Development, Use, And Evaluation of Chemistry Outreach Activities Related to the Periodic Table and Sustainability

Abstract

The International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements in 2019 provided a perfect opportunity to implement community engagement activities that repositioned the public image of chemistry, from one detrimentally linked to the long-term impacts of its previous achievements such as plastic waste and polluting industrial plants to one that embraced the principles of sustainability. This project took the Periodic Table as an organizing principle and collated and developed activities to increase the understanding of the Table itself and the importance of chemistry in regard to sustainability and a circular economy. The activities focused on “endangered elements”, which are overutilized in industry and in danger of disappearing within the 21st century. Through hands-on activities and demonstrations, students were challenged to develop an appreciation of how a “circular economy” keeps products, components, and materials at their highest utility and value. The activities were designed to be led and facilitated by high school students. Visits to seven schools in disadvantaged and remote areas allowed a maximum impact on over 1000 students. At each school, 8–12 students were mentored to take leadership roles guiding other students through the activities, increasing their participation and engagement with STEM. In this article, we present the set of activities developed along with the student evaluation of the outreach visits.

Inspiring Future Rocket Chemists: A Hands-On Instructional Event Highlighting the Role Chemistry plays in the Fundamentals of Rocketry

“…Informal educational events provide a unique out-of-classroom education experience for students to gain a familiarity with a topic that may not typically be covered in their standard curriculum. , Many informal educational events, which can consist of science outreach events, − demonstrations shows, , science workshops, , and science festivals, − involve a level of excitement and encouragement for the participants. Some informal educational events offer a broad introduction to chemistry or science and others are highly targeted to a specific theme such as the event illustrating new advances in mass spectrometry held each year at Purdue University. , Regardless of the specificity, these events typically require extensive planning and volunteer bases to conduct a successful event.…”