Polymer Day: Outreach Experiments for High School Students

Abstract

We present a collection of hands-on experiments that collectively teach precollege students fundamental concepts of polymer synthesis and characterization. These interactive experiments are performed annually as part of an all-day outreach event for high school students that can inform the development of ongoing polymer education efforts in a university setting. The Advanced Polymer Synthesis experiment aims to introduce broad concepts of polymer synthesis. Techniques such as ring-opening polymerization are explained and demonstrated. The Block Polymer Micellization experiment extends this idea to block polymers for drug delivery applications. Students are taught the idea of self-assembly and prepare micelles to encapsulate β-carotene in water with flash nanoprecipitation. In terms of materials characterization, the vast physical properties space of polymers is explored. The Happy–Sad Spheres experiment provides an interactive demonstration of the glass transition temperature, while the Polymer Swelling/Rheology experiment features the interesting properties of cross-linked and entangled polymers. Evaluation surveys showed positive feedback from students in learning polymer concepts through this program. Overall, the simple principles taught by these outreach experiments can be easily incorporated into modern laboratory curricula with broad implications for disseminating public knowledge and promoting continued interest in polymer science and engineering.

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“…The demonstrations complement recent suggestions for applications of hydrogels 3,14,15 and other environment-sensitive polymers 16,17 in chemical education. The main purposes of these demonstrations are:…”

Design and Evaluation of the Environmental Outreach Activity for Middle School Students

“…For instance, the polymer day program offered by UMN Discover STEM reported a positive influence with more than 90% of students agreeing that the week-long camp that included day-long events covering four different activities increased their interest in a degree or career in science or engineering. 16 …”

“…Excellent reviews have recently been published on the subject. 4 , 7 , 23 Unfortunately, few studies in chemistry 16 − 18 , 20 , 24 or other STEM disciplines 14 , 25 − 30 have assessed quantitatively the impact of individual outreach activities on students’ attitudes toward science. Nonetheless, these studies have identified some of the characteristics of successful programs that lead to greater positive changes in attitude toward STEM.…”

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“…We have demonstrated through the administration of pre-and post-camp surveys that participation in the program has a noticeable positive impact on the participants' understanding of and appreciation for science. Many other programs reported by this journal [29][30][31] include similar scopes of activities.…”