{"id":23759,"date":"2024-11-25T21:28:50","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T02:28:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/?p=23759"},"modified":"2024-11-25T21:28:51","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T02:28:51","slug":"chemistry-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/chemistry-club\/","title":{"rendered":"Chemistry Club Engages Community in Science"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In celebrating the power that comes with the sharing of scientific knowledge, the Chemistry Club at Kalamazoo College participated in two community events this fall where local students and families\u2014children in particular\u2014could engage with hands-on experiments and interactive displays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds attended the events, which were packed with activities designed to spark curiosity and inspire future scientists. Students such as Isabella Pellegrom \u201925, at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum<\/a>, and Justin Essing \u201925, at the Air Zoo<\/a>, were among the demonstrators representing K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pellegrom and her peers fascinated the general public by showing how children can protect themselves from UV radiation. Using UV-reactive beads made into bracelets, experimenters could see colors change from a neutral color into purple, blue or pink when UV light is shined onto them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt makes the kids really happy every time they see it,\u201d Pellegrom said. \u201cAnd then we have certain things that they can do to protect the beads from changing color, which could represent protecting themselves, their eyes or their skin from getting burned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The experiment used sunglasses, various types of clothing and sunscreen to help museum attendees recognize the best ways to protect themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt shocks a lot of people that sunscreen doesn’t completely protect the beads from changing color,\u201d Pellegrom said. \u201cWe\u2019ll start the demonstration by asking the kids whether they have ever gotten some sort of sunburn, and they sometimes say, \u2018Oh! My dad got the worst sunburn in Florida last month\u2019 or something like that. It’s funny because, as you’re telling the kids this, the parents many times say, \u2018See, this is why I tell you to put on your sunscreen.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the Air Zoo, Essing helped operate a booth that used the College\u2019s virtual reality headsets to show Portage Public Schools students the structure of a COVID-19 protein so they could make connections between an illness they would feel and the science behind a virus\u2019 structure. He said with multiple youths immersed within virtual reality at any given time, it was difficult to keep them from bumping into each other, but a common effort proved successful in engaging everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe had some people giving our spiel and explaining some of these tough concepts to kids,\u201d Essing said. \u201cOthers were helping students put on the headsets. They all had to work as a team toward a common goal of educating and inspiring young students to pursue the sciences.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n
\"Six
Several members of Kalamazoo College’s Chemistry Club, including Isabella Pellegrom ’25 (bottom right), have participated in community science days over the past few years at the Kalamazoo Valley Museum including this one in 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n
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\"Students
Kalamazoo College Chemistry Club members including Justin Essing ’25 (seated left) attended an Air Zoo event where they helped Portage Public Schools students view an enlarged model of a COVID-19 protein.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

These are examples of how K chemistry<\/a> students, and Chemistry Club members specifically, go beyond the classroom and labs to communicate what they learn in the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it’s a great opportunity,\u201d Pellegrom said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s one of the best parts about this club. It’s a fun experience to get together with people, take time out of your schedule, and talk about science or just be around other people who are interested in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Essing said the community opportunities and the 66 students involved show the strength of the Chemistry Club and why it endures year after year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe all have personal relationships with each other, both through this Chemistry Club and taking classes together,\u201d he said. \u201cWith the small campus size, everybody gets to know each other pretty well, personally and professionally. I feel that allows us to coordinate our goals together and figure out how to reach them in and out of the classroom.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While sharing scientific knowledge, the Chemistry Club participated in two events this fall where local students could engage with hands-on experiments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":23761,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,231],"tags":[53,50,103],"post_formats":[],"class_list":["post-23759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-students","tag-biochemistry","tag-chemistry","tag-student-organizations"],"yoast_head":"\r\nChemistry Club Engages Community in Science - News and Events<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While sharing scientific knowledge, the Chemistry Club participated in two events where children could engage with hands-on experiments.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kzoo.edu\/news\/chemistry-club\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chemistry Club Engages Community in Science - 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