Report by Reni Joseph, Kids and Chemistry coordinator
ACS kids’ division celebrated SciFest: Rock, Fossil, Quake at the St Louis Science Center on Saturday, September 23. The hands-on activity included playing with magic sand and regular sand to understand the concept of hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity. We also studied the negative effects of acid rain on rocks and minerals, and perfomed density experiments using pumice and galena rock (Lead (II) sulfide). In addition, we had a display of fluorescent rocks and minerals.
The hands-on activity drew a large crowd of kids and parents. About 200 participants had an opportunity to perform the experiments while learning about topics such as acid rain, density, florescence, hydrophobicity and hydrophilicity in the process. Many thanks to our volunteers, Trang Truong, Michael Barnes-Flaspoler, and Emily Bonkoski who volunteered their time from 9:00 pm to 2:30 pm.
Emily Bonkoski, Trang Truong, and Michael Barnes-Flaspoler work wth some budding young chemists.
Michael and Emily field questions from curious chemists
“Computers and the physics of complex biological systems”
