“Mad Materials!:
Strange Polymers, Crazy Colloids and Mad Materials Science” -
Astonishing materials, crazy chemistry, and all things squishy and gooey were
the stars
of a family-friendly, hands-on evening of science on the Duke University campus
(Apr.
17th, 2013), sponsored by Research Triangle MRSEC.
This event was part of the NC Science Festival, a state-wide multi-day
celebration showcasing science and technology in NC.
Faculty
and
students shared
hand-on, interactive demos with “oobleck” cornstarch polymers, polymer
origami that
folds itself magically, instant
gummy worms, usual ferrofluids, and
other “soft matter” with strange properties. Several demos were inspired by
MRSEC-specific research, including a demo involving elastin-like polypeptides
(ELPs) from the Chilkoti lab
and a 3D stereo demo of molecular simulations from the Yingling lab.
About
350 visitors (~200 K-12 students) attended this event. Post-event assessment
data confirmed that respondents thought the event “made STEM learning fun” and
made them more aware of STEM in their daily lives.
