Science Instructional Plans (SIPs) help teachers align instruction with the Science Standards of Learning (SOL) by providing examples of how the content and the scientific and engineering practices found in the SOL and curriculum framework can be presented to students in the classroom.

Students will investigate what constitutes a solid and a liquid state of matter. Using the probe, students' misconceptions on states of matter will be exposed. The lab, which uses a cornstarch, water and food coloring mixture, will be explored. The students will determine how that exploration will take place and devise a procedure to determine the state of matter. Students will then, as a group, present their findings to the class. Students can also write a Claim, Evidence, Reasoning (CER) paragraph to answer the question "What state of matter is Oobleck?" An engineering extension task is included that challenges students to devise a way to make a useful invention that would take advantage of a substance like oobleck.