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 National Chemistry Week theme is “Marvelous Metals!” focusing on metals. Metals are chemical elements or mixtures of elements that are good conductors of electricity and heat.
National Chemistry Week at Rockville Town Square
On Saturday, October 26th, 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 utilized some of the NISE Net “Let’s Do Chemistry” campaign activities along with hands-on activities that focused on this year’s theme of metals. Volunteers from CSW, The Rockville Maker Space, and students from Richard Montgomery High School assisted over 120 attendees with the activities.
The Hands-on Chemistry Kits/Activities utilized were:
• Rocket Reactions
• Build a Battery
• Chemistry is Colorful
• Molecules in Motion
The additional activities included:
• Iron for Breakfast
• Let’s Do Chemistry with the Penny
• Lincoln Drops
• Rust – the Crust that Makes Stuff Bust
The participants received give-away bags that included a copy of the NCW 2019 edition of Celebrating Chemistry where they could learn more about the chemistry of metals and a wallet-size periodic table in recognition of the International Year of the Periodic Table.
