Community Activities Grant Recipients

2012-2013 ChemClub Grant Recipients

Bremond High School – “Science Night”
ChemClub students along with the Senior Science Fair students will coordinate together in an Evening of Science to be held in the two adjacent science labs of Bremond High School. Students throughout the district will be invited along with parents and the community to view the science fair projects, as well as watch numerous chemistry demonstrations performed by ChemClub members.
Buena High School – “The Future is Here”
A series of demonstrations at school assemblies, classroom presentations and Family Science Nights. Two new materials, silica aerogel film and neodymium magnets, will add a new aspect to our shows, that of material science. A Silica Aerogel film will be used to protect a crayon from the blister heat of a butane torch, and to support a heavy mass. Neodynium magnets will be used to extract iron from cereal and other demonstrations.
ConVal Regional High School – “Science Fair Presentations”
ChemClub students will carry out chemistry research projects of their choosing. The students will present their findings in two public settings. First, oral presentations and chemical demonstrations will be made to middle-school students and their teachers. This will show the younger students the connections of chemistry to the real world and inspire younger students to pursue science. Second, ChemClub students will conduct oral presentations and a poster session for family members and high school faculty in the evening, as well as performing chemistry demonstrations.
Eastlake High School – “Atmospheric Chemistry in the Classroom”
A series of laboratory experiments and demonstrations throughout the school year to help high school students understand atmospheric chemistry and how scientists today use chemistry and technology to investigate questions relevant to the environment. The project will include demonstrations relevant to atmospheric and chemistry principles at science events in San Diego, including the San Diego Science Festival, and will culminate in a final project where students create their own experiment using the tools they built and the concepts they learned during the school year.
Elkhart Memorial High School – “Funding for Scitacular Community Demo Day”
We will be having a demo day called Sci-tacular, which is held at our high school on a Saturday (in coordination with the City Science Fair). Students will be responsible for running the day, including tours of science labs, planning, developing, and executing science demos with explanations.
Gar-Field High School – “Chemistry Magic Show”
ChemClub members and their advisor will do demonstrations for elementary and middle school students. After each experiment the ChemClub members will explain the chemistry. The elementary and middle school students will then be able to ask questions about the experiments themselves or general chemistry topics.
George Washington Carver High School of Engineering and Science – “Making Our Learning Exciting (MOLE)”
ChemClub members will work closely with nearby middle schools providing engaging science experiences. Science should be learned hands on, and because most of the schools are underfunded, this program will enable high school students to design labs appropriate for middle school students. ChemClub members will be required to create bi-weekly inquiry based projects that not only challenges them to apply what they have learned in the classroom but to pass that knowledge on to the next generation of students. The program concludes with a show in which students demonstrate some chemistry "magic".
Hillsborough Senior High School – “Teaching Middle Schoolers About Chemistry”
Groups of ChemClub students will prepare demonstrations for middle school students. During the "show", ChemClub students will walk the younger students through the demonstrations step by step, and will explain, in basic physical science terms, what is occurring in each demonstration. This ensures that the younger students will understand the demonstrations as well as ensuring that the ChemClub students are fully aware of what is going on in each demo.
Hollis Brookline High School – “Chemistry for All and All for Chemistry”
Throughout the school year ChemClub members will bring chemistry to community members of all ages by means of three distinct avenues: hosting monthly chemistry demonstration sessions for all high school students, assisting local Boy Scouts and/or Girl Scouts to earn chemistry merit badges, and posting fliers in the community about chemistry topics.
Iowa City West High School – “ChemClub Field Trip to Fermilab in Chicago”
The Chemistry Club is hoping to host an all-day field trip to see a variety of facilities to learn more about chemistry and more about the jobs that are available to people who choose to study chemistry. The highlight of the trip would be a tour of Fermilab outside Chicago. Fermilab is a unique facility that has particle physics below ground and biology research in the bio-preserve above ground. After that we were hoping to take a tour of another nearby chemistry related company so that has some aspect of chemical engineering so the kids can be exposed to that occupation. Finally, we hope to stop at the wind mill factory in West Branch, Iowa on the way home, as a result the kids would learn more about alternative energy.
Jenkins Middle School – “Community Engagement”
Students will present a Chemistry Show at Jenkins Middle School which will open with a “Chemistry Magic Show” and follow up with the students guiding elementary students and parents through hands-on stations.
Lakeland High School – “Creating Chemistry Videos: Communicating Concepts to an Audience”
The five chemistry teachers at Lakeland High School (LHS) use video clips to show reactions that are not safe to do with our students or other concepts taught during first year chemistry. This year our ChemClub members will be creating video clips based on demonstrations they will perform and explain. These short (5 minutes max) videos will be used in the honors and first year chemistry classes to illustrate concepts not covered in our lab experiments. We have a district Moodle site where we can share items with other teachers so we will post these videos there.

