The City of Kitchener is the largest city in Waterloo Region in the province of Ontario, the third fasting growing region in Canada, yet it has only one air quality monitoring station. Our research group launched a pilot project in September 2020 to install a network of AQMesh multisensor mini air quality monitoring stations (pods) near elementary…

In this article, first Toby Tyler describes how using Twitter to engage the community and to pursue the ICE principle (Introduce, Consolidate, and Extend) to enhance learning has brought his school community closer together. Then, Emma Vanstone highlights how schools can draw on support for engaging children with science at home by using social…

Often unheard of unless you are of a certain age and remember audio and video cassettes, BASF are a multinational business with a large chemical site in Bradford, West Yorkshire. On the BASF site is a 'Kids' Lab' that forms part of BASF's educational outreach work. In this article, Leigh Hoath and five teachers from Bradford schools outline a…

We have developed an eye-catching demonstration that showcases a variety of physics topics from total internal reflection to electrostatics to non-Newtonian fluid dynamics, including the Kaye effect. The essential components of the demonstration include a vertical stream of liquid soap in which a laser pointer is internally reflected, and which…

Underwater robots (or ROVs: Remotely Operated Vehicles as they are typically called in industry) have recently become a very popular instructional STEM activity. Nationally, ROVs have been used in science and technology classrooms for several years in cities such as Seattle, San Diego, Virginia Beach, and other coastal areas. In the past two…

One-day chemistry camps, managed by graduate students from the Departments of Chemistry at the Universities of Virginia (UVA) and Vermont (UVM), have proven successful as an outreach initiative. The camp model engages kindergarten through fifth grade elementary school students in hands-on, inquiry-based science experiments to educate and excite…

Anthocyanins are a class of pigments responsible for the bright colors of many flowers, fruits, and vegetables typically resulting in shades of red, blue, and purple. Students were asked to perform an activity to enable them to identify which anthocyanin was present in one of several possible plant materials through a hands-on activity. Students…

A visual demonstration of the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic surfaces has been developed. It involves placing a shadow mask on an optically clear hydrophobic plastic dish, corona treating the surface with a modified Tesla coil, removing the shadow mask, and visualizing the otherwise invisible message or pattern by applying water,…

Teachers often have questions about how the strategies they learned at a professional development (PD) workshop will work with their students. Wouldn't it be great if teachers had the opportunity to practice implementing new strategies during PD so that they could hone their skills before returning to their classrooms? That's what 35 teachers got…

Given the emphasis on community engagement in higher education, academic departments need to become more involved in the community. This paper discusses a number of outreach activities undertaken by the chemistry department at Rhodes University, South Africa. The activities range from service learning to community engagement with teachers and…

Students at Copiah-Lincoln Community College (Co-Lin) have been hesitant to take courses in the physical sciences, mostly because of a lack of exposure to them in K-12 or a bad experience in this area. The college is addressing this need by exposing students to the physical sciences early on in their education. The science division at Co-Lin has…

It is becoming clear that human influences are a significant factor driving climate change. Education is one of the main weapons in influencing patterns of behaviour and teachers inevitably have a crucial role to play. Teachers need to be fully aware of issues surrounding climate change in order to be positive role models for children and to…

Outreach efforts by faculty members are oftentimes limited in scope due to hectic schedules. We developed a program to enhance science literacy in elementary school children that allows experts to reach a tremendous audience while minimizing their time commitment. The foundation of the program is a television series entitled "Desert Survivors."…

This paper investigates the educational role of museums of chemistry in presenting chemistry to the public in Italy, particularly to students. The activities carried out by Italian museums and scientific collections completely dedicated to chemistry have been analyzed, focusing on the relationship between these institutions and students with…

Local universities and other higher education establishments represent a huge potential resource for primary schools that is often untapped. The School of Chemistry at Bristol University has recently become a Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL), the only one in the country in chemistry. The authors' project, known as Bristol…