National Chemistry Week 2009

    The Santa Clara Valley Section celebrated National Chemistry Week (NCW) 2009 by recognizing the 140^th anniversary of Mendeleev’s periodic table with the theme of "Chemistry—It’s Elemental!"  The Section planned and implemented two successful events and hosted a local NCW poster contest during 2009.

    Leading off the official NCW celebration for 2009 was a wildly successful annual public outreach booth held on Saturday, October 17^th at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library in downtown San Jose.  A record number of children (approximately 75) and their families came to take a spin on the Wheel of Chemistry Fortune where Santa Clara University student volunteers showcased the elements by enticing the kids to name an element, given its symbol, and win a prize purchased from the ACS online store (pencils, nan-o-moles, stickers, tattoos, and T-shirts).  The successful attendance was attributed to the public and accessible downtown venue and to advertising in several sources, including fliers distributed by local Section members via email, online media calendars and contribution of past NCW photos and event details to Bay Area Parent (a free print magazine available in Santa Clara Valley.)

         

    Among other fun hands-on activities, participants were able to learn the elemental differences between Oreo cookie dirt and organic dirt, and to extract elemental iron metal from their Total breakfast cereal.  Children experimented to find the best household liquids (water, ketchup, soda, vinegar and vinegar with catalytic salt) to clean copper pennies. The slime lab was a hit as usual, and crowd-favorite UV bead bracelets were again a great draw for the children.  Copies of "Celebrating Chemistry" were distributed.  The enthusiasm of the young "chemists" was surpassed only by the enthusiasm of our amazing student volunteers.  Twenty students from Santa Clara University (led by Dr. Linda Brunauer) and San Jose State University volunteered at the event.  Local Section member Lois Durham documented the event via excellent photographs and other local Section members assisted in leading the students.  The event was best summed up by one young boy who, upon seeing how well vinegar with catalytic salt cleaned his copper penny, exclaimed, “That’s awesome!”

    For the second featured event on Wednesday, October 28^th, Brian Malow presented "Rational Comedy for an Irrational Planet" – an evening of science humor at the Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Club in Sunnyvale.  Over 40 ACS members and guests requested free tickets (purchased through the NCW budget) and packed the comedy club for a hilarious evening of science-flavored stand-up by opening act Robert Mac and headliner Brian Malow.  At the end of the show, Brian entertained questions from the audience, and the local Section people even had a chance to query him on his feelings about the redefinition of the kilogram and other chemistry hot topics.  The local Section first heard of Brian Malow through an article in C&E News, and after about a year of planning and talks with Mr. Malow, the event was an unqualified success!  Feedback received from the attendees was positive, and local Section members were excited to attend this new and unique NCW event.

    The Santa Clara Valley Section also sponsored the annual K-12 local section poster contest and received six entries from Palma High School in Salinas, from which one poster was selected for submission to the national contest.  Next year the Section hopes to engender participation from even more local schools and groups through a strong advertising and networking campaign.

                                                 Abby Kennedy, Chair
                                                 National Chemistry Week Committee