Lakeville South High School – “Lakeville South Science Show”
Chemistry club students will perform a community science show on Friday, Nov 30 at Lakeville South High School.
Martinsville High School – “Chemistry of Food Night”
In an effort to "advertise" the event, a small group of Chemistry students will visit the elementary school and put on a skit about the chemistry of food and give them a "sample" of gummi bears to encourage them to attend the Lab Night. For the event, the Chemistry lab will be set up in stations and those attending can rotate around to the different experiments. Students will pass out food samples with during the night, as a way to stimulate interest in Chemistry!
Niles West High School – “Mystery Powders Tour”
The Niles West ChemClub will create a presentation on mystery powders to a local elementary school. ChemClub members will learn about the chemistry involved with the mystery powders and other relevant demonstrations. They will have chemical kits set up to use with fourth grade students. The high school students will explain the concepts of scientific method and experimentation. The fourth grade students will complete the lab with the high school students.
Pacifica High School – “Chemistry Outreaching the Community One Step at a Time”
The ChemClub will work with young students from Brekke Elementary School. The children will be exposed to certain scientific experiments, so they develop a bigger interest in science after performing hands-on experiments. There will be a diet coke lab, a slime lab, and other hands-on activities that involve dry ice. With the dry ice we will create gas bubbles and let the students play with them. They will also be able to touch snow and play with glow in the dark slime. There will also be some musical equipment to entertain our audience and boom whackers to play music from a more scientific perspective!
Plainfield North High School – “Explorations Night”
The ChemClub will perform chemical demonstrations at "Explorations 2017" on January 23, 2013, at Plainfield North High School for current eighth grade students and their parents. The “Explorations 2017” program will help incoming freshmen and their parents get acquainted with the school, the curriculum, and opportunities for extracurricular activities, including the ChemClub, as well as to help ease their transition into high school.
Prince George High School – “Elementary School Demonstrations”
The ChemClub will go to two elementary schools and visit about 5 classes of 2nd and 5th graders in each school. ChemClub members will talk extensively about states of matter while doing various demonstrations using dry ice or baking soda. Each presentation lasts around 45 minutes and the elementary teachers and students love it. This will be our 4th year of visiting the elementary schools.
Sherwood High School – “Chemistry of Everyday Life”
Students will execute weekly science experiments, demonstrations and/or investigations. Once a month, students will present their “findings” in an informal setting to the general student population, practicing their presentation skills. These "findings" might include hands-on experiences for the general students, artifacts made in their weekly lab experiences, or important information like current events in chemistry around the world. Finally students are responsible for publicizing these events in the form of newspaper articles and other public media.
South Fork High School – “Weird Science: Building an Interest in Chemistry throughout the Community”
The ChemClub at South Fork High School will host Science Days/Nights for the K-5 students of Martin County and their families. Attendees will be led by ChemClub members in a variety of chemistry-related experiments. Each Science Day/Night will have an overall theme that all of the experiments for that particular day will relate to. Attendees will rotate through 3-4 experiments at each Science Day/Night. And in case students want to replicate the experiments at home, we will send families home with the procedures for each lab performed that day.
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology – “Chemistry Demonstrations for Nearby Elementary Schools”
The Thomas Jefferson High School ChemClub will visit the nearby Weyanoke Elementary School monthly to increase interest in chemistry there. We will do mini experiments to provoke more interest in chemistry and explain the science behind the reaction. Experiments include a lemon electrode electrochemistry experiment, alka seltzer lava lamps, and color dispersion on whole milk using liquid detergent.
Torrey Pines High School – “Making Paper to Build STEM Skills”
Students will develop protocols for producing paper from recycled materials. We will start with waste paper and move to cotton cloth. Students will advertise their products to the school community, and take orders for different types of paper from community members. They will schedule times to produce products to fill the orders. Note that they will not be producing notebook or printer paper but art and craft and specialty paper.
Upper Dauphin Area High School – “Library Outreach for Science Literacy”
We will sponsor an elementary science night at the community public libraries within our school district. We will work with the library staff to plan the activities and select a wide variety of science-related nonfiction books and activity books that will be displayed. The children will be encouraged to check these books out when they finish with the activities of the evening. The ChemClub students will work with groups of elementary-aged students as they rotate through several tables, doing hands on activities and learning the science behind the activities. Books that contain references to the activities that we are doing will be displayed at each activity table, as well. We also plan to purchase a science-related book for each child to take home to encourage them to read and do science at home with their family.
Veterans High School – “Wonderful World of ‘Chemystery’”
ChemClub members will deliver a lesson on the 'mystery' behind 'chemystery' to our feeder elementary schools. The lessons will be targeted to 3rd/5th grade classes. ChemClub members will research, practice and deliver a short mini-lesson. The lesson will incorporate a demo, a teaching time, and a hands-on time (total activity time will be 45 minutes). ChemClub members will also provide a take-home sheet with a "DO Try this at Home" lesson.
William H. Hall High School – “Chem 4 Kids”
The high school students will work collaboratively to develop hands-on chemistry activities to present to elementary school students. We will take a field trip during a school day to an elementary school (twice during the year) and present the chemistry lessons to 3-6 classes. Other community outreach planned includes a family science night at a Hartford elementary school and a workshop at the Future Teacher's Conference.

Glow Stick Dance

Wisniewski Homeschool – “Science Show at Library”
Our ChemClub gave our first science show at the Union Public library in 2011 and we were asked to make it an annual event. On Oct. 13, 2012, we will present our 2nd annual science show, as part of our community outreach efforts. Our plan is to start the show with various science demos and then have a surprise visit from Nikola Tesla. One of our ChemClub members will dress as Tesla and perform engaging demonstrations on electricity.

Nikola Tesla giving a lesson on electiricty.