Little Scientists Make Neon Slime

Three boys watched a beaker’s contents intently, giggling as the swirling liquid turned into neon pink slime.

The boys and roughly 25 other 9- and 10-year-olds from a summer program run by the youth agency LEAP got a glimpse into the lives of scientists when they donned lab coats, safety goggles, and purple gloves to take part in a slime-making experiment at Kolltan Pharmaceuticals.

The experiment Thursday marked the first visit by kids to the cancer research and development company, but just one of many academic and social experiences provided by the not-for-profit LEAP’s six-week summer program. LEAP exposes children from high-poverty urban areas to a variety of enrichment activities, from African dance to rock climbing to robotics to reading. This summer, 400 children aged 6 to 21 have taken part in the program, said Executive Director Esther Massie. The program also runs during the school year.

The real estate developer Winstanley Enterprises – from which Kolltan leases its space at 300 George St. – helped arrange the field trip. Carter Winstanley, a principal of Winstanley Enterprises, took part in the slime-making with the kids.

The young New Haveners worked alongside Kolltan’s research scientists from start to finish. After getting a tour of the lab’s facilities and equipment – a machine to purify medicines that costs as much as a car, a freezer with cells collected more than 50 years ago – kids began making slime in a new section of the lab opened in May to prepare for clinical trials.

Working in small groups led by the scientists, kids carried out six different reactions before comparing their results. Each reaction involved a different combination of a polymer – a large molecule made up of repeating subunits – and a linker to bind these molecules together. Polymers include well-known materials like nylon, teflon, and plastics and make up a whole host of products.

After adding a polymer to their beakers, students added magnets to stir the liquid and then the linker drop by drop. ​“Oh cool!” a boy exclaimed as the liquid suddenly formed a gel that wiggled in the beaker. Adding food coloring led to slimes that spanned the color spectrum: red, blue, yellow, green. One girl held her slime over the edge of the lab’s countertop – with a scientist holding his hand beneath in case the gel dropped — and used gravity to stretch the bright blue substance as far as it would go.

After one group had made a few slimes, another girl started to lead the experiment herself, adding the components without the need for instruction. ​“Do we have time to make another one?” she asked, six petri dishes filled with slime already stacked up next to her.

The scientist laughed, then helped the group start the next combination. ​“She is going to be running experiments” someday, a summer counselor said.

Throughout the process, Kolltan’s researchers tried to give students a sense of what it means to be a scientist. The wife of researcher Ed Natoli teaches chemistry at a school in New London and designed the experiment to give LEAP’s students a lab experience. While one of the polymers was just Elmer’s glue, Natoli explained, the lab’s scientists use linkers and polymers in their own research.

When one group pointed out that its slime had started spinning more slowly, a researcher didn’t just offer up an answer. Instead, he helped the kids think through the question.

Once students had made all their slime, they gathered in a conference room to discuss their findings. Was each slime sticky? Or stretchy? Did it change shape? Students simulated a polymer by standing at the front of the room and linking arms. Holding their arms extended as far as they could simulated long linkers, like those in the slimes that stretched. Arms held tightly by their sides mimicked the short linkers in rigid slimes.

With brightly colored slime that formed every time, the morning’s experiment had given the kids experience with research-lite – fast and consistent results, easy analysis. Vice President of Research Yaron Hadari shared with students the commitment and hard work needed for actual scientific research. ​“Science is a very long process,” he said, describing the journey from asking questions to experimenting to measuring and analyzing results. ​“To get the answer,” he said, ​“it requires many years of dedicated work.”

For 9‑year-old Onjya Fortt, playing with the slime proved a highlight of the experience. Added research scientist Ada Vaill, mixing the polymers and linkers in the lab allowed students to see a chemical change, but playing with the slime allowed them to physically feel the transformation. ​“It was cold!” Fortt noted.

At the end of the visit, students left the lab in a line, toting their new lab coats and bunches of brightly colored slime. Researcher Sandy Rocks said she hoped the kids would bring the slime home and show it off to their siblings. Rocks realized she wanted to become a scientist in sixth grade, she said. Maybe, some of LEAP’s kids will do the same.