As part of their AP chemistry experience, students at Okemos High School each choose an analytical instrument and research it on the web and in textbooks.  The students then visit the analytical/physical teaching labs and under the guidance of a graduate student, use the instrument they have been researching.  This includes examination of the instrument, preparation and analysis of samples, and interpretation of results.

Hands-On Experience for High School Chemistry Students

For more information about ACS WiC, please email us. 
This web page was designed by  Thu Nguyen.

The MSU Local Section of the American Chemical Society (ACS) celebrates National Chemistry Week (NCW) with this annual Saturday event.  Students, faculty, and staff from the Department of Chemistry; members of student organizations: Science Theatre, ACS WiC, YCC, NOBCChE, and Alpha Chi Sigma; employees of MBI international; and local area high schools present over 30 tables of hands-on activities and chemical demonstrations at Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing.  Admission to the museum is free and registered Cub Scouts and Girl Scouts earn a theme-related patch by participating.  Recent themes have included “Chemistry and Art”, “Chemistry Keeps Us Clean”, “Earth’s Atmosphere and Beyond!”, and “Health and Wellness”.  Last year over 2,500 people attended, including over 700 scouts and the event has won several national ACS ChemLuminary Awards including “Outstanding On-Going NCW Event” in 2003.

Chemistry Day at Impression 5 Science Center

Outreach
Text Box: Each year, we continue to build our outreach programs.  Some of our favorite activities include Chemistry Day during National Chemistry Week, the Girls' Math & Science Conference, Scout Chemistry Merit Badge Day, as well as local school science fairs.  We perform demonstrations, as well as offer hands-on activities for area youth.  It is both enjoyable and rewarding for us to participate in these activities; outreach is a great opportunity to have fun and to encourage young students to study science at the same time.  Listed below are many of the outreach activities that we participate in each year.  Please let us know if you would like to join us at one of these events!

ACS WiC provides a full Saturday of hands-on activities that fulfill the requirements of the Boy Scout Chemistry Merit Badge and the Girl Scout Chemistry Interest Project Patch (IPP).  Activities include paper chromatography, testing household chemicals with red cabbage indicator, analysis of the vitamin C in orange juice, determination of the pH and hardness of water samples, and tour of a laser laboratory, among others.  The requirements for Girl Scout Chemistry IPP were created in 2004 by ACS WiC members Anne Fischer, Prerna Sonthalia, and Kathy Severin along with Susan Masten from the Department of Environmental Engineering.

Michigan Science Olympiad is a nonprofit organization whose goal is to improve the quality of science education and increase student interest in science. The teamwork and problem solving done by the students in preparation for each of the events, is the backbone of the program's success and supports the current beliefs in science education. There are 23 events in both the middle school and high school that involve all areas of science, engineering ,and technology. The wide variety of events provides something for all students with varying interests and abilities. The Science Olympiad events are also very powerful as activities that can be used to reinforce the teaching of the state objectives in existing units in a classroom. Michigan has more middle and high schools (543 last year) participating in the Science Olympiad than any other state in the U.S. This great amount of interest has allowed Michigan to be divided into 15 regions, each holding their own tournament in February or March. The teams that perform well at the regional level, then advance to the state competition hosted by the College of Natural Science at Michigan State University, in April. The top teams at the state competition then advance to the national competition in May.

Science Fun Day is an event organized by the Okemos School System with hands-on activities that is open to the public.  This is another opportunity for Women in Chemistry to get children excited about science and spend the day reaching out to young people in the community. 

Since 1991, this exciting annual event has been taking place in the Lansing area for the purpose of facilitating the interests of sixth-grade girls in science and mathematics .  This one-day conference, called “An Invitation to Sample Success”, is jointly organized by MSU, Capital Area Science and Math Center, and county education agencies from Clinton, Eaton, Ingham, and Ionia counties.

Girls attending the conference participate in sessions with role models (women with scientific or mathematical careers) as well as attending hands-on sessions.  ACS WiC has presented three hands-on sessions.  In the first, “How Hard is Water,” girls learn about the effects of minerals in water and determine the hardness of a variety of tap, bottled, and natural water samples using an EDTA titration method.  The second is a forensic chemistry session, “Solving Murder with Makeup,” in which they identify the murderer by matching her lipstick to that found at the crime scene using thin-layer chromatography.  A third session, entitled “Chemical Properties of Soil” allows matching of a variety of soil samples by testing for chloride, iron, and copper content.

Chemistry Merit Badge Day

Science Fun Day at Okemos High School

Michigan Science Olympiad State Event—Chemistry Lab

Girls Math/Science Conference