NEWS - OUT AND ABOUT

Making ice cream was one of the many activities at the Science Department Open Day.

Chemistry Excitement with Spectroscopy, Mars, Jelly and Ice Cream

An action-packed week of ‘hands-on’ activities for Science Week 2009

Science week saw the Department of Chemistry and Chemistry: The Next Generation collaborate with other University of Leicester Science Departments and GENIE to provide a host of exciting activities for people of all ages.

The Chemistry Science week programme started with a Science Department Open Day on Saturday 7th March where members of the public were able to visit the Department and use high-tech spectroscopic instruments to run experiments and learn how to interpret the results. In addition, a popular activity with all who attended was the opportunity to sample some home made ice cream – with a twist. Chemists were on hand to demonstrate how to make the ice cream using a very special ingredient - liquid nitrogen, which at -196 degrees centigrade, causes the mixture to freeze in a matter of seconds!

Later in the week a group of A-level students from two East Midlands schools attended an event which could be described as ‘out of this world’. The event, based around the Mars Lander, showed students how scientists from different disciplines collaborate to plan and develop a successful mission to Mars. The full day of activities saw students learn about the physics and astronomy of how to get to Mars, the engineering factors that are important in creating a Mars Lander craft and the chemistry and genetics of looking for life in samples brought back from the planet by a Mars lander. The day culminated in a lecture by Dr. Derek Pullan, a geologist and planetary scientist who talked about the next mission to Mars and what we should look for in the search for life.

In addition to this A-Level students from Beauchamp and Ockbrook schools visited the Chemistry Department to participate in a Spectroscopy afternoon to gain hands-on experience of techniques they learn about in school. The techniques of infrared spectroscopy, NMR and mass spectrometry were demonstrated to the students and the chance to run their own samples gave students a valuable opportunity to experience what they had only seen in text books.

Finally three local schools brought groups of year 6 and 7 students together to learn about the science of DNA, proteins and the action of enzymes. In the GENIE laboratories students carried out a forensic investigation and extracted DNA from bananas, and completed an investigation into the effect on enzymes on the time a jelly solution takes to set. To finish off, the jelly workshop students moved out of the lab to discover the chemistry of ice cream. They watched a video by chef Heston Blumenthal explaining the science of ice cream and then in small groups made their own ice cream using the liquid nitrogen technique. This method reduces the formation of ice crystals providing a smooth tasting treat!

To finish the day students were then given a short lecture about the importance of science in the world today and the career opportunities open to them if they were to go on to study the subject in the future, followed by a very competitive science quiz with five lucky winners each taking away a goodie bag of science gifts.

For further information about these or similar events please contact Tracy McGhie, Regional Coordinator, Chemistry: The Next Generation. Email: tjm9@le.ac.uk