Best Buy Experiment

"It's A Sticky Situation"
"A white glue and glue stick experiment."

Curriculum-Embedded Performance Task
Elementary School Science
Content Standard 3.1, 3.2 or 3.4

Components of Experiment
Purpose/Objective
Rationale
Variables
Hypothesis
Materials
Procedure
Data/Observations
Calculations/Results
Conclusions

Purpose/Objective

Purpose 1: To determine which brand of white school glue and which brand of glue stick was the best buy.
Purpose 2: To determine which type of glue (white glue vs. glue stick) is the overall best buy.

Brands of Glue Used:
Elmer's Glue
Rose Art
Crazy Art

Rationale

White (School) Glue and Glue Sticks were items listed in different Elementary School Supply Lists compared. As a popular and required item for most kids in grade schools I wanted to determine the overall best buy for both White Glue and Glue Sticks.

school_list_1.pdf
File Size:	25 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

school_list_2.pdf
File Size:	548 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

school_list_3.pdf
File Size:	10 kb
File Type:	pdf

Download File

Variables Tested For Experiment

1. Application (Ease of Application)
2. Adhesion/Cohesion (Strength)
3. Drying Time
4. Preference

Hypothesis (White Glue Containers)

Elmer's Brand will be the strongest in adhesion/cohesion. (Prediction based on price - Elmer's was the most expensive brand).
Rose Art will be the easiest to apply. (Prediction based on the "toughness" of the container.
Rose Art will be the best and fastest in drying time. (Prediction based upon the same elements referenced above).

Hypothesis (Glue Sticks)

Elmer's Brand will be the strongest in adhesion/cohesion. (Prediction based on price - Elmer's glue sticks were the most expensive brand).
Crazy Art will be the easiest to apply. (Prediction based upon Crazy Art's glue stick cap being the longest out of the three).
Crazy Art will be the fastest in drying time. (Students based this prediction using the above variables).

Hypothesis (White Glue vs. Glue Stick)

White Glue is the strongest in adhesion/cohesion. (Prediction based upon the fact that more glue comes out of a white glue container rather than a glue stick).
Glue Stick is the easiest to apply. (Prediction based upon the fact that you don't have to squeeze a glue stick in order to apply glue).
Glue Stick will have the best drying time. (Prediction based upon the ease of application).

Materials

White (School) Glue (x3 different brands numbered 1 through 3).
Glue Sticks (x3 different brands numbered 1 through 3).
Magnifying Glasses
Aprons
Pencils
Paper (to record data)
Scissors
Construction Paper
Regular Colored Copy Paper
Cotton Balls
Ruler

Procedures

Procedure I - Observations
Students use magnifying glasses to observe properties of the glue containers and glue sticks. Students record their observation data.
Procedure II - Application
Students counted the amounts of strokes used to apply glue from glue sticks to pieces of paper. Students also count the number of times they squeeze the white glue container to apply glue to their pieces of paper. Students observed and recorded data based on application and mess of the glue.
Procedure III - Adhesion/Cohesion
Students observe and record data based on the strength and "stickiness" of the white glue and glue sticks.
Procedure IV - Drying Time
Students leave their product (work) to dry for 10-12 minutes. Students observe their product to determine if it "looks" dry or wet. Students then pull apart the shapes they have pasted onto paper and record which shape (corresponds with white glue and glue sticks) came apart easily or which were harder to tear apart in order to further determine which white glue and glue stick was stronger in adhesion/cohesion).