Meet a Scientist Day: hands-on demos for preK-8 students

Community education and outreach event with hands-on STEM demos

• CHARM partnered with the Newark Free library to engage our local community with experiments and demonstrations. PreK and Kindergarten students from our education partner, the University of Delaware Laboratory School, participated in the event.

• Participants were engaged in a variety of materials science, chemistry, and physics activities including:

1. ‘Wiggly Worms’ – Polymers

2. ‘Tickling Tiny Magnets’ – Artificial spin ice/magnetism

3. ‘Science Scoop’ – liquid nitrogen ice cream, phase transition

4. ‘Color Separation Anxiety’ – Chromatography

5. ‘You Spin Me Round’ – Angular Momentum

6. ‘Gauss Cannon’ – Magnetism & kinetic energy

7. ‘Laser Light Show’ – Reflection, refraction & optics

• CHARM graduate students and postdocs led the event and engaged campus student organizations Colburn Club (CHEG) and Materials Research Society student chapter (MSEG). CHARM’s 2023 Summer RET participant Dr. Matt Wilcox ran the demo booth on angular momentum.
• Over 200 people attended the 3-hour open house-style event which was featured in the Newark Post article ‘Kids CHARMed by UD Scientists’ lessons’