Organizing a High School Chemistry Outreach Event: Celebrating

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Organizing a High School Chemistry Outreach Event: Celebrating National Chemistry Week and the International Year of Chemistry Brett R. Bodsgard,*,† Trisha A. Johnson,† Roger W. Kugel,† Nathan R. Lien,† Jaime A. Mueller,† and Debra J. Martin‡ Departments of †Chemistry and ‡Biology, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, Minnesota 55987, United States

bS Supporting Information ABSTRACT: This article describes how a small liberal arts college organizes a yearly outreach event for regional high school students to celebrate National Chemistry Week. The event can also serve as a model for outreach during the International Year of Chemistry. KEYWORDS: General Public, High School/Introductory Chemistry, Public Understanding/ Outreach, Hands-On Learning/Manipulatives

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very autumn, the Chemistry Department at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota celebrates National Chemistry Week (NCW) by hosting two Chemistry Night events in which high school students from regional schools spend an evening on campus performing experiments that pertain to the current NCW theme. These celebrations began approximately 10 years ago as an effort to bring chemistry to the community and to recruit students to the school and the department.1 What was surprising, but really should not have been, was how energized the Chemistry Department, faculty members, chemistry majors, and American Chemical Society (ACS) Student Affiliate club members (who assume the role of mentors during the event) became during the planning and hosting of the events. Even though the task of organizing these events can be daunting, the visiting students’ excitement as well as the mentors’ enthusiasm is well worth the effort. What follows is our department’s experience planning and hosting our recent Chemistry Night events. While we are always learning and making modifications each year, we hope that these ideas may be helpful to organize similar events at other institutions, particularly during this International Year of Chemistry (IYC).

some previous NCW themes were difficult to plan around, this theme proved to be quite easy in terms of generating ideas about what might be done at the Chemistry Night events. Approximately 20 25 min per experiment in a 2-h time period are allotted, so the experiments that the students (in groups of no more than three) do must be compact yet meaningful. With this theme in mind, ideas for experiments consisted of: fake blood, slime, ferrofluids, invisible ink, fire/explosions, lasers, shape memory alloy, and others. What allows us to whittle down the list is our treatment of the experiments not just as idly watching chemistry happen but actively participating and thinking about the chemistry at hand. The students are expected to process the chemistry at the end of the experiment, submitting a brief report consisting of several questions that are graded and tabulated over the course of the evening. What the students do not know is that the groups with the top three scores receive prizes at the end of the evening. So, more in-depth experiments are chosen to emphasize the thoughtful nature of the chemistry while at the same time being engaging and fun. One example from the recent Chemistry Night was the study and preparation of slime, which is often used in movies (such as Ghostbusters or Alien). Instead of just making slime though, the experiment consisted of varying the amounts of the reactants to identify how the consistency of the slime can be altered and explained by the degree of crosslinking. (See the Supporting Information for details of this experiment and others.) Another example was an experiment that used lasers to study diffraction patterns and to ultimately predict the shape of the X-ray diffraction pattern of DNA.2,3

’ PLANNING FOR THE EVENT Winnowing Ideas and Selecting Experiments

To plan the Chemistry Night events for National Chemistry Week at the end of October, discussions within the department begin roughly two months prior at the start of the school year. The initial planning is focused on brainstorming chemistry experiments related to the current NCW theme. The 2010 NCW theme Behind the Scenes with Chemistry! centered on the special effects chemistry in the movies and television. While Copyright r 2011 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

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Soliciting Participation from Local High Schools

To announce the event and solicit participation, we rely on a database of regional high schools (within an approximately 50-mi radius) and their chemistry teachers that has been built up over the years. School Web sites are periodically checked to update contact information in the database. At the beginning of October, a letter is sent to the teachers informing them of the Chemistry Night events, detailing what their students can expect and asking the teachers for a response indicating their interest. That response would include their preference of the two Chemistry Night events they would like to attend, the number of students they would bring (usually capped at five or six per school), and a $50 deposit check that is returned to them when they arrive on campus. The announcement also includes several posters that the teacher may post to generate interest among his or her students. It is also made clear in the announcement that the event is completely free to the visiting students and their teachers (less the travel expenses to and from campus). Offering an event free of charge is not an insignificant feat considering what the visitors receive. The expenses incurred for the evening include: dinner and dessert at the university cafeteria for the students and teachers, chemicals and equipment, a Chemistry Night t-shirt for each student, “goodie bags” for each student (containing various items such as ACS-branded moles, pencils, periodic tables, etc.), and prizes for the top three scoring groups (containing iTunes or Target gift cards of $10/15/25, and $1000 or $2000 renewable scholarships should the student enroll at Saint Mary’s). For the two nights (with a total of approximately 45 students, their eight teachers, a dozen mentors, and six faculty and staff), a rough estimate of the total expenses for both nights is $3000. Funding is generously supplied by the Saint Mary’s Office of Admissions, Dean of Humanities and Sciences, ACS Student Affiliate Chemistry Club, and the La Crosse Winona section of the American Chemical Society. The remaining balance is covered by the Chemistry Department.

