This and that...what I'm reading and oobleck science

This and That

What I'm reading.....

The Last American Man

by Elizabeth Gilbert

author of Eat, Pray, Love

(one of my favorite books)

This book is a true story

of an original man

named Eustace Conway.

He has lived for thirty years,

and still lives today, in the Appalachian Mtns.

 He is an educated true nature lover,

yet a man with faults.

Gilberts portrait of him is very well written.

http://turtleislandpreserve.com

to find out more.

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Did you ever make OOBLECK?

We used to make it when I was a kid all the time.

I was always amazed at how it worked.

I loved science of any kind.

You might want to try it too!

Kids love it!

Here is the recipe....

Mix one part water to 2 parts cornstarch

It's as easy as that.

You might be asking...

well what is oobleck in the first place

and why is it so amazing.

Oobleck is a type of non-Newtonian fluid called a dilatant.

If you slowly lower your hand into oobleck,

 it will sink,

but it is difficult to quickly remove your hand

 (without taking all the oobleck and its container with you).

If you squeeze or punch the oobleck,

the starch particles will not move out of the way quickly,

 so the oobleck will feel solid.

We used to roll it into a ball in our hands,

then stop rolling and it turns back into a liquid.

You can roll it into a rope and quickly break it,

then suddenly it turns into a liquid again.

Pretty neat.

You can actually run across a pool of oobleck,

then when you stop running you will sink into it.

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Well, I'm on my way to Cuero,

the wildflower capital of Texas.

I hope the drought has not been too bad up there.

Savor the Day!

Yvonne