KIDS and CHEMISTRY

PROGRAM EARLY HISTORY

The Kids & Chemistry program was developed in 1997 by the ACS as an attempt to give members the resources and training necessary to share science with children. In this program, they use their experience and training in science to bring hands-on activities to children ages 9-12.

The initial training should allow the participants be more at ease when working directly with elementary school age students. Sstudents participate in a positive learning experience and hopefully students will become aware that:

Science and chemistry are a part of everyday living.
Science and scientists make positive contributions to everyday life
Chemists and other scientists are people like them

The Section became involved in the program under the aegis of Walter Siegl in September of 1997. Announcements for a training session for the program appeared in the Detroit Chemist in September and November of 1988 and again in January 1998. Twenty Section volunteered participate in the program. From this group, six persons were chosen as a "Leadership group". In late February and again in March, the six met with Jodi Greenblatt from the National ACS for day-long orientation and planning sessions.

In early May all 20 volunteers attended a training workshop to get ready for the first major trial of the program.That trial was an appearance at the Michigan Taste Fest held in Detroit's New Center Area near the Fisher and GM Buildings during the Fourth of July festivities. The group had a tent for their "first big" activity. More than 300 kids learned about pH, acidity and acid/base indicators . The activity was received enthusiastically by the participants as well as from parents and teachers who happened to be present at the festival. KnC volunteers included Jennifer Stelman (event leader), Lisette Maloney, Ron Schroeder, Felix Schneider, Charlene Hayden, Mary Kay Heidtke, Jennifer Hicks, Scott Harrison and Rebecca Ihrie.

2005  REVIEW

2005 was another great year for the Detroit outstanding Kids & Chemistry program. We recruited a number of new volunteers, engaged the participation of student-affiliate groups from four different universities, and continued to experiment with new event venues/formats. Our highlights included:

In March we participated in the Career Choices program at Kimball High School in Royal Oak,MI. More than 300 middle school and high school students picked up material from our booth and our  volunteers gave approximately 50 one-on-one interviews with interested high school students. This was our second appearance at the event and we were extremely pleased with the results.

In April and May, some of our volunteers put on programs on acid rain at Northwood Elementary School in Royal Oak (27 fourth grade students participated) and on chemical change at Almont Elementary School (30 students participated).

In May we made also our 7th annual appearance at the Rouge Water Festival on the U. of Michigan- Dearborn campus. Eighteen volunteers participated in a very successful program; we did a hands-on acid-rain experiment followed by a lively discussion on what students can do to help reduce acid rain. Six classes of 5th-graders with approximately 180 kids participated.

On July 2nd we made our 7th annual appearance in downtown Detroit at the Comerica TasteFest. We had great weather and one of the best turn outs of kids that weve ever had. Except for one brief span, we had a steady stream of kids engaged in our hands- on experiments for the entire six hours. A rough estimate puts the number of kids at 300 for each of the three experiments that we ran, for a total of about 900 experiments! As always, we get a great deal of enthusiasm from the kids, as well as their parents and grandparents.

In September, we had another successful water festival! This one was at Cranbrook Institute for Science; it was our second participation in this program. We carried out our hands-on experiment on pH measurement of water and household liquids with six 5th grade classes; approximately 140 kids participated. * On Saturday, October 15th, Kids & Chemistry participated in the Detroit Section's Chemistry Day at Belle Isle program for the Girl Scouts of Metro Detroit. This new and innovative program was directed at delivering the message that chemistry can offer interesting and viable career options for women and minorities. As one part of this program, Kids & Chemistry volunteers carried out hands-on chemical experiments with more than 250 Girl Scouts (and their chaperones). This was a terrific program and certainly should be repeated.

In October our volunteers made a large  contribution to a great hands-on National Chemistry Week program at Cranbrook Science Institute; 12 different hands-on experiments were provided for 200+ kids; we estimate that more than 1500 experiments were carried out! Student-affiliates from 3 areacolleges joined us.

As we review our accomplishments for 2005, we are pleased with our success. More than 50 different chemists, chemical engineers and student affiliates contribute to our programs. For their participation we are very grateful. We look forward to another great year in 2006.