Each year the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) National Chemistry Week (NCW) campaign reaches millions of people with positive messages about the contributions of chemistry to their daily lives. NCW is a community-based annual event that unites ACS local sections, businesses, schools, and individuals in communicating the importance of chemistry to our quality of life. It is the one time during the year that chemists, regardless of background, unite with the common goal of spreading the word that chemistry is good for our economy, our health and our well-being. This Year’s NCW theme, “Chemistry is out of this world!” focused on astrochemistry, in which students learned more about the chemistry of outer space.
Chemistry Day at the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum
On Tuesday, October 23rd (mole Day), the ACS took over the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum for a full day of hands-on activities, speakers, and stage demonstrations to teach museumgoers and middle school students about the importance of chemistry, all in the name of NCW. All the attendees participated in hands-on activities and received giveaway bags with copies of the Celebrating Chemistry focusing on “Chemistry is Out of This World.” Local volunteers from several colleges, universities and the Chemical Society of Washington (CSW) assisted ACS staff with this event. It was a great event and showed over 320 kids and their guardians just how fun chemistry can be. Nearly all event attendees reported that they learned something new or interesting at the event, and that they would attend another event like this in the future. Pictures from the event can be found on the ACS Flickr page at https://www.flickr.com/photos/airandspace/43721308630/.
National Chemistry Week at Rockville Town Square
On Saturday, October 27th, CSW, the City of Rockville, and Rockville Town Square hosted a day of hands-on activities to teach students about the importance of chemistry, and to celebrate NCW. This year’s CSW NCW program was a part of the NICE Net “Let’s Do Chemistry” campaign. The program utilized six of the kit’s developed for the campaign. Volunteers from CSW, The Rockville Maker Space, and students from Richard Montgomery High School assisted over 90 attendees with the activities.
The Hands-on Chemistry Kits/Activities were:
- Chemistry is Colorful
- Chemistry Makes Scents
- Molecules in Motion
- Nature of Dye
- Sublimation Bubbles
- Fun with Gum and Chocolate
The participants received give away bags that included a copy of the NCW 2018 edition of Celebrating Chemistry where they could learn more about the chemistry of outer space.
Let’s Do Chemistry – www.nisenet.org/chemistry-kit
The NISE Net and ACS Let’s Do Chemistry team
