A Bloody Mess
You know the scene: Our hero is rushed to the hospital. The cut looks bad and there is blood everywhere. "Doctor, is he going to be all right?" Of course he is! It's only a special effect. Can you make fake blood tht looks real?
- You will need: ketchup, corn syrup, cooking oil, honey, clear shampoo, food coloring, red paint (that you can wash off with soap), water, scraps of cloth, plastic cups, labels, a pen, and measuring spoons. Cover the space where you'll be working with some newspaper.
- Get ready, get set, make a mess! That's right, you understood correctly. Make as big a mess as you'd like, combining different combinations of the various liquids in the cups. Just remember, you're the one who has to clean it up. Do not taste any of the mixtures. Do not feed them to your little brother or sister, either.
- As you're messing around, put a label on each cup saying which liquids you've put in it and about how much of each one you've used. (Use the measuring spoons for this.)
- Write down the properties of each mixture. Describe how it looks. Compare its viscosity-that's how fast or slow it pours-to the other liquids.
- Choose the blood mixture you think is the best. Why do some of the mixtures not seem quite right? Why did you choose the one you did?
- How do the properties of real blood change as it is exposed to the air longer? (Think about what happens when you skin your knee.) Do any of your mixtures do this, too?
- Now it's time to test out your fake blood on your friends. Create a convincing wound using the scraps of cloth as bandages. If your friends look at it and say "Yikes!" and run to get their parents to take you to the doctor, you know you've done a good job.
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