This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
Happy National Chemistry Week!
From October 21-27, 2012 Chemists, Chemical Engineers, Chemical Professionals and enthusiasts are celebrating how wonderful Chemistry is! And it is. But I have to admit, I'm such a biologist - a whole organism, big animal and plant type - that anything I can't see with my eyes or a hand lens blows my mind. So I pretty much leave all things Chemical-ly to my girl and Curly Hair Mafia Capo, @DrRubidium. She's Analytical Chemist (yeah, I don't know what that means) who has a Chemistry Blog Thirty Seven at Scientopia and a Video Blog Series: Chemicals of the Week.
For Chemistry Week, she has this great lesson on Condom Chemistry.
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But if you want something more family inclusive, then visit the American Chemical Society official page about National Chemistry Week. You can look up events happening in your area.
The ACS is a great organization, one of the largest science professional societies in the world. They do great outreach. (I'm still licking my wounds from being
stopped from crashing turned away from the American Chemical Society National Meeting in 2010.
I almost made it, too.
If you are in the Chicago Metropolitan area, then here's something for your 4th-12th grade kids to get into this Saturday at the Museum of Science and Industry to celebrate National Chemistry Week. My friend Martin Lindsey is working with those good folks doing some science and tech outreach work.
If I had been thinking (or had the energy, shoot I'm still tired from my travels and research), then I would have tried to organize a series of events aimed at audiences I try to reach. I think partnering with Natural Hair Bloggers, Beauty Bloggers, plus Technology and trade organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), National Organization for the Professional Advancement of Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE), and National Black Data Processing Associates (BDPA), as well as social/civic justice organizations to host local events would have been a fantastic idea.
But seriously, now that I think about it, that's no little thing to do. That's a full-on campaign. See, I need to do this full-time. I'm not seeing anything on a large-scale that brings major science themes or programs to target populations in a way that is culturally-relevant, inclusive of the whole community and existing social and service programs, and gets people aware of opportunities in science and excited, too. I could so do that.
Where to start? Any recommendations?
What National Chemistry Week activities will you and your family participate in this week? Can you think of ways to bring these fun and engaging activities to broader audiences?
