Chemistry Department reaches out to rural communities

For the fifth consecutive year, Department of Chemistry faculty and graduate students traveled to the University of Minnesota's Southwest Regional Outreach Center in Lamberton to lead the chemistry portion of University on the Prairie.

Professor Aaron Massari and graduate students Patrick Kearns, Courtney Olson, Zahra Sohrabpour, and Ivan Spector directed approximately 60 participants through hands-on activities over three days. The theme of this year's chemistry program was "Polymers," and the participants synthesized polystyrene, polyurethane, Nylon, and a few different biopolymers, and later compared the tensile strengths of their products. The participating students ranged from 7th graders to 12th graders and traveled from the surrounding rural communities within an approximate 100 mile radius to take part in the program.

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Additional photos are on the Department of Chemistry Facebook page.