The Sacramento State Chemistry Club is proud of our long tradition of community outreach. This outreach comes in many forms such as organizing hands-on chemistry activities and demonstrations both on campus and in the community, as well as hosting chemistry workshops for local elementary or middle school students.
At the beginning of October, the Chemistry Club participated in the Expanding Your Horizons conference at Sacramento State. Every year at the conference, the club hosts a workshop to introduce middle school girls to a topic in chemistry and this year’s workshop was “Rainbow Chemistry: Experimenting with Colors.” Some of the experiments during the workshop included a clock reaction that alternated between the colors blue and purple and thermochromic slime that changed colors when chilled. Another experiment had the girls use blueberry juice to indicate if items like detergent or baking soda were acidic or basic. The workshop then ended on a fun note with a demonstration of a jack-o-lantern glowing with a green flame.
The Chemistry Club also likes to reach out to the campus community. On 10/23 to celebrate “Mole” Day with fellow science students and faculty, the Chemistry Club set up a table in Sequoia Hall where students could come and play periodic table bingo or try to guess the moles of water in an oddly shaped glass container. Students who visited the table could also participate by making their own slime or feast on a mole cupcake. This annual “Mole” Day celebration has become a fun way for the Chemistry Club to connect with other Sac State students.
Traditionally the Sacramento State homecoming football game is a large community event. For the last four years, the Chemistry Club has hosted a booth of chemistry experiments during the pre-game festivities. Experiments this year included floating bubbles with dry ice, ink chromatography, and everyone’s favorite, slime. There were also fun demonstrations of mentos and soda shooters with diet Pepsi versus diet Coke. Homecoming brings club members an excellent opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people from the community. Alumni with their children visited the table as well as other Sac State students and people from around Sacramento who come to enjoy the football game. As an added surprise after homecoming, the Chemistry Club was pleased to hear that its booth was considered to be the most popular in the Kid’s Club section of the festivities!
