In the lab with Chemistry Club.

Lauren Mignogna at the Can Crusher Lab

Westside’s Chemistry Club went on a second field trip to Askew Elementary in order to teach kids about Chemistry in fun ways. The group’s morning started off at 7:30 AM in Mrs. Hacker’s classroom by gathering all of the materials needed for the 6 different labs that would be shown to the 5th graders at Askew. It is powerful having the ability to be able to teach children about science in a fun and inclusive way.

It was easy to tell that when Chemistry Club went to Askew in the first semester they left a major mark on the children because during the setup many kids were excitedly shouting about how they remembered the science experiments from the last visit.
The labs the kids would visit were The Instant Icepack, The Can Crusher, The Penny, The Blue Bottle, LED Nametags, and the final one,which recently has become infamous on Instagram, The Slime Lab.
In one of the labs held, Lauren Mignogna led the “Can Crusher Lab” in which her group crushed cans through the power of chemistry. “I loved teaching the kids how fun science can be,” 11th grader Lauren said.

The Penny Experiment

At the penny lab, minor complications occurred when one of the fifth graders tripped over the hotplate wire, causing the glass beaker filled with sodium hydroxide and zinc to break all over the desk and onto the floor.  “When in doubt, dodge it out.” is how junior Johnathan Jones described the incident.  This accident proved a good one, as it gave the the “teachers” the opportunity to reinforce the importance of safety with chemicals in the lab.

“All a part of the plan to teach kids about lab safety.”