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Since our last newsletter we have been busy with many outreach activities ranging from field trips involving high school advanced placement (AP) chemistry students to elementary and middle school visits.
 Mike McKelvy, who is currently teaching chemistry at Basha High School in Chandler, brought a group of approximately 20 talented AP chemistry students to visit the department. In the morning the students toured several labs and our new Chemistry Collaborative Learning Center, which was followed by a working lunch where Austen Angell gave an informal talk to the students on things people don’t usuallyl know about water, and how weird it is. The students reacted most positively asking some very intelligent questions. Some of the same students recently stopped by to say hello to Professor Angell while here for orientation and enrollment as they will be freshmen here next year. The students also toured our glassblowing facility where they got to try their hand at glassblowing (see photo on left).
Our Student Affiliates of the American Chemical Society (SAACS) have been busy enriching the curricula of several elementary and middle schools with their demonstrations. The photos below on the left and center show Conor Cox, president, Josh Vermaas and Catherine Le in a whole gym full of students at Pomeroy Elementary in Mesa. The photo on the right shows Josh Vermaas, Catherine Le, Conor Cox and Caileen Eckerson at Sierra Vista Academy in Scottsdale.
The students introduced the kids to the science of slime: the cornstarch and water “ooblech”, polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) slime found in toy stores, and methylcellulose slime used on many movie sets. Everyone got to play with the slime, learn how it was made and what makes it slimy, and then could make their own slime to take home. They also made some “elephant’s toothpaste” which is an iodide catalyzed degradation of hydrogen peroxide. The entire demo was as much fun for the demonstrators and teachers as it was for the children, "All I can say is that making a mess with various forms of slime is wonderfully entertaining," commented ASU student Josh Vermaas. Over three liters of slime were made by the combined activities of the demonstrators and kids as they (kids) learned about the cross linking of polymers and the fascinatingly disgusting materials they can form.
SAACS students, Conor Cox, Andy Diamos, Myrna Chavez, and Sarah Livingston also very recently visited two classes of eighth grade students at Maxine O. Bush Elementary (K-8) in Phoenix.
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