The City from the Ooze: Experiment!

You may have noticed that some of the steps in creating Ooze City were a little vague. How much newspaper and chalk should be added? How close to the light should the bottle be? Why not use fluorescent lights? What temperature is best?

If you are building several Ooze Cities with classmates or for a science project, try experimenting with the conditions to see what works and what doesn't. You may find that some of your Ooze City residents like one set of conditions, while other Ooze City microbes prefer another set.

Other things you can try:

• Build Ooze Cities with mud from various sources: a lake, a river, a forest, or your back yard. Compare the results when the cities are kept in the same environment (light, temperature, moisture).
• Take samples of the different neighborhoods in Ooze City and examine them with a microscope. Can you identify different residents?
• Try building an Ooze City in a tall glass jar. Plastic soda bottles may let more oxygen and heat seep in, while glass filters out ultraviolet light.
• Try building cities wrapped with several colors of cellophane to filter the light. Unwrap the cities after several days to see if the color of the light has affected how the neighborhoods have developed.

Can you think of other experiments you can do with Ooze City?