Slug Slime

"Is slug slime stronger than a glue stick?"

I'd just like to give a shout out to Asia Citro for her fabulous book of science experiments, The Curious Kid's Science Book.

I'm obsessed with this book because it's one of the ONLY books I've ever seen that has kids really doing science.

Most "science experiment" books for children explain all the materials needed, the step-by-step procedure of how to set up the "experiment," what data to collect and how to organize it... not to mention telling them exactly what will happen and why it happens.

But Asia gives children interesting questions to think about and encourages them to set up their own experiment. What variable will they change? What is the control? What data will they collect? How long will the experiment go?

What we do with kids in the name of "science" is usually a demonstration and not an experiment. That's why I love her book so much!

So... if you were going to find out if slug slime was stronger than a glue stick, what experiment protocol would you set up to find out?

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Asia's book popped into my mind when I read the recent New York Times article, How Glue Helps Frogs Out of Sticky Situations.

How did they measure the strength of tomato frog glue? By using it to stick two small bricks together (Teifoc?) and then measuring the force needed to pull them apart. Awesome! And that kind of thinking is real science at work.

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