Chemistry educators from Deakin and Macquarie Universities have developed hands-on activities for school children that celebrate the International Year of the Periodic Table. The IYPT provides a perfect opportunity to implement community engagement activities to re-position the public image of chemistry, from one that currently suffers from the consequences of large-scale uptake of its previous successes such as plastic waste and polluting industrial plants, to one that has embraced the principles of sustainability.
The school outreach event being offered to schools in regional and rural Victoria, Australia, involves a series of hands-on, practical activities, focussing on chemistry and its relevance to sustainability, and are appropriate for primary up to middle secondary schools (all resources are also available on this website for teachers). School students will be mentored to take leadership roles, increasing their participation and engagement with STEM. The activities are being designed in collaboration with scientists undertaking cutting-edge chemical sciences research on sustainability.
Ending the initial stage of our outreach program, today the final grant activity report was provided to the Australian National Commission for UNESCO.
The report highlights some of the major achievements of the project in its first year.
All resources from the school outreach event, to organise the activities in your own school