Millstone River 5th Graders watch explosions, learn the periodic table and make gooey science with Princeton scientists

An explosive presentation for 5th graders

Prof. Andrew Bocarsly, of chemistry and a new member of the Princeton Center for Complex Materials (PCCM), and Dr. Kitty Wagner, of chemistry at Princeton University, gave Millstone River Elementary 5th graders a lesson in messy, gooey chemistry on April 27, 2004. The youngsters spent the afternoon watching demonstrations and participated in hands-on activities to teach them that science is more than just writing equations on the blackboard.
In the Frick Laboratory’s auditorium, Dr. Wagner and Prof. Bocarsly amazed the students with explosions, flashes of light, and liquids changing to every color of the rainbow one right after the other. The Millstone students also learned about the science behind these demonstrations with an introduction to the periodic table. Professor Bocarsly successfully related the Periodic Table to many of the demonstrations, prompting the students to think about the experiments in terms of the Periodic Table and predict the results using the table. While some may think this is a little young for learning the periodic table, this is the perfect time to introduce it in a fun way to inspire curiosity.

 

Ooey gooey science at Princeton University

Another sure-fire way to inspire curiosity is to have children actually use their new knowledge of science to create something. The 5th graders learned that chemists are interested in the way things mix and are especially interested when this mixing creates change. The kids were taken to a lab where they mixed water, glue and borax to create a substance like silly putty. Undergraduate Varun Phadke and PCCM Outreach Director Dr. Dan Steinberg helped prepare the silly putty stations. The children certainly enjoyed it. Little hands in green putty make for big fun.

Prof. Bocarlsy and Dr. Wagner then led the children through a series of experiments to see if changing the order and proportions affected the outcome. You’ll have to try it for yourself to find out what happens with these four experiments. Remember, curiosity is a driving force in science!

This page was updated on 9/30/04 by Shannon Swilley and Dan Steinberg; any comments should be sent to sswilley@princeton.edu