Figure 1. Example schedule of activities for a recent Chemistry Night at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.

Finalizing Preparations on Campus

The month prior to the events is occupied with arrangements of the fine details: Ordering the supplies (chemicals, t-shirts, goodie bag items), planning the dinner and dessert (consulting with the university food service, cafeteria room reservations), writing and testing the experiments, training the mentors (they are the primary contacts with the visiting students), preparing the facilities for the experiments (all of the chemistry labs are used, including research and instrumentation rooms, depending on the experiment), and delineating the agenda of the evening.

’ PRESENTING THE EVENT A typical schedule for the evening is shown in Figure 1. The students and their teachers register at a check-in table located in the university student center where they each receive a folder containing the schedule of the evening, hand-outs for each of the experiments they will be performing, and a one page storyline detailing how the experiments relate to the overall theme in an attempt to make a more cohesive event. After eating dinner with the mentors and staff, everyone walks to the science building and convenes briefly in a lecture room where it is explained how the experiment stations will operate. Safety is emphasized and each student is given a pair of goggles that they are expected to wear when in the labs. To allow for completion of all of the experiments, fewer experiments are offered (this year, five were offered,

Figure 2. Three high school students engaged in preparing ferrofluid during a Chemistry Night activity.

whereas in the past, eight had been). Generally, each experiment has two stations that can be occupied simultaneously by two groups, so that 10 groups of three students can be working at all times (Figure 2). When a group finishes an experiment, they are given a question sheet to complete and submit before moving on to another experiment. After the experiments end, the students reconvene in the lecture room (or on the lawn of the science building) for viewing of several chemistry demonstrations presented by the junior and senior chemistry majors, which always proves to be immensely entertaining. While the demonstrations are happening, in another room the scores for the groups are tabulated and the top three groups are identified. Scoring is kept relatively simple because of the limited time. The mentors or the supervising staff members grade the worksheets completed at their stations, typically on a 0 5 scale. Those scores are transferred to a master grading sheet containing scores for each of the groups at all of the stations. When the demonstrations conclude, everyone walks back to the cafeteria for dessert (punch and cake or pie) and awards. 1348

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The students each receive a goodie-bag with a t-shirt and enjoy their food and conversation before the winning groups are announced and presented with their awards. Additionally, the teachers each receive a one-year gift subscription to the Journal of Chemical Education. Before departing, the students are asked to fill out a brief evaluation form regarding various aspects of the evening so that we may assess if any changes need to be made the following year. If everything has run smoothly, the event ends at 9 p.m. so that the students can arrive home at a reasonable hour, as it is a school night.

’ BENEFITS FOR PARTICIPANTS High School Students and Teachers

The motivations for hosting events such as Chemistry Night are many. The opportunity to share and enjoy chemistry with the community, particularly during the International Year of Chemistry, is a privilege that is not taken lightly. Too often, chemistry is portrayed in a negative light—with Chemistry Night, we can energize ourselves and our visitors by performing and enjoying the many positive and fun aspects of chemistry for which we are so passionate. The visiting students and teachers are able to experience chemistry that might not necessarily be viable at their schools (owing to chemical expenses, instrumentation, or time) and it is hoped that such experiments complement the chemistry they are currently learning. On the basis of the brief surveys the students and teachers complete at the end of the evening, it appears that we have been consistently very successful creating a fun yet challenging set of experiments that invigorates their desire to both learn and teach chemistry. Chemistry Night Event Mentors

Figure 3. A college student performs the “barking dog” chemical demonstration for Chemistry Night participants.

The resulting articles are excellent press for both the department and the chemistry we are trying to promote.4,5

’ CONCLUSIONS

The majors and ACS Student Affiliate members who serve as mentors for the evening are able to use their chemistry training to help visiting students work through the experiments. Chemistry Night, even though it is primarily planned by the department staff, really belongs to the mentors because it is they who are directly working with and guiding the students. Additionally, it has become tradition for the students enrolled in Physical Chemistry to prepare and present the demonstrations toward the end of the event. They are responsible for finding a suitable demonstration, ordering necessary supplies with the assistance of our stockroom supervisor, testing the demonstration until it is ready, and preparing a very short presentation about the chemistry behind it (Figure 3). These responsibilities build confidence in their knowledge of chemistry, exercise their communication skills, and allow them to showcase pride in their department and university.

Adapting This Model

The Saint Mary’s University Chemistry Department and the Discipline

Resources To Help Plan a Similar Event

It was mentioned earlier that these events began partially as a tool to recruit students to the school and the major, and that goal still holds true. Several Chemistry Night participants have subsequently enrolled at Saint Mary’s and more importantly, these Chemistry Night events, along with other departmental and curricular efforts, have contributed to a tripling of the majors in chemistry and biochemistry over the past 10 years. In the time leading up to Chemistry Night and during the events themselves, our department and the entire science building is filled with a lively and contagious energy about chemistry. The university’s office of communications sends out a press release to local media and often our efforts are reported in our local newspaper.

The outreach program described here can be adapted for many different types of events, but a hallmark of this event is the challenging nature of the experiments; at each of the stations, the students are actively engaged in trying to solve the problems and answer the questions. The emphasis then is on the preparation of a set of well-balanced experiments (not too simple where the students are disinterested, and not too difficult where the fun is taken out) to meet the students at their level of chemistry. We have found great success in using laboratories currently in place for our general and organic chemistry labs by making modifications to meet our timing needs, the audience’s experience level, and the current NCW theme. Our belief is that a successful event can be held for any type of audience, for any age bracket, and for any level of scientific background so long as the chemistry pushes students to become excited and invested in pursuing it further. With the International Year of Chemistry at hand, events such as our Chemistry Night should easily translate for celebrations of the quarterly ACS IYC themes of environment, energy, materials, and health (this last theme coincides with 2011 National Chemistry Week). Hosting such an event for high school students, elementary school students, or the broader community with activities that demonstrate these themes is an excellent way to bring an awareness of the positive aspects and the fun of chemistry. For planning our Chemistry Nights each year, there are several important resources we use, especially materials published in the October issue of the Journal of Chemical Education celebrating National Chemistry Week, as well as lab manuals we use for General and Organic Chemistry 1349

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courses. Both of these sources contain ideas that often provide ready and usable content for our event. Notably, the quarterly IYC theme of health that coincides with this year’s National Chemistry Week was covered in the October 2004 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education, containing relevant and specific ideas and activities.6 ACS also organizes webinars with content related to National Chemistry Week, and publishes the meetings and information for those who cannot attend the live feed.7 There are many other resources available for organizing similar IYC-themed events, namely, the official IYC main Web site,8 the ACS IYC Web site,9 and the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Chemical Education.10

’ ASSOCIATED CONTENT

bS

Supporting Information The entire program for our 2010 Chemistry Night event: high school invitation letter, poster advertisement, event schedule, experiments and report forms; press release to local media; photograph of t-shirt and award items. This material is available via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

’ AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author

*E-mail: [email protected].

’ ACKNOWLEDGMENT We are grateful for partial financial support from the Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota’s Office of Admissions, Dean of Humanities and Sciences, and ACS Student Affiliate Chemistry Club, and the La Crosse Winona section of the American Chemical Society. ’ REFERENCES (1) Mueller, J.; Kugel, R. W.; Bodsgard, B.; Vogel, J. G. Chemistry Night: Formula for a Successful Program of Outreach and Recruitment. 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 22 26, 2009; American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 2009; CHED 66. (2) Lucas, A. A.; Lambin, Ph.; Mairesse, R.; Mathot, M. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 378–383. (3) Institute for Chemical Education. http://ice.chem.wisc.edu/ Catalog/SciKits.html#Anchor-DNA-40205 (accessed Jul 2011). (4) Klapperich, B. Winona 360. http://www.winona360.org/ winona360/article/chemistry-easy-1-2-3 (accessed Jul 2011). (5) Minor, A. Winona Daily News. http://www.winonadailynews. com/news/local/article_8ba05d72-bf87-11de-8f4e-001cc4c002e0.html (accessed Jul 2011). (6) Jacobsen, E. K. J. Chem. Educ. 2004, 81, 1390–1396. (7) ACS Webinars Home Page. http://www.acswebinars.org/ (accessed Jul 2011). (8) IYC Home Page. http://www.chemistry2011.org/ (accessed Jul 2011). (9) ACS IYC Web Site. http://iyc2011.acs.org/ (accessed Jul 2011). (10) Taylor, T. M. J. Chem. Educ. 2011, 88, 6–7.

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