in texture.

Did you know that Guar Gum is actually a natural

polymer? Guar gum is made from a legume known as

Guar seeds. Many countries grow this as an inexpensive livestock feed. In Canada, Guar gum is widely used in many health products and even everyday foods we eat in order to thicken them up. This substance makes amazing slime because it can be used as a great cross linker to form the best ever ooey gooey oozing slime!

Remember, if your school is interested in doing a science fair this year, do not forget to connect with us at Praxis — we are here to help you — even virtually during the pandemic. Please keep reading here each week for more helpful ideas and even tips on Science Fair.

Patty Rooks, Senior Scientific Consultant PRAXIS, “Connecting Science To The Community”. Contact Praxis at praxis@praxismh.ca, www. praxismh.ca, Tweet or follow us @PraxisMedHat, or friend us on Facebook. Address: #12 826 11 Street S. E., Medicine Hat, Alberta, T1A 1T7 Phone: 403.527.5365, email: praxis@ praxismh.ca.