National Chemistry
Week
2010--It’s a Wrap!
The Santa Clara Valley and California Sections
of
the ACS teamed up this year to celebrate National Chemistry Week
(NCW)
with a KABOOM by sponsoring “Chemistry – Colorful and Fun in
2010”, at eight venues in Northern California. Professors
Marvin
Lang and Donald Showalter of the University of Wisconsin, Stevens
Point, thrilled audiences from Santa Cruz to Chico with their
world-famous demonstrations.
Marvin
Lang
and Donald Showalter in action
California
Section
Chair
Paul
Vartanian,
Donald
Showalter, Marvin Lang, and
SCV
Section Chair Elect Abby Kennedy
Beginning with the cryogenic magic of
liquid
nitrogen, they progressed to color changes and clock reactions at
room
temperature, and finally to flames and detonations when various
combinations of fuel, air, and ignition meet in bottles or
balloons. Among the nearly 800 attendees were many local
chemistry teachers, who left with new ideas and new connections
with
the ACS and their colleagues. The NCW Committee would like
to
especially thank the student chemistry clubs and their faculty
advisers
at University of California at Santa Cruz and San José
State
University for hosting these special events!
The complete list of venues was as follows:
·
University
of
California,
Santa
Cruz
-
Sunday, October 17, 2010
·
St.
Mary’s
College,
Moraga,
CA
- Monday,
October 18, 2010
·
California
State
University,
Chico
-
Tuesday,
October 19, 2010
·
California
State
University,
Sonoma
-
Wednesday,
October 20, 2010
·
Dominican
University
of
California,
San
Rafael
- Thursday, October 21, 2010
·
California
State
East
Bay,
Hayward
- Friday,
October 22, 2010
·
Exploratorium,
San
Francisco
-
Saturday,
October
23, 2010
· San José State University -
Saturday,
October 23, 2010
To see Professors Lang and Showalter in
action, at CSU Sonoma please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAn9tJbZFnI.
Of course, NCW
wouldn't be
complete without our flagship event, the annual public outreach
booth
held this year on National Mole Day, Saturday, October 23rd
at
the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library (the library of San
José
State University) in downtown San José.
Student
volunteers
and
future
chemists
enjoying
National Chemistry Week
Over 75 kids and their families came to take a
spin
on the Wheel of Chemistry Fortune. In celebration of the NCW
theme, “Behind the Scenes with Chemistry”, kids were able to
experiment
with movie special effects like sodium polyacrylate snow and
carbon
dioxide(g) fog, and to practice deciphering secret messages using
acid-base reactions. As usual, the enthusiasm of the young
chemists was only surpassed by the enthusiasm of our amazing
student
volunteers. Special thanks go to Santa Clara University, San
José State University, Cañada College and De Anza
College
student and faculty volunteers!
We look forward to another outstanding National
Chemistry Week in 2011, during the International Year of
Chemistry! GO
IYC NCW!!
Abby Kennedy, NCW Chair