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04/24/2014

Cool Chemistry offers hands-on chemistry to 7th-8th grade girls

Approximately 70 7th- and 8th-grade girls will enjoy a day of hands-on chemistry workshops and demonstrations at the 8th annual Cool Chem Day, Saturday, April 26.
 Cool Chem is planned, organized, and executed by the Chemistry Chapter of Women in Science & Engineering (WISE).

This year's workshops feature hands-on experiments demonstrating a variety of chemical principles, including using sunlight to generate power, forensic chemistry, temperature and acid base reactions, and polymers. There will be liquid nitrogen ice cream break. The day concludes with large-scale demonstrations, to which parents, friends, and families are invited.

Developed in 2005 by a group of graduate students, Cool Chem is designed to engage junior high girls in science, particularly chemistry, by providing an environment where they can work together to use the scientific process of questioning, hypothesizing, and experimenting to solve problems.

This year's volunteers include Alyssa Cassabaum, Laura Clouston, Nicole Gagnon, Sarah Gruba, Emily Keller, Jennifer Laaser, Becky Lindsey, Connie Lu, Deirdre Manion-Fischer, Sadie Otte, Emily Pelton, Sarah Pound, Solaire Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Hattie Ring, Lindsay Rymes, Amanda Stemig, Jen Strehlau, Victoria Szlag, Marie Vanderlaan, and Letitia Yao. WISE also thanks Joe Franek, Scott Kleespies, Chuck Tomlinson, and Renee Wasylishin for their assistance.

In addition to the Department of Chemistry, Cool Chemistry is partially funded by a number of sponsors, including the the Women's Center Office for Equity And Diversity, Watkins & Associates, Sigma-Aldrich, Fisher Scientific, and Corning.