In addition to the scientific symposium, the Dedication Celebrations include many other activities, including open house at various chemistry department facilities, entertaining and informative demonstrations, and engaging hands-on sessions. These activities are described below. All of these activities are on Saturday, May 6.
| Open-House Sessions Visit the facilities that make the chemistry department a world-class center for research and learning. |
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| Mass Spectrometry Facility 9:00 - 10:45 AM | ||
| Magnetic Resonance Facility 9:30-11:30 AM and 1:30 - 3:30 PM | ||
| Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy This progenitor of medicine's magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique is the most common tool used by chemists to verify the atomic structure of molecules. NMR provides a tool for investigating chemical structure, molecular motion, and reaction paths for a broad range of compounds. (15-minute sessions for high-school students and adults) |
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| Computer Center 1:00 - 2:00 PM | ||
| Many research groups employ computation techniques to analyze and interpret data, and a variety of their projects are on display. | ||
| Crystallography Laboratory 1:30 - 3:30 PM | ||
| X-ray vision of molecules Crystallography allows us to see how individual atoms are connected to form molecules. You will view individual molecules, see how molecules form lattices and will have a chance to build ball-n-stick models of molecules. You will examine and photograph crystals and see live chemical reactions magnified by a powerful microscope. (15-minute sessions for high-school students and adults) |
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| Scanning Electron Microscope Laboratory 9:30-11:30 AM and 1:30-3:30 PM | ||
| A Window on the Nanoscopic World The scanning electron microscope allows us to examine objects that are far too tiny to see with unaided eyes. With it, you will look very closely at everyday objects in a new way. You will see the structure of human hair and look at the bacteria that probably lives on your shoes. (15-minutes sessions in which visitors may have the opportunity to operate the microscope) |
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| Chemistry Library 2:30 - 3:30 PM | ||
| Demonstration Sessions | ||
| Glassblowing Shop 1:30 - 3:30 PM | ||
| In this session, you can see glass transformed from hard and brittle to soft and pliable and back again. | ||
| Explosive Chemistry 1:30 PM | ||
| In this session, you will learn about the different types of explosions and how and why they occur. Demonstrations of each type of explosion will be carried out, starting with flammable liquids and progressing up through modern high explosives. | ||
| Science and Art 1:30 PM | ||
| Sculptor Beverly Stucker Precious will give an informal talk on the convergence of science and art with her "Light Spectra" sculpture as the backdrop. Bev created the suspended sculpture for the interior lobby space of the Daniels wing just outside the Chemistry Library's window. | ||
| Hands-On Sessions | ||
| Because space is limited in these
sessions, registration is required. A REGISTRATION FORM FOR THE HANDS-ON SESSIONS IS AVAILABLE HERE. |
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| Exploring Polymers (for
5-8th grade, but fun for parents, too!) 9:30 - 11:30 AM or 1:30 - 3:30 PM |
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| The world is full of polymers, both natural and artificial. Wood, muscle, and fur are all polymers, and so are the plastics we use every day. You'll make some polymers for yourself and see how very different they can be. | ||
| Chemistry around the House
(for 5-8th grade, but fun for parents, too!) 9:30 - 11:30 AM or 1:30 - 3:30 PM |
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| Everything around us is made of chemicals, so our homes are filled with a great variety of chemicals. We use many of these chemicals every day, but we don't often see some of their more unusual properties. Here, you'll investigate some of the colorful properties of common household chemicals. | ||
| Energy Makes It All Happen
(for 5-8th grade, but fun for parents, too!) 9:30 - 11:30 AM or 1:30 - 3:30 PM |
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| Electrical energy is a very useful form of energy, because it easily converts to other forms, like heat, light, and motion. In this session, you'll build your own battery and use it to make light. You'll also build a motor to convert electrical energy into motion. | ||
| The Amazing Right and Left Handed Worlds of Chemistry (for 6-12th grade)9:30 - 11:30 AM | ||
| Molecules can be right-handed or left-handed. Like your hands (and feet) right-handed and left-handed molecules are the same … but different. You will investigate your body’s amazing ability to detect the differences between right handed and left-handed molecules. | ||
| Making a Visible-Light
Spectrometer (for 7-12th grade) 9:30 - 11:30 AM |
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| Participants will work in our instrumental laboratory with electronic and spectrometer components to make a visible spectrometer instrument. This hands-on activity will help to "pop the lid" on these popular and versatile analytical instruments. | ||
| Amaze Your Friends: Cool
Chemistry Demonstrations (all ages) 9:30 - 11:30 AM |
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| The chemistry department's own lecture demonstrator will teach participants how to demonstrate a variety of chemical principles using products easily available at home. Participants will put on a chemistry show for parents at the end of the period. | ||
| Jellybean Chemistry
(4-8th grade & younger with adult supervision) 10:00 - 10:30 AM |
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| Use jellybeans to "draw" simple molecules. Then see how your molecule displays on the web. Do they look the same? Use a chemistry database to draw and search for your molecule just like a researcher would do. | ||
| I am an Element
(K-3rd grade) 10:30 - 11:00 AM |
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| Dress up as an element. The chemistry department librarian shows you how to use online periodic tables to learn more about your element. | ||
| Visualizing the Invisible
(9-12th grade & adults) 2:00 - 3:30 PM |
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| Chemistry deals with the properties of molecules, particles much too small to be seen. To see the structures of molecules, chemists can use computer programs that generate images of molecules. In this workshop, you will use some of these programs to build, visualize, and study your own three-dimensional molecules like a computational chemist! | ||
| Because space is limited in the
hands-on sessions, registration is required. A REGISTRATION FORM FOR THE HANDS-ON SESSIONS IS AVAILABLE HERE. |
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