National Chemistry Week in the Northeastern Section: preparing to be #Spellbound #IYC2011

How kids become scientists: Produced for the 2011 International Year of Chemistry, the video series Spellbound, tells the story of scientists whose childhood curiosity about everyday things helped them launch careers in the lab, win Nobel Prizes and make other achievements. Their early childhood experiences may encourage young people into careers in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This episode features Bassam Shakhashiri, Ph.D, Professor of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison 2011 President-Elect, American Chemical Society  

Photo courtesy of George Ruger. Bassam at the Connecticut Valley Section event.

 #NCW Kick-Off Event at Museum of Science Boston

We are really looking forward to Bassam kicking off the Northeastern Section of the American Chemical Society National Chemistry Week event at the Museum of Science on Sunday October 23, 2011. Lectures and demonstrations at 1pm and 4pm.This is the 11th year that this program has run.

 L to R: Hillary Butts, Allison Harbottle, Mike Lynch, Lauren Gagnon

Local area chemistry college student volunteers will be located throughout the museum performing hands-on-science activities for museum attendees in accordance with this year's National Chemistry Week theme: Chemistry, Our Life, Our Health. Activities include: making hand-sanitizer, making UV-ray bead bracelets and testing foods for iron, Vitamin C and starch.

 

Preparations have begun:

Hand-sanitizer from scratch

The bead indicates it's time for sunscreen...

Mike and Lauren were having fun with goldenrod paper: writing disappearing messages (of love)

The NCW volunteers practiced the

experiments last weekend in the comfort of the laboratory in the basement of the Museum of Science (see photos above). The tests were timed at each bench and modifications were made to make them field-friendly ie) preparing for being stationed at a table in the museum and engaging passer-bys with their chemistry experiment on Sunday October 23. 

To reserve tickets for Bassam's lecture/chemistry demonstration, click here. Admission to the museum is required for the 1pm lecture.