04/2015

On Saturday, April 18, 2015, the Montgomery and Sherman Groups participated in The MSU Science Festival Expo Zone. It was the culminating event of a weeklong celebration of science in East Lansing, Michigan.

The team combined the suggestions from our San Diego Science Festival team and their own outreach experience from a FEMMES event held a few weeks prior to create a great booth experience.

At the Festival, the team used a four-pronged, conceptual building approach. Station I: What are molecules? What is the structure of some simple molecules? Station II: What are chiral molecules? Why is chirality important to our Center research? Station III: Can you tell the difference between chiral molecules by their smell? (spearmint, caraway seeds).Station IV: Can you tell the difference between chiral molecules by the way they polarize light through a filter? (spearmint, caraway) Needless to say, there was A LOT of chemistry learned at the CCHF booth. The CCHF Team was really impressed by the questions they received, from our young scientists to a retired inorganic chemist from UM- Ann Arbor you stopped by the booth. Hundreds visited the CCHF booth.

Kelly Montgomery, former CCHF Chemistry Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (Sherman Group) and a current MSU junior rolled up her sleeves, facilitated outreach at the booth, and served as a great CCHF ambassador.

CCHF faculty and students reached close over 500 kids and adults at the event.

“The energy at the festival was amazing! People from all walks of life gathered with open minds to learn about science.”-Mike Gilbert, (Montgomery Group)