Proving Science Can Be Fun: Bouncy Ball Recipe

The Society of Women Engineers

We are well over halfway through the Summer and if you are anything like me I swear I am going to go postal if I hear "I'm bored" one more time. The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas wants to see more women enter the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (otherwise known as STEM) so they hold an annual College Prep Camp for High School Girls where they teach activities aimed to encourage interest in STEM fields - like this bouncy ball recipe. I wanted to pass it along as it is an easy and fun activity that will entertain your kids and teach them a little something in the process.

Bouncy Ball recipe from Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas 


Materials:

• Warm water
• Borax (sold at most major grocery stores) 
• Cornstarch 
• Elmer’s Glue 
• Stick 
• 2 Beakers or glass cups 

Procedure:

1. Label one cup 'Borax Solution' and the other cup 'Ball Mixture'. 
2. Pour 2 tablespoons warm water and 1/2 teaspoon borax powder into the cup labeled 'Borax Solution'. Stir the mixture to dissolve the borax. Add food coloring, if desired. 
3. Pour 1 tablespoon of glue into the cup labeled 'Ball Mixture'. Add 1/2 teaspoon of the borax solution you just made and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Do not stir. Allow the ingredients to interact on their own for 10-15 seconds and then stir them together to fully mix. Once the mixture becomes impossible to stir, take it out of the cup and start molding the ball with your hands. 
4. The ball will start out sticky and messy, but will solidify as you knead it. 
5. Once the ball is less sticky, go ahead and bounce it! 
6. You can store your plastic ball in a sealed Ziploc bag when you are finished playing with it.

Click here to see a video if you want a visual to help walk you through the recipe.
The Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas, in partnership with Dallas-based Texas Instruments, introduces high school girls to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) career opportunities through hands-on experiences, like holding a human heart and making fireworks in a lab. Participants will prepare for college and see STEM in action during the High School College Journey program July 12 – July 17 at the University of Texas at Dallas. There are countless career opportunities in STEM-related fields, but few women take advantage of these options. Encouraging young women to join these traditionally male-dominated industries is the motivation behind this partnership and camp experience. Girls will learn how to be academically successful in college and see how a STEM education can lead to a variety of careers.
Throughout the week, girls will experience firsthand how it feels to be in college, network with professionals in different industries and spend time discovering STEM applications outside the classroom. Subjects available to explore include biomedicine, chemistry, food science, technology, engineering, land development and architecture. Through the activities at camp, the girls will also get down to the science and roots of complex and global food issues through the ‘Sow What Journey’, which is a pre-requisite for earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. To learn more visit www.gsnetx.org.