Polymers at Play: Color Me Crystallized!
How can this ring change color depending on its wearer’s mood? The short answer is polymers—long molecular chains that make up everyday objects like garbage bags and toothbrushes, along with some of your favorite toys! Click to learn how mood rings rely on the shapeshifting behavior of polymers to predict your mood. (Maybe.)
Electric Crystals and their Broken Symmetries
Students learn how some crystals produce electricity when squeezed! This lesson is part 4 of a 4-part student-driven, lecture-free series, in which students will do card sorts, build hands-on models, solve engineering design puzzles, and more!
Ketchup and oobleck and slime, oh my!
Why do so many fluids behave counterintuitively? Many substances in our lives – like oobleck, slime, or Silly Putty – don’t quite behave the way we expect a fluid to, despite some fluid-like properties. These substances fall into a special category: non-Newtonian fluids. Scientifically, this term is a bit of a catch-all for any substances that have a complicated relationship between their apparent viscosity and the force applied to them.