Chemistry Outreach Program engages homeschoolers

As part of its ongoing outreach efforts, the Department of Chemistry hosted about 60 home schooled young people, ages 7 and older, and their parents for two hours of chemical demonstrations and hands-on experiments, Thursday, January 13.

There were two sessions—10 a.m. to noon, and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Each session included demonstrations in the Smith 100 lecture hall, followed by opportunities for the students to conduct a series of hands-on experiments in a laboratory at Smith Hall.

Organizers were Miranda Hada, student outreach coordinator, and Professor Ken Leopold, Chemistry Outreach Program coordinator, working with Homeschool Adventures—an organization that supports group activities for homeschoolers in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. About 16 chemistry graduate students volunteered their time to assist the young people with their experiments.