the future of science is in their hands so we tried to make it look as cool as possible

I never posted about our second annual chemistry Open Lab Day, so here it is! Last year we did the same sort of thing where we invited all students 5-12th grade to come to the chemistry building, do experiments themselves in our teaching labs (this year they made a component in sunscreen, analyzed caffeine content of painkillers, and identified some unknown compounds in a solution). We also have a big chemistry "magic" show, have tours of our research labs (lasers! nuclear magnetic resonance! oh my!), and serve liquid nitrogen ice cream. It's been my job to run around and take pictures and generally make sure things are running smoothly. It's so much fun to watch the kids get excited about science, especially high schoolers who are normally way too cool to get excited about anything. My former AP chem teacher told all of her students that if they got a picture with me at the event that she'd give them extra extra credit. So it was fun feeling like a mini celebrity getting my picture taken with all of these kids, he he. 

My sister Becky helped volunteer! And when the elementary school kids got finished with an experiment early, she was pro at keeping them entertained in the hall (she's an el ed major).

 My little sister Abby came and in this photo is demonstrating her superb reasoning skills with the magic fish experiment (put your goggles back on, missy!)

High school students work on their aldol condensation (a lab straight from the chem 353 course at the university-how cool is that?)

More high school students work on their caffeine content experiment.

Basically, it was awesome. A film crew from the college showed up at the end to capture some magic show footage and made a sweet video. Basically, chemists are the closest a muggle's going to get to Harry Potter. Click here for proof! (look for the goblet of fire)