FREE PRIMARY SCIENCE · Years 5–6

Oobleck: test an unusual mixture

How does movement speed affect the way a cornflour-and-water mixture responds?

A standalone 55–60 minute practical for Years 5–6 using the same cornflour and water as the Years 3–4 lesson. Instead of simply describing four effects, students compare a slow and a quicker movement with the SAME spoon, mixture and depth, repeat observations, judge limitations of a qualitative scale, and evaluate a particle-model explanation. No chemical reaction or change of state is claimed.

1 free lessons · Australian Curriculum v9

Lessons in this topic

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1. Oobleck: does movement speed matter?

   Does oobleck resist a spoon differently when we move it slowly and quickly?

   Learning focus: Compare how the same oobleck suspension flows or resists under slow and faster movement, use repeated evidence, and explain why this is not a change of state.

   Evidence question: Does oobleck resist a spoon differently when we move it slowly and quickly?

   Materials needed · AC9S5I02, AC9S5I03, AC9S6I02, AC9S6I03, AC9S5U04, AC9S6U04

   Read lesson plan → · Open interactive lesson →

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Start with the science question, examine or collect evidence and ask students to explain what the evidence does and does not show. Some lessons need materials and safety preparation, while others use virtual models or printed sources.

Years 3–4 guide · Years 5–6 guide · Low-prep science · About Bottlebrush

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