Jiang Research Group
During the 2021 school year, our graduate student Connor Blankenship presented to a group of 2nd grade students at Orchard Ridge Elementary School about the life of a scientist. The virtual demonstration included a read aloud of “Ada Twist, Scientist” and a lesson on the states of matter using dry ice and balloons. Students worked with Connor to form a hypothesis, design the experiment, and discuss results. The take-home message of the presentation was that anybody can be a scientist as long as they stay curious and ask as many questions as possible.
On June 4, 2016, our lab presented a “Sweet Chemistry” demonstration in the Wisconsin Institute of Discovery as part of the Saturday Science event. This monthly event provides learning opportunities and hands-on experience on Science for children of all ages. Our demonstration let children perform a “Fehling’s assay” as a way to understand different sugar compositions between honey and cane sugar. Reducing sugar in honey forms orange precipitates, while non-reducing sugar in cane sugar remains as clear blue solution. Many families with kids stopped by our station and tested this assay (as well as tasted different types of candies). They were amazed to see such different color changes between sweets, which they would consider the same before. We also used 3D stick models to explain the chemical mechanism of this assay.
In the summer of 2014, the Jiang Lab supported our graduate student Matt to demonstrate and teach at the College for Kids. College for Kids is three-week summer program of academic courses with participation of 360 students completing grade 5 from over 30 partner school districts and private schools in the Greater Dane County area of Wisconsin.
