Reactions Issue 1 - Royal Society of Chemistry

4 | Issue 1 | April 2007
Hands-on chemistry is the winning formula
per cent of the students who’ve attended our
outreach events say they’re now more likely to
consider studying chemistry at university.”
The collaboration which has made the events
possible has been another success story.
Chemistry: The Next Generation has brought
together expertise in universities and industry
to offer students an exciting menu of activities
including:
Cool chemistry inspiring students
Harry Potter style chemistry, liquid crystal production and solar cell design are some of the
hands-on activities offered through an outreach project which gives school students an
enthusiasm for chemistry.
Chemistry: The Next Generation has proved so successful in an initial pilot in the East Midlands,
North West and London that it’s now being rolled out to thousands more school students in the
South East, Yorkshire and Humber and the North East.
The outreach project showcases the excitement of chemical science and the advantages of
going to university. It targets school students who may not otherwise consider a degree course.
University and further education collaboration with industry gives students the chance to
experience hands-on chemistry.
In the pilot project involving more than 19,000 young people, school children visited universities
and industrial sites. They took part in activities involving state of the art equipment and learned
about careers in chemistry.
Kate Burrell, National Manager of the project, believes the opportunity to get involved with
hands-on activities is key to the success of the outreach events: “Practical chemistry is what
brings the subject to life and fires enthusiasm.
“Activities such as ‘Hands free and hands on’ where students get to learn about the chemistry
of mobile phones, make liquid crystals and design solar cells have been a real hit. Around 40
• Magical chemical energy – chemistry
Harry Potter style
• Food for thought – isolating DNA from
kiwi fruit
• Plastic milk – transforming milk protein
into fridge magnets
• Murder in the lab – whodunit?
• The Jelly Baby sacrifice – exploring the
energy of sugars
• Chemistry careers fair – showcasing the
opportunities available
Events are organised on a regional basis by
a team of six coordinators who are based in
universities. They act as a central point of
contact for schools, academics and industrial
partners and work with other organisations
seeking to raise the aspirations of young
people such as Aimhigher, Science Learning
Centres, Education Business Partnerships and
the Science, Engineering, Technology and
Mathematics Network.
Information on all our project partners and
forthcoming events can be found on our
website at www.rsc.org/cfof. We’re always
interested to hear from anyone who has
ideas for future activities or who’d like to
get involved with organising events. Please
contact Kate Burrell at burrellk@rsc.org.
Contact us
Royal Society of Chemistry
Burlington House
Piccadilly
London W1J 0BA
Tel: +44 (0)20 7440 3344
Fax: +44 (0)20 7287 9825
Registered Charity Number 207890
Regional Coordinators
East Midlands
Liz Blackshaw
University of Leicester
emb23@le.ac.uk
North West
Jenny Faulkner,
University of Manchester
jennifer.faulkner@manchester.ac.uk
Yorkshire and Humberside
Rukhsana Rahim,
University of Huddersfield
r.rahim@hud.ac.uk
London
Jayne Shaw,
University College London
aimhigherchemistrylondon@ucl.ac.uk
North East
Kevin Carr,
University of Sunderland
kevin.carr@sunderland.ac.uk
South East
Jennifer Hider,
University of Surrey
j.hider@surrey.ac.uk