Can silly putty be made in micro-gravity? Zac Olstead

1a) The experiment is basically just testing whether or not silly putty can be made in microgravity, and if so they are testing to see how different the traits are of the silly putty that was made in microgravity vs the one made on earth.

Who: 8^th graders from Lincoln middle school, the middle school science teachers, Collaborators: Francis Abastillas, Dean Chien, Matilda Loughmiller, Alex Soohoo, Roman Valentine, and Jane Cho Watts, Principal investigator: Cindy Yen.

From where: Lincoln middle school, Santa Monica, California.

What: The experiment is trying to figure out, What is the effect of microgravity on the formation of silly putty and how do the characteristics differ from the silly putty made on earth?

Why: They did this experiment of making silly putty in microgravity to help the world learn more about non-Newtonian fluid.

When: it was either June 7, 2012 or between May 22-24 2012

1b) Retell the team’s background research.

The materials that the team used was sodium borate solution, which is borax mixed with tap water, and Elmer’s glue. They used type 2 FME with glue in the main FME volume and sodium borate solution in the long ampoule. After it was mixed around it became homemade silly putty. When the FME got back to earth they will test the differences and of the silly putty made in micro-gravity and the silly putty on Earth. The traits that they were testing for is molecular structure, viscosity, color, adhesiveness, dissolvability in alcohol, bounce height, and flammability. They predict that the silly putty will be made in the ISS although the viscosity and bounce height will be different. The team hopes the silly putty in micro-gravity will be useful in the knowledge of non-Newtonian fluid.

1.c) The difference between a control group and an experimental group is, one group is exposed to the conditions of the experiment and the others not.

Experimental: Where the experimental procedure is performed

Control: Where the independent variable being tested cannot influence the results.

2) Why this team won the opportunity to get their experiment in space.

I think the reason they won because they had a creative idea, they made silly putty on earth then made it up in space. It is also a different idea than others. I think mainly can this organism live in this habitat but can we make this. That is why I think this team won.