Too Much Glue or Not Enough?! Glue Adhesive Investigation & Elmer's Giveaway

So here's the question...what do you get when you mix 7 tablespoons of non-fat milk and 1 tablespoon of vineager?  Why... GLUE of course! And we made some!!

It all started when this beautiful package from Elmer's arrived.

It was filled with all kinds of fun treats including three different samples of glue, a instructional guide to teaching adhesives, and a signed copy of the super fun book Too Much Glue by Jason Lefebvre! 

If you haven't seen the book Too Much Glue, go check it out immediately! The story follows Matty, a glue enthusiast, who gets a wee bit carried away with his glue in class even though his teacher always reminds him "rain drops, not puddles."

Although written for younger children, my 4th graders enjoyed every minute of the story. It was the perfect introduction to our discussion about glue and the new glue science word....dun dun dun...adhesives. 

The lesson plan provided from Elmer's was very teacher friendly and easy to adapt to my classroom. First, we read the book and brainstormed ALL the glues we could think of from Superglue to  Gorilla Glue. Then, we talked about what we noticed. Are all glues created equal?  They were emphatic... NO! So, that lead us to discuss - why not? We looked for different adhesives around the room and talked about what made they different. The idea that post-its and tape had glue blew their minds.  They were so into this lesson!

Elmer's even provided a PowerPoint to use to discuss the properties of adhesives including monomers and polymers to help explain what happens when you glue something. You can download this PowerPoint and whole lesson here. Go check it out!

Once we had enough background information, we got to the glue making part.  Excuse the mess in the pictures... we were creating. :)

After mixing the vinegar and milk, we tested our glue.  Now, the directions say to let the mixture settle so the solids go to the bottom and then carefully use papertowels to absorb the extra liquid, but we just fished out the polymers and started gluing.  :)

 

We tried a variety of materials including construction paper, cardstock, tissue, sequins, and string.  The glue polymers held everything. Well, everything except the sequins.

I promise you, they would have kept gluing anything and everything they could find if I let them. However, I had to stop them, so we could do the very last part. 

We made glue puddles.

The moment I told my kids to take off the lid of the Elmer's glue and DUMP a big puddle on their wax paper may have been the greatest school moment of their lives.  Their eyes lit up and they squealed with excitement. Then, I just passed out anything and everything I could find in my art cabinet and let them start putting it in the glue.  One little girls screamed, "This is so fun!!" Haha! They had an absolute blast!

Overall, the whole investigation was a success. My kiddos enjoyed every minute of it and went to specials telling anyone and everyone they could find, "Hey guess what?!!?  We just made glue!" It was learning for the pure love and enjoyment of learning. It was the perfect way to end a Friday.

I have to thank the wonderful people at Elmer's for inviting me to try out their World of Glue investigation. It was a huge success in my class and I know it will be in yours! 

Now, here is the really cool part.  They sent me one box of goodies and then promised another box of goodies to one of my lucky followers.  How fantastic is that?! So, sign up now for a chance to win your own World of Glue Investigation box that includes a signed copy of the fabulous book Too Much Glue. Your class will thank you! Giveaway ends Friday, March 21st.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Good luck and remember... rain drops not puddles!

 

P.S. This is my first giveaway with Rafflecopter, so if you encounter any issues, please let me know. I'm learning.  Thanks!