Event Takes Up Where 29 Years of High School Chemistry Night Left Off
Students from East Clinton and Fayetteville-Perry high schools had a taste of college science Wednesday (April 4) as Wilmington College held its first High School Science Night.
PICTURED: WC senior David Bellus and junior Spencer Lanham (RIGHT) show, from the left, Abby Engle of Fayetteville-Perry, Sam Schum of East Clinton and P.J. Blankeneyer of Fayetteville-Perry a dynamic demonstration called Elephant's Toothpaste.
The event, which was rescheduled from a snow day two weeks ago, is the new version of WC’s popular High School Chemistry Night, which ran for 29 years through 2017. Physics and mathematics have been added to chemistry to make it a more comprehensive and inclusive activity for high school students interested in college science.
Members of the WC Science Society conducted visually appealing, hands-on demonstrations that featured names like “Elephant’s Toothpaste,” “Drippy Faucet,” “Dancing Flames” and “Burning Hands.” They subsequently instructed the high school students in small group settings on how they did it — so the younger students could present the same demonstrations.
The high school students moved from station to station at which they learned the chemistry, physics and mathematics-related demonstrations. They later heard a presentation from WC’s Admission Office on “What to Look for in a College.”
As an icebreaker, students had an opportunity to enjoy some science-related humor found in such jokes as: “Why do chemists like nitrates so much? They’re cheaper than day rates”; “What did one ion say to the other? I’ve got my ion you”; ”Silver walks up to gold in a bar and says, ‘AU, get outta here!”; and “Did you hear oxygen went on a date with potassium? It went OK.”
The visit ended with pizza.
