Learning About Non-Newtonian Fluids in a Student-Driven Classroom

We describe a simple, low-cost experiment and corresponding pedagogical strategies for studying fluids whose viscosities depend on shear rate, referred to as “non-Newtonian fluids.” We developed these materials teaching for the Compass Project,1 an organization that fosters a creative, diverse, and collaborative community of science students at UC Berkeley. Incoming freshmen worked together in a week-long residential program to explore physical phenomena through a combination of conceptual model-building and hands-on experimentation. During the program, students were exposed to three major aspects of scientific discovery: developing a model, testing the model, and investigating deviations from the model.