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On Friday April 26th Dr. Phil Hampton from California State University at Channel Islands came to the Boys & Girls Club of Santa Clara Valley with 5 student chemistry tutors, researchers and outreach coordinators to engage the Club youth in hands-on STEM science activities. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. Dr. Hampton is a Professor of Chemistry and loves science. He loves doing outreach to k-12 local institutions. He is currently a recipient of a Department of Education Grant from Hispanic Serving Institution STEM. The grant is 1.2 million per year and the purpose is to increase awareness to low income Hispanic youth who are interested in pursuing a STEM career. The 5 student assistants that came with Dr. Hampton were: Phillip Hernandez, Tracy Tumbale, Tobin Streamland, Julio Alaman , and Theresa Villicana. They were wonderful role models for our club members.
The activities that they brought were outrageous and exciting. One experiment was called “Dragon’s Breath”. After placing saltine crackers in liquid nitrogen and then waiting about 10 seconds for the crackers to warm up, the youth would put the crackers in their mouths and then a moisture cloud is created due to your breath condensing moisture- thus the kids looked like they had dragon breath. They also froze mini oreos in the liquid nitrogen and then discussed the effect on the cookies before being allowed to taste them. Another experiment was using liquid nitrogen on materials such as a ping pong ball with a pin hole in it. After being frozen in liquid nitrogen the ball would just roll and roll away as the gas would escape out the pinhole. Doing the same thing with a superball took the bounce away completely when frozen.
Another activity was very gooey. Using the compound sodium alinate- which is derived from kelp the club members made goo worms. The sodium alinate is a thickening agent similar to what is used in milkshakes. When it is mixed with calcium it causes a chemical reaction of a gooey mass. Food coloring was added so we had very colorful goo worms.
The final hands-on activity was a huge hit with the kids. It was a manifold made out of pvc pipe. It was filled with compressed air to 30-40psi’s. It also had a sprinkler valve attached at the top. At the end of the pipe you stick in a large marshmallow, then when you press a button, the valve open ups and the marshmallow shoots out at least 30 feet. This experiment shows the effects of air pressure and angle of trajectory to measure various distances.
This was an amazing afternoon of learning all about science. Have youth practice with hands-on science brings the theories to life with a much better understanding of the how’s and why’s of science applications. We truly thank Dr. Hampton and his crew for joinging us at the Club
An exciting note is that Dr. Hampton will be having a huge Science Carnival on November 2nd in Oxnard from 5-8PM at Thorogood Marshall Elementary School. He promises to have 70-80 hands-on activities there